Royal Elizabeth Bond cuts paper with Proof 8
A recently opened whisky warehousing facility in Scotland has taken a digital-first approach from the get-go with Proof 8.
Located just outside Edinburgh, Royal Elizabeth Bond has opted not to rely on paper records. Instead, the warehousing facility uses digital records and deeds on Proof 8’s SaaS-powered platform.
The bond received HMRC Warehouse Keepers approval in November 2025 and has obtained planning permission for more than 800,000 square feet of new storage, which will increase its capacity to approximately 1.1 million casks.
The independent cask storage facility located near the Forth Bridge in Dalmeny has assigned a unique digital deed to every cask on its site. These casks are held on behalf of distillers, brokers and private owners from across Scotland.
The digital deeds provide each cask with a digital identity accessible via a QR code. This record details the contents of the cask, its ownership, its location in the warehouse, and all relevant history.
Unlike traditional paper records, the digital format remains with the cask throughout its lifetime and cannot be lost or fraudulently replicated, claims Proof 8.
Finlay Reid, head of operations at Royal Elizabeth Bond, said: “Because we were starting from scratch, we had a choice a lot of established operators don’t. We could inherit the old way of doing things or start clean.
“Paper and spreadsheets are prone to human error, with data re-keyed, two casks entered under the same number, hours lost hunting the discrepancy.”
“One of the things cask owners care about most is knowing exactly where their cask is and having confidence in the records attached to it. The digital deed gives them that, and they can see their cask, their liquid, and the key information attached to it at any time.
“With an asset as valuable as whisky, uncertainty and ambiguity are unacceptable. We wanted to find a better way that would stand us in good stead for the future as we grow.”
Since its launch, the digital-first approach claims to have reduced the processing time for a 100-150 cask intake from a day to about 30 minutes.
Battling fraud
The digital approach is said to coincide with a critical time for cask ownership. A BBC Scotland investigation revealed cask investment fraud, in which victims were sold overpriced, double-sold, or nonexistent casks.
Following the reform of the Warehousekeepers and Owners of Warehoused Goods Regulations (WOWGR) in March 2025, which lifted the requirement for cask owners to register with HMRC (His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs), warehouse records now serve as the main safeguard for cask owners.
Stuart Maxwell, chief operating officer at Proof 8, said: “High-profile fraud cases have shown what happens when the system relies on trust alone and the old ways of doing things. A piece of paper can be duplicated; a digital deed cannot.
“Royal Elizabeth Bond has done what no operator at this scale has done before, shunned paper entirely and recorded every cask digitally from day one. That gives cask owners, distillers and HMRC something the industry has been missing: proof.”
Royal Elizabeth Bond joins several businesses using Proof 8, including Cockayne Systems, Lancaster Spirits Co, and Jackton Distillery.
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