Foundry Vault partners with Proof 8
The UK’s largest Irish whiskey maturing facility, Foundry Vault, has transformed its operations with the Proof 8 digital management system.
The company’s shift to fully digital warehouse management ensures transparency across its complex bonded warehouse facility using Proof 8’s (formerly known as Proofworks) blockchain-backed platform.
By prioritising data integrity with a solution that tracks and manages essential cask data in real time, Foundry Vault is prepared to meet the new compliance requirements of The Warehousekeepers and Owners of Warehoused Goods Regulations (WOWGR).
The transition from a manual to a digital approach is said to enable the Foundry Vault to achieve ‘unprecedented levels of operational efficiency and higher standards in compliance. ‘ It aims to set a new standard for operational excellence in whiskey warehousing.
Jacqui Hanna, co-director and warehouse-keeper at Foundry Vault, said: “If we were still fully reliant on spreadsheets or an old legacy system to manage cask data, I’d be really worried right now. Instead, we prioritised data accuracy, operational integrity, and customer trust by underpinning our entire operation with Proof 8. The transformation has been swift and game-changing.”
Foundry Vault manages maturing Irish whiskey casks across multiple warehouses in Northern Ireland.
As the business expanded, using spreadsheets and paper-based certificates of ownership for casks created major bottlenecks and hindered efficiency in its operations, the company said.
The prospect of WOWGR reform proved to be the catalyst to digitalise, prompting them to move from vulnerable, error-prone manual processes to a secure, real-time data management platform with Proof 8.
Hanna continued: “Third-party maturation is a very young business, and it’s ever-changing. The challenges we face today are more complex than ever. We sit at the intersection of tradition and progress.
“As warehouse-keepers, we are liable to take all the risk and responsibility in storing casks for the duration of their time with us. We need to facilitate the smooth day-to-day running of our operations and account for every single cask while protecting ourselves. We need 100% confidence that the data we hold on every asset is accurate and up-to-date and that we can access that data quickly when needed.”
Rob Hollands, CEO of Proof 8, explained the opportunity for better data technology: “Moving away from paper-based records, certificates of ownership, and unreliable tools like Excel, provides a real opportunity for better data across the whole industry, not just in maturation.
“Foundry Vault is setting the standard for the future of whisky maturation, proving that digital transformation isn’t just necessary in today’s environment but puts them at a real advantage. They’re now well positioned for growth and confident they can seamlessly manage evolving compliance demands like WOWGR, driving greater efficiency.”
WOWGR reform
The WOWGR reform took effect on 3 March 2025, accelerating digital adoption across whisky warehouses and maturation facilities.
Businesses like Foundry Vault, which adapted the Proof 8 platform in 2023, are seizing this moment to innovate. The Foundry Vault is now fully equipped to automate compliance reporting, track assets in real time and provide cask ownership assurance with blockchain-backed digital deeds.
Hanna explained the importance of innovation in the sector: “Increased compliance demands and regulatory changes with WOWGR reform have put a much greater focus on the importance of data integrity, meaning we have to uphold meticulous record-keeping and produce near-instant reporting to HMRC. There’s no room for error, and our old system using spreadsheets left us vulnerable.
“Staying compliant means balancing precision with efficiency. With barrels moving constantly between warehouses and distilleries, we found that manual systems slowed everything down. We were only getting half of the data from distilleries when we processed barrels on arrival. Data wasn’t standardised in the same format, causing delays and extra time to rectify. We wanted to streamline our operations and have more transparency while respecting the craftsmanship that goes into producing and storing Irish whiskey.
Advantages of a blockchain-backed platform
Every cask on the Proof 8 platform is ‘born digital’ and assigned a digital identity (ID) with an associated QR code the minute it enters the Foundry Vault facility. This provides a permanent record of the key data associated with each item, including its origin, age, ownership, ABV, and location in the warehouse.
Every piece of information is collected, stored and tracked on the platform throughout the asset’s entire lifetime. Data is recorded securely on the blockchain and provides an audit trail for anyone involved to see, from HMRC to brokers, and managing agents to cask owners.
Hanna discussed the importance of complete visibility: “For cask owners, they are issued with a ‘digital deed’ that proves ownership of their cask, as well as detailing its provenance and location – there can no longer be any doubt that what they have bought is held with us. Managing agents have full transparency of their stocks anytime, reducing requests to warehouses for updates on impending spreadsheets, monthly data records and changes in deed holders. Finally, HMRC has the assurance that the audit trail is locked on blockchain and all data we hold is fully up to date.
“Proof 8 has allowed us to remove the old certificate system around cask ownership. Especially around change of ownership. Previously, when something would sell, we had no way of knowing if the original certificate had been surrendered or if it was still floating around for someone to claim ownership at a later date. Now, because of Proof 8, we have full visibility of that Digital Deed being transferred to the new owner. This is incredibly important to us as the warehouse storing the asset, as well as the cask owner, and for audit purposes for HMRC.”
Proof 8 will be attending ProWein 2025 in Düsseldorf on 16-18 March, joining The Spirits Business at stand C01 in Hall 7 on 17 March from 12pm-1pm to discuss the transformational opportunities of technology in the industry.
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