An online initiative to prevent scam in the whisky market

Cheshire-based whisky broker Mark Littler Ltd. has released a Cask Calculator to impede the £23m global whisky scam market. Whisky cask scams is an important concern in the largely unregulated alcoholic beverages industry. 

The increase in whisky fraud during the COVID-19 outbreak has been well documented but fraudulent activity isn’t just limited to pandemics. Since the 1990s, globally at least over 23 million pounds has been pumped into fraudulent whisky cask ventures.

Mark Littler developed the Cask Calculator as a straightforward way to show all the costs involved in bottling a cask of whisky including duty, VAT, uplift, bottling and shipping. The calculator gives an equivalent per bottle cost that can be cross-referenced against bottle value prices to verify the cask price and prevent fraud. The free calculator has been used more than 2,000 times in the last month alone.

Alongside the cask calculator, Mark Littler Ltd. has released a large number of other educational tools to help potential cask buyers purchase a whisky cask at a fair price. Resources include a 10 part video guide series, a 52 page printed or PDF Cask Buying Guide and dozens of blogs that cover everything from avoiding scams to what you could possibly want to know about a cask.

Mark Littler Ltd. is an independent antique consultant and whisky broker with over 300 five star reviews of their services. They also provide a cask brokering service with the ethos of helping their customers buy quality whisky casks at a fair price.