The Scotch Bonnet cask is designed and manufactured to reduce the amount of spirit which evaporates from casks during their years of maturation – commonly referred to as the 'angels' share'.

 

Ross Morrison, director of Scotch Bonnet and whisky industry veteran, spoke with various distillers about the bane of the 'angels' share' and its direct impact on their profitability. He collaborated with friend Ken Hooker, owner of packaging firm Proteus, to create the Scotch Bonnet cask. Made from sustainably sourced, natural fibreboard, the cask does not eliminate evaporation from the barrel but has been shown to significantly decrease it without affecting the taste of the spirit.

 

After 42 months of testing with a distillery in Scotland, which came to an end in 2019, the team behind Scotch Bonnet has hailed it a success. They claim as much as 5.5kg of malt spirit was saved from evaporation over the period, which was subsequently used in blending.

 

The Scotch Bonnet is now patented worldwide and is being used by spirit distillers in Scotland, North America, Taiwan and the Caribbean.