If a cask you own is recorded in someone else's name at the warehouse — typically a broker's — this is what that means, and what you can do about it.
A delivery order is a warehouse's own instruction to transfer or release goods it holds — in whisky, the document (or, increasingly, a warehouse system entry) that moves a cask's registered ownership from one name to another. It's issued by whoever the warehouse currently has recorded as the owner, addressed to the warehouse, and it's the warehouse acting on it — not anything a broker or seller says separately — that actually changes whose name the cask sits in.
Whoever the bonded warehouse has recorded as the owner is, in practice, who the warehouse will deal with and who has direct standing over the cask. A certificate, an invoice, or a broker's letter can be genuine and still not be reflected in the warehouse's own register. If you bought a cask through a broker and it was never transferred into your own name at the warehouse, the warehouse's record — not the paperwork you were given — is what determines who it currently recognises as the owner.
If your cask is currently recorded in someone else's name — typically a broker's — it needs to be transferred into your own name at the warehouse before it can be listed for resale with us, or before you have a direct account for it. In practice, that means:
Sometimes the person or firm currently recorded as the owner won't cooperate. If that happens, there are still things you can do yourself:
We don't give legal advice, and we can't tell you whether any of this applies to your situation — the real position depends on the contract you signed and the law that applies to it. We also don't name or comment on individual brokers, and we won't contact one on your behalf.
Tell us about it below and we'll get in touch. This doesn't list your cask, or start a sale — it's just a way to let us know.
toby@thewhiskyindex.com
