Whisky Cask Risk Disclosure

Whisky casks bought and sold through CaskMatch are not securities under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and are not regulated financial products. As a result:

• CaskMatch is not registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
• CaskMatch is not registered as a broker-dealer or investment adviser and is not a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
• Losses arising from cask purchases are not covered by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) and are not FDIC-insured.
• Buying a whisky cask is not the same as buying a regulated investment product such as a mutual fund, security, or retirement account.

The value of a whisky cask can go down as well as up. There is no guaranteed market price, no central exchange, and no compulsory pricing benchmark. Prices depend on factors including distillery, age, spirit category, wood type, cask history, provenance, regauge data, broader market demand, currency movements, and overall economic conditions. You may not get back the amount you paid.

Whisky casks are illiquid. There is no guarantee a buyer will be available at a price acceptable to you when you want to sell. Realising a cask can take time and may involve discounting, bottling costs, or further engagement with brokers and warehouses.

Casks are physical containers of maturing spirit. They are subject to:

• Angels’ share losses— the cask naturally loses both volume and alcoholic strength over time (typically around 2% per year), reducing the amount of spirit available for bottling.
• Wood and storage effects— the spirit interacts with the cask wood throughout maturation; outcomes depend on cask type, history, and warehouse conditions.
• Regauge requirements— periodic regauges may be required to check current ABV, bulk litres, and RLA. These add cost and can affect a cask’s commercial value.
• Damage, leakage, or loss— physical risks at the warehouse, even where insured.

Owning a whisky cask carries running costs that are separate from the purchase price. These can include bonded warehouse storage, insurance, periodic regauging, sampling, transfer of ownership fees, and (where applicable) bottling, duty, and VAT at the point of sale or removal from bond. You should obtain a clear quote on these costs from the seller or the bonded warehouse before purchase.

The tax and regulatory treatment of whisky casks varies by jurisdiction and over time. Buyers and sellers are responsible for understanding and complying with their own duty, VAT, customs, anti-money-laundering, and ownership-transfer obligations. International buyers may face restrictions on the import or export of bulk spirit in their home jurisdiction.

CaskMatch vets sellers before they list and requires direct ownership of casks listed on the platform. We do, however, depend on information provided by sellers and warehouses. Buyers should request and review supporting documentation (including a valid Delivery Order and any recent regauge information) before completing a purchase. CaskMatch is not a guarantor of seller performance, document accuracy, or warehouse practices.

The wider whisky cask market has seen fraudulent and misleading schemes. CaskMatch is designed to reduce these risks through seller vetting, the no-brokered-stock rule, and anonymity-first negotiation. None of these controls is a guarantee. Be cautious of pressure tactics, unrealistic projected returns, off-platform payment requests, or sellers unwilling to provide standard documentation.

CaskMatch provides marketplace access, deterministic search, and valuation context based on a quarterly brokerage price matrix and standard cask attributes. None of this is a personal recommendation. CaskMatch does not know your full financial circumstances and is not authorised to provide advice. You should consult appropriately qualified professional advisers before making any cask purchase.

Depending on your circumstances you may be acting as a consumer, a business, or a professional trader. Your statutory rights as a consumer (where applicable) are not affected by this disclosure. Your statutory rights as a consumer under applicable law are not affected by this disclosure.

By creating a CaskMatch account you confirm that you have read this Risk Disclosure, that you understand whisky casks are unregulated assets carrying capital risk, liquidity risk, and ongoing costs, and that you are using CaskMatch on that basis.