Ahascragh Distillery goes digital with Proof 8
Independent Irish distillery Ahascragh has adopted Proof 8’s digital management system to enhance transparency and traceability.
Established in 2018 by Gareth McAllister, Ahascragh Distillery in County Galway, Ireland, is described as the country’s first zero-energy emissions eco-distillery powered entirely by renewable electricity.
The distillery is home to Uais and Clan Colla Irish whiskeys and Xin Gin.
By partnering with Proof 8, formerly Proofworks, the distillery has set a new benchmark for digital transparency and traceability in whiskey production and maturation.
Proof 8 is a London-based blockchain-backed distillery and warehouse management platform, powered by Web3 and blockchain technologies.
Rob Hollands, CEO of Proof 8, said: “In today’s climate of rising costs, shifting tariffs and unpredictability, distilleries are demanding more control and greater efficiency than ever before. We’re supporting the industry with meaningful tools and data that ensure consistency, quality and maximum yields, all whilst reducing admin and errors.
“The addition of full transparency for cask owners is a game-changing innovation that is solving the real issues of trust and credibility that the industry has been facing.”
In preparation for releasing its first whiskey entirely made at the distillery, Ahascragh sought to secure a scalable system to support operational growth and compliance.
With Proof 8, Ahascragh has connected its entire operation end-to-end, unlocking real-time production data, consistent batch control, and complete cask visibility to cask owners as fraud and investment transparency are becoming a rising concern.
McAllister said: “We didn’t want innovation to stop with sustainability. That’s where Proof 8 came in. They helped us rethink how we manage production and maturation by prioritising data.
“It (Proof 8) has brought structure and transparency to everything from recipe management and distilling to tracking every cask in our warehouse. It helps us run the distillery with a level of precision we just couldn’t get before. When you can see your numbers in real time, you can run tighter, avoid waste and plan ahead.”
McAllister continued: “Before, operators would write down flow rates or ABVs on paper, and someone else would input them later. It was messy and slow.
“With Proof 8, that’s all gone. We’ve digitalised everything. Operators log data directly into the system in real time. There’s no duplication, no chasing paper. And with data now stored accurately and centrally, we have confidence that what we produce today can be replicated consistently every year.”
Batch precision
At the heart of Ahascragh’s transformation is the ‘recipe builder’, a Proof 8 feature that addresses the issue of consistency. With the feature, the distillery can create, manage, and replicate recipes with precise ingredients and quantities every time.
“Every recipe is now locked down for consistency. No more storing our recipes on spreadsheets, which were prone to errors,” said McAllister.
“We now have clarity over what’s happening today, next week or next month, whether it’s mashing, distillation, or cask filling. Proof 8 keeps the whole operation moving and helps us make smarter decisions when things change, which they do in this business.”
The Proof 8 system also allows Ahascragh to automate financial and duty reporting, and the issuing of unique ‘digital deeds’ to every cask at the moment of filling.
The deeds provide an unchangeable digital record which remains with a cask for its entire lifespan. This allows cask owners to have complete visibility over their asset: understanding what it is, where it is located, and confirming its authenticity.
The records are accessible in real time to cask owners, warehouse keepers, producers, and managing agents, promoting transparency throughout the process.
“Digital deeds bring much needed transparency and assurance to cask ownership,” McAllister explained. “When you have a lot of casks coming in and out of a warehouse, it’s vital to have an accurate count of both the number of casks and the litres of alcohol held. Having that information easily accessible, and available for reporting to HMRC or Irish Revenue, is invaluable.”
Earlier this year, Foundry Vault, the UK’s largest Irish whiskey maturing facility, partnered with Proof 8 to transform its operations.
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