Caskshare bypasses gagging order
Independent bottler Caskshare has avoided a gagging order on the provenance of its latest barrel acquisition by using the location app What3words.
Unable to reveal the name of the cask’s source distillery, Caskshare has pinpointed the location of the ‘unnameable’ 33-year-old Islay single malt using the website address https://what3words.com/began.tasteful.icon. It is the first time the location app has been used to circumvent a naming ban. According to the placement on the app’s map, the cask has been sourced from the Ardbeg Distillery on the south-east coast of Islay, Scotland. Caskshare’s managing director John Robertson commented: “In this secret bottling, we’re giving consumers an incredible opportunity to buy an extremely rare Islay malt for a fraction of what it would cost for a named release. “While we are prohibited from using the distillery name, we can show where the whisky has been distilled and we’re using What3words’ innovative mapping technology to give customers transparency on its origins.” The ‘unnamable Islay whisky’, which rests at 52.2% ABV, goes on sale on Caskshare’s website today (14 April) for RRP £2,000 (US$3,225) per bottle. Giles Rhys Jones, chief marketing officer of What3words, added: “It is always incredible to see the variety of imaginative ways What3words can be used, from sharing meeting spots with friends, or specifying a precise delivery location, to creatively naming a unique whisky. “Caskshare’s approach of sharing the What3words address of the cask is helping to give customers a glimpse of the distillery where the whisky was made.” As with all its single-cask bottlings, Caskshare has commissioned an individual piece of art for the label design. Natural landscape painter Harry Frost, who was hired to create the label, used the What3words address to capture the mystery and intrigue of the cask. Approximately 235 bottles will be drawn from the cask in November 2023. The sale is open to customers worldwide until 12pm (BST) on Friday 28 April. Last year, Caskshare launched a 'dishonest' blended malt to mark the end of prime minister Boris Johnson’s tenure in government.
