From paper trails to digital trust – how innovation is unlocking a traditional market

Like many businesses, good whisky takes years to reach a stage of maturity, improving with age, and appreciating in value when it does.

It’s an industry literally built on patience. But, if you’re an ambitious entrepreneur with some disruptive ideas, time and patience might be in short supply.

Benjamin Lancaster, founder and co-owner of the UK’s most established whisky broker, VCL Vintners, identified that while the maturation process might take years, other parts of the business needed to move a little faster, so he set out to make that happen. 

“When I began to seriously look at whisky casks as in sourcing and supplying liquid from Scotland’s top distilleries, I could see there was strong demand but buying one was unnecessarily complicated and, in some cases, almost impossible,” says Lancaster. 

“There was no blueprint or roadmap to follow so I had to effectively pave the way as I went.

“Once supply was established, it became more evident that ownership records and the systems in place were fragmented, processes were slow, and there was little transparency in terms of ownership and cask details. We realised at that point that there was a gap to be filled in creating a professional, transparent way for people to invest with confidence. 

“Looking back now, despite the difficulties I faced, it was a blessing in disguise. I was sourcing casks well ahead of the curve, meaning we had access to distilleries and age statements that today are impossible to find, or casks that trade at significantly higher values than they were at the time we sourced them.”

Early career lessons

Lancaster began his career in hospitality before moving into the world of whisky investment shortly after VCL was founded in 2010. That early experience, he says, gave him key skills and values that he now applies to VCL.

“Maintaining consistency is extremely important – if you don’t manage to deliver a consistently high standard when it comes to both product and service then people just won’t come back. That principle has stayed with me throughout my career.”

His early work also offered an unexpected front-row view of brand building, and how consumer demands were evolving.

“Over the years, I built relationships with suppliers, brand owners and distillers that gave me a real insight into how premium brands were built, how they won consumer loyalty and how they adapted to changing consumer expectations.”

It coincided with a broader shift in consumer behaviour, where provenance and brand narrative became as important as the product itself.

“It also opened my eyes to the scale and complexity of the global spirits industry during a period when consumers were becoming far more discerning in their choices, placing greater provenance on authenticity and the story behind a product.”

But the most important takeaway was adopting a holistic view of the offering from conception to delivery and everything in between.

“Perhaps the biggest lesson that hospitality taught me, which has carried through to VCL, was to look at the whole customer experience, not just at the product being sold.”

Professionalising a traditional industry

As VCL gained a foothold in the sector, Lancaster began to see gaps from within and it became clear that significant structural change was needed in a sector that was still heavily reliant on what you might call ‘analogue’ systems.

“The original vision, beyond offering investors the opportunity for growth, was to professionalise what was still very much a fragmented market.”

“As an industry there was so much still being done using outdated, paper-based systems, meaning that transfers could take months, and there were no standardised industry-wide processes.

“I could see that if whisky casks were ever going to become a credible alternative asset, transformation was needed across the operational ecosystem.”

That transformation has centred on governance and digitalisation to accelerate processes and protect ownership.

“We have helped modernise how whisky, as a physical asset, is managed through better governance, digital ownership records and greater transparency.

“Ultimately, we want to make owning whisky casks as straightforward and as trusted as any other long-term investment, and that’s why we built a comprehensive portal allowing our investors to access real-time market news, cask specifications and values.”

Challenging tradition without breaking it

Introducing change into a heritage-heavy industry like Scotch whisky was never going to be without friction. The intention was never disruption for its own sake, but to improve the saleability and profitability of the sector.

“We’re not trying to replace the traditions that make Scotch whisky so unique, we’re trying to improve the infrastructure around it.

“The way I look at it is if transfer of ownership becomes quicker, records become more accurate and investor confidence is bolstered, everyone benefits.

“Innovation and heritage can co-exist not compete – an aspect that the Scotch whisky sector has demonstrated over the centuries.”

Betting early on technology

What VCL brought to the sector was some much- needed transparency driven by improvements in processes. Lancaster saw a sector primed for growth but hampered by its own antiquated systems.

“On a macro level, the biggest barrier to growth wasn’t demand for whisky, it was trust and that was largely due to the secondary cask market being opaque with cask verification and ownership records often relying on paper trails and manual processes.”

That trust gap, he says, had to be bridged for the market to scale.

“Any serious investor wants confidence that what they own is properly documented and independently verifiable.”

A key turning point for the business came with a landmark sale in 2021.

“The sale of the 1991 Macallan cask reinforced my conviction that technology could solve many of those longstanding challenges.”

From there, investment in digital infrastructure followed.

“By combining a physical asset with digital verification, it showed that provenance and ownership could be recorded securely, and we invested in Proof8 as a result.”

But he is careful not to frame technology as purely administrative.

“Technology isn’t just about recording ownership; it’s about giving investors better information throughout the life of their investment. One area that’s often overlooked is what happens at the end. Buying a cask is only part of the journey – understanding your exit options and the factors that influence value over time is just as important.”

Scaling trust at £150m+ under management

As the company started to scale, the challenge shifted from market creation to operational integrity.

“In the last sixteen years, we have grown the business to now manage more than £150m of casks on behalf of thousands of clients worldwide.

“Whilst that’s a good marker of success, it has also meant that we have needed to ensure that those assets maintain their maximum resale value.”

That required a mix of recruitment, internal governance and external oversight.

“Combining the increased AUM, cask management and investment in governance, we took the decision to employ M&G Trustees as independent record keepers for every cask under management and were the first UK whisky broker to fully digitalise our cask inventory.”

What actually builds long-term success

Although much of VCL’s success has been rooted in changing systems through technology, Lancaster also knows that the team he has built and his network of industry contacts are a key driver of growth.

“Relationships are built on honesty and consistency. The whisky industry is a very collaborative space and reputations travel quickly so if you deliver on your promises, treat people fairly, and operate openly, relationships tend to last.

“We’ve also recognised that expertise matters and have purposely brought in people with strong whisky backgrounds so we can integrate that deep industry knowledge with the systems and governance needed to modernise the market.”

Looking to the future

Alongside investment in technology as part of its brokerage business, VCL has also expanded into independent bottling with One Cask at a Time. 

“Although they’re separate businesses, I invested in Proof8 because I genuinely believe it’s the best end-to-end supply chain management platform in the market and one that can solve real issues around provenance, ownership and transparency. 

“Likewise, One Cask at a Time presented an opportunity to further bridge that gap between technology and heritage giving consumers a new way to connect with whisky. 

“Looking ahead, I’ll be excited to see how technology can keep improving investor confidence in tangible assets more generally. I think we’ll see greater adoption of digital authentication and more sophisticated ownership across luxury assets and, with more and more brand owners now adopting this technology, I think that whisky is well placed to lead that evolution.”

The post From paper trails to digital trust – how innovation is unlocking a traditional market appeared first on Elite Business Magazine.