Scair Uisce

Cask ownership can be a tempting thing, especially with so much of the ‘all that glitters is gold’ marketing that pervades social media these days. The ability to buy a cask has never been easier especially as a means to make a ‘guaranteed return’ investment. I still see adverts every day all but promising double percentage returns over the course of a few short years such is the global demand for whiskey. Irish whiskey demand surged 140% from 2010 to 2020. That’s all well and good but that was driven primarily by the big guns of Pernod Ricard and Casa Cuervo aka Midleton and Bushmills. Brands that have considerable heritage and indeed provenance.

Investing in a cask from these distilleries may well lead to good returns but it’s unlikely any of us have the cash to actually own a cask of Redbreast or Bushmills. In all likelihood if you are using a cask brokerage company to buy Irish whiskey it will be from relatively new distilleries that as yet have no real track record or provenance because they likely won’t have any of their own spirit in bottles and on shelves. More than likely you’ll be buying casks from somewhere like Great Northern Distillery, who while they make fine new make spirit, don’t have any of their own brands to add weight to your purchase as Great Northern is all about contract distillation. 

Herein lies a problem…..when you come to sell your cask for that double digit return, why would I buy your cask when I can also go directly to the source and get something specified exactly how I want. I can also probably buy it cheaper than you’ve paid for your cask as I’ve cut out the middlemen who want their cut. Also, it’s not a Redbreast, it’s not a Bushmills, it’s not a Dingle…..it has no recognisable brand power.

I’ve seen some crazy figures bandied about for buying casks too. More than once I’ve had people ask if investing £6k a cask into spirit from a distillery they haven’t even been told the name of is worth it….cos you know everyone loves Irish whiskey these days. You can guess my answer. They were also unaware of many of the other issues with cask ownership such as how much vat and excise they’d also have to pay on their cask, the issue of how do they bottle and label their whiskey and then being left with a few hundred bottles of whiskey they can’t legally sell because they don’t have an alcohol sales licence.

The other issue is that right now global sales of all whiskey are stalling….the world is literally awash with the stuff and so if you have whiskey you want to sell without a brand name attached to it or an instantly recognisable distillery attached to it you may well not achieve the heady heights of return you were promised.

I’ve no problem at all with people buying casks….but do it directly with a distillery you connect with and want to support, of which there are many in Ireland you can support. The good news with this arrangement is you can assist them on keeping the lights on and at the end of the agreed maturation period you may even have a guaranteed buyer in the distillery themselves. Win win.

Other options include cask shares. I personally did this with Killowen and my only gripe is I didn’t buy more….I’m down to my last, precious bottle now. Copeland have recently also offered this as do W D O’Connell, Baoilleach Distillery and now since November 2023, Scair Uisce.

Scair Uisce was founded by Mark Nathan and Galyna Voloshyna who spotted a gap in the market in Irish whiskey and subsequently launched an independent cask share community. The premise is that you browse their selection of casks they’ve purchased, you choose a membership which depending on it’s level means’s you can get meet the maker sessions, casks samples and early access to new casks. You purchase your casks shares then wait for them to mature before finally they are bottled and sent to your good self to enjoy. 

Personally I love the idea. You get to support some of the smaller distilleries, you get unique expressions and you get to have the craic of cask ownership without having to break the bank. No need to spend the kids university fund, maybe just the cost of a night out in The Duke of York instead.

Mark sent me a small sample of new make and very slightly aged spirit from casks they’d bought to highlight what they are doing. He didn’t expect me to do a write up or offer notes but here they are around a year after he sent me the care package.

The first three samples were new make from Baoilleach Distillery in County Donegal. All three had 140 hour fermentations and were direct flame fired, but they were wildly different mash bills.

Mash bill 1 was a mixed mash of 51% rye, 42% malt and 7% oats coming off the still at 64.9% abv.

Mash bill 2 was an Irish Corn whiskey mash of 61% corn, 19% rye, 12% oat and 8% malt, double distilled and came off the still at 62.9% abv and this is available on their website maturing in an American Virgin Oak Cask.

Mash bill 3 is a Peated mixed mash of 29% peated green barley, 43% malt and 7% rye. Also double distilled this is 62.7% abv and again is available on their website maturing in a ruby port cask.

The fourth sample was a single malt from Lough Measc distillery that had been matured in a Spinola Sherry cask for 3 months and was 58.76% abv. This is still available on their website.

Let’s taste.

Mash bill 1 - Mixed Mash 64.9% abv

Nose: A very creamy and sweet nose. Milk bottle sweets, cream, icing sugar, fresh rye, fresh hay. Water brings out an earthiness along with some butterscotch.

Palate: The rye spice is noticeable along with a really oily and creamy mouthfeel. Buttercream, clove, barley husk and rye sourdough. Water tames the spiciness bringing out barley sugar and fresh butter.

Finish: Cereal husks and clove spice.

Very tasty stuff - a good balance of sweet, savoury and spice. I’d love to see this develop in a first fill bourbon cask.

Mash bill 2 - Irish Corn Whiskey 62.9% abv

Nose: Quite floral, carnations, some nail polish, vanilla panna cotta, draft and buttered popcorn. Water brings out more corn sweetness and lemon oil.

Palate: Corn syrup, lemon verbena, bergamot, fresh ginger, salted butter and mild chicory. Water ups the sharp citrus plus a herbal bitterness.

Finish: Sour cream, rye spice and corn syrup.

This is pretty good, Irish bourbon if you will. Lighter than the mixed mash, floral and herbal. Personally it doesn’t grab me the way the mixed mash did.

Mash bill 3 - Peated Mixed Mash 62.7% abv

Nose: Candyfloss, apple, clementines, flint, copper and mild vegetal peat. Water brings out more peat plus some fabric softener.

Palate: Salted butter, barley sugar, apple, porridge, pepper and warming peat smoke. Water brings out more syrupy sugar, barley husks and a spry spiciness plus the peat.

Finish: Burning oak embers, cocoa and pepper.

This is interesting - plenty of flavour, the peat isn’t overpowering. I can see this working well with the port cask.

Lough Measc Spinola Sherry 58.76% abv

Filled 17/07/23, sample taken 10/11/23.

Nose: Buttery and creamy. Butterscotch, vanilla cream, honey, sweet raisins, salted butter, malt, almonds and apples. Water makes things a little more herbal with chamomile evident.

Palate: Orchard fruit, toffee, nutmeg, milk chocolate, pepper, clove and cask char. Water - much like the nose it’s more herbal along with the spice and oak.

Finish: Warming spices, citrus peel and raisins.

Obviously after three months this needs more time to not only actually become whiskey but to allow cask and spirit to integrate but this is off to a great start.

Overall: I’ve covered a little Baoilleach before with their poitíns so I knew in advance that they make very good new make and alas so it has transpired here. I think that these will all mature into really interesting and fun whiskies.

The Lough Measc is the first time I’ve tried their spirit and again it feels very together, highlighting that when crafted properly, these new wave of smaller Irish distilleries make spirit that is far removed from the ‘smooth’ Irish whiskey tropes we’ve been fed for decades. 

All of the spirits above are robust and characterful and will definitely be worthy of investigating. The good news is that thanks to Scair Uisce you can have a wee part of seeing how these all develop as well as supporting these smaller distilleries and ultimately you’ll end up having some unique and special that very few people will ever own.

Check out the website at www.scair-uisce.com