COOPERAGE COLLABORATION TO PRODUCE LIMITED-EDITION 'MICRO CASKS'

This article was distributed as a press release in June 2022

Yorkshire-based Cooper King Distillery has collaborated with Jensen’s Cooperage to create what is thought to be a pair of the world’s smallest wooden casks.

Each cask has been painstakingly hand-coopered from individual, virgin English oak staves by Master Cooper Jonathan Manby, finished with hand-made copper hoops and presented in an oak frame. The 750ml capacity casks are individually numbered and engraved, with each base stamped with the cooperage’s mark.

Charitable Donation

They are available to enthusiasts across the world via online auction, with a reserve price of £350 each, which covers the cost to produce each cask. 50% of all proceeds above the reserve price will be donated to the distillery’s charity partner, Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, to fund community outreach projects in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Christopher Jaume, Co-Founder of Cooper King Distillery said:

“The collaboration between Cooper King Distillery and Jensen’s Cooperage showcases the ingenuity and craftsmanship of the cooper, celebrates the beauty of oak and creates something timeless – a treasure to be passed down through generations.

“These are living, breathing casks. Each one gives the owner the chance to age their own spirit and to experience the wonder of maturation first hand.”

Each cask comes with 1 litre of the distillery’s gold-medal winning New-Make Malt Spirit, and is ready to be filled by the winning bidder(s). Due to the increased wood surface to spirit ratio, a rich and flavoursome maturing malt could be created in a relatively short amount of time.

Jonathan Manby of Jensen’s Cooperage said:

“Drawing on my years of experience, and investment of over 100 hours of research and development into this collaboration, we have created something beautiful yet functional, that pushes the boundaries of what can be achieved when working with oak.”

Winning Bids & Donations

The auction closed at 11pm on 30th June 2022, and attracted bids from around the world. The lot details, winning bids and donations are shown below. A total of £1,541.69 was donated to Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT)!

• Lot 1: Micro cask No. 1 of 2 (virgin English oak, light toast), stopper, oak presentation frame, certificate of ownership, 2x 500ml bottles of New-Make Malt Spirit.

  • Winning bid: £2,250.00

  • Donation to YDMT: £791.68 (Registered Charity No. 1061687)

  • Download the donation certificate here. Donation calculations available on request.

• Lot 2: Micro cask No. 2 of 2 (virgin English oak, light toast), stopper, oak presentation frame, certificate of ownership, 2x 500ml bottles of New-Make Malt Spirit.

  • Winning bid: £2,150.00

  • Donation to YDMT: £750.01 (Registered Charity No. 1061687)

  • Download the donation certificate here. Donation calculations available on request.

Read about how we make our single malt whisky on our whisky page.