A New Investment Scam Targets UK Whiskey Enthusiasts

Is it wise to put your money in a whisk(e)y cask with an eye towards investing it for the future? There’s been a lot written about this very subject — but there’s one big thing that any would-be investors should be sure to know from the outset. That’s that the cask you’re investing in actually exists and that your investment in it is legitimate. That should go without saying — but unfortunately, several U.K. residents have fallen victim to a wide-ranging whisky cask scam.

That’s one of the biggest findings from a recent BBC investigation. As the BBC’s Carla Basu writes, law enforcement has begun investigating three different companies based in Scotland for allegedly defrauding hundreds of investors — at least one of whom put six figures’ worth of savings into a grossly inflated investment.

The BBC reports that investors (figuratively) poured millions of pounds into casks that were misrepresented by the companies touting them as investment opportunities. In some cases, the casks turned out to be worth significantly less than advertised, if they existed at all; in others, multiple investors unknowingly paid to invest in the same casks.

It seems one of the people involved in potentially defrauding would-be investors is someone who’s previously been incarcerated for a scam involving rare minerals. The BBC’s investigation found that the head of Cask Whisky Ltd, one Craig Arch, was previously found guilty of defrauding investors looking to invest in minerals. At the time, he was using the name Craig Brooks; he’s also the head of another whisky investment group under the name Craig Hutchins.

If You See a $20 Bottle of Pappy Van Winkle, It Might Just Be a Scam

As whiskey scams go, this one was especially brazen

Investing in whiskey casks has grown in popularity over the last few years, and when it’s done legitimately it isn’t hard to see the appeal of it for investors and distilleries alike. Writing at The Drinks Business in 2023, Richard Woodard offered some tips to make sure your investment is what it purports to be. “It’s also vital to acquire casks from a reputable source, and for the cask in question to have clear provenance, and to be held in a properly registered warehouse,” Woodard wrote. Especially in light of the BBC’s findings, it’s advice worth keeping in mind.