A surprise at the dump trough
A batch of casks is emptied for a release. The volumes are lower than expected on several of them. Was it just the warmer warehouse at the top of the racks? A slow leak nobody saw? A cask that was sampled more than the others? The fill records are in one place, the sampling in another, and nobody compared them until now, years after the fill.
Why losses stay unexplained
Maturation losses are natural and vary with cask type, position and climate, so a certain gap is expected. The trouble is telling normal from abnormal. That needs readings per cask over time, compared with similar casks. Most distilleries have fill readings and emptying readings, with little in between, and nothing joins them to location.
- Readings are taken at fill and emptying, rarely in between.
- Sample removals are not always recorded against the cask.
- Location, such as tier or warehouse, is not linked to readings.
- Leaking casks are found by chance.
- Losses are only compared at the end.
What unexplained losses cost
Spirit lost to leaks that could have been caught and re-racked. Casks that sat in a poor position for years. Release volumes lower than planned. And time spent explaining differences to your finance person or adviser without the data to do it.
Leaks are the painful part. A cask weeping slowly at the back of a dunnage warehouse can lose a lot of spirit over a few years, and nobody sees it until the cask is moved. The earlier an unusual cask is spotted, the more of its contents can be saved by re-racking, and the less the release it was meant for is affected.
How losses are recorded and treated in your records is for your adviser. We give you the readings and comparisons.
Tracking losses per cask
- Fill readings, strength and volume as your team measures them, are recorded on each cask record.
- Sampling removals and any intermediate readings, such as a check on a sample of casks each year, are recorded against the cask.
- Each cask is linked to its location history, so position and warehouse are known for every period.
- Expected change is worked out from your own data: casks of the same type, age and warehouse.
- Casks outside the expected range are flagged for a physical check.
- Warehouse walk checks for leaks are logged on a phone, with photos.
- At emptying, actual volume is compared with the expected and the cask's history is shown.
| Comparison | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Cask against similar casks | Unusual loss on one cask |
| Bay against bay | Positions with higher loss |
| Cask type against cask type | Types that lose more |
| Expected against actual at emptying | Surprises before a release |
| Leak checks logged | Casks needing attention |
Losses you can explain
Unusual casks are found during maturation, while something can still be done. Bays or positions with higher losses are visible. Release volumes are planned with realistic expectations. And conversations with your adviser start from per-cask readings rather than totals.
Over time you also learn your own warehouses: which positions suit which cask types, and where a cask is worth moving.
Does this sound like your warehouse?
- Losses are only known at emptying.
- Leaking casks are found by chance.
- Readings are not linked to location.
- Sample removals are not always recorded.
- Release volumes come in lower than planned.