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The BarrelRegister

A permanent public record of every barrel we fill, published as each record is verified. What went in, which cask, what it tasted like every time we drew from it, and the barrels that never became a release. Records are being opened progressively, and the standard they are held to is published below.

The Disclosure Standard Look up a bottle number

A batch code tells you nothing. A barrel record tells you everything.

Most spirits carry a batch code that resolves to a bottling run, not to a barrel, and the code is not published anywhere you can read it. We took the other route: the number printed on your label is a barrel, and the barrel has a page.

Each record holds the syrup batch it was filled from, the fill date and strength, the cask, every sensory evaluation recorded across its life, and the release or releases it contributed to. Records are append-only: corrections are published as amendments with a date and a reason, never as silent edits.

The register launches with the releases currently on the shelf and extends backwards as older barrels are reconciled. Where a record is incomplete we say so on the record itself, rather than leaving a blank.

Opening the register

Records open as each one is verified, not before

The register is a production record, so it publishes at the speed of verification rather than the speed of a launch. Each record is read back against the original fill sheet and signed by the Head Distiller or a named deputy. Nothing appears before that signature, and nothing is estimated to fill a gap.

Two things are being settled first: the barrel numbering carried on older labels, and the sensory lexicon that lets a note from 2021 be read against a note from 2026. Both are described below.

The page every barrel will get →

What is being settled first

  1. Label numbering

    Labels in the wild carry Barrel No. 41, No. 24, No. 44 and Cask No. A001. Whether those are one series or several is being read off the fill sheets, because a record that claims the wrong number is worse than no record.

  2. Order of publication

    Barrels behind the current releases are verified first. The record then extends backwards through the older fills, and each one is dated as it opens.

Record structure

What a barrel record holds

Every record holds Format · FNQ-CASK-#####
Permanent identifier
Opaque and never re-used. Carries no year, age or cask type, so it can never go out of date
Printed on label as
The label string, verbatim
Origin
Syrup batch, cane region, distillation run
Fill
Date, strength and volume into cask
Cask
Type, origin, previous contents, fill count
Status
One of ten distillery words, Filled to Lost to the angels
Sensory history
Every draw across the barrel’s life, dated and signed
Amendments
Corrections kept visible, struck through and dated
Verification
Signed by the Head Distiller or named deputy before publication

How sensory history is recorded

Before we publish a single tasting note, we publish the method. Every evaluation in the register carries the date, the drawer, the strength at draw, and a note written against a fixed lexicon, so a note from 2021 can be read against a note from 2026 and mean the same thing.

  1. Draw

    Date, strength and who drew the sample.

  2. Nose, palate, finish

    Recorded against a fixed lexicon, not free prose.

  3. Verdict

    Continue, re-gauge, release, or reject, with a reason.

  4. Amendment

    Any later correction appears as a dated entry, never a silent edit.

The lexicon is being fixed with our head distiller before any historical notes are published. Publishing the method first is deliberate: it is what makes the notes comparable rather than decorative.

Version 1.0

The FNQ Disclosure Standard

Ten clauses, published and versioned. Seven of them are on the shelf now, on every bottle we sell. Fill strength, cask-level traceability and independent verification arrive with the register itself. When the standard changes, the version number changes and the previous version stays published.

We are not asking anyone else to adopt it yet. That invitation comes once it is proven across our own range, a standard nobody has been held to is just marketing.

See how it applies to our method →

  1. 01Nothing is added, no sugar, no colour, no flavouring.
  2. 02The age stated is the age of the youngest spirit in the bottle.
  3. 03Both fill strength and bottling strength are published.
  4. 04Cask type and origin are published.
  5. 05Ferment method and duration are published.
  6. 06Still type and number of distillation passes are published.
  7. 07The raw material is stated precisely, syrup, molasses or juice.
  8. 08The country of distillation is stated, not merely the country of bottling.
  9. 09Every claim is traceable to a barrel record, on request.
  10. 10Independent verification is welcome.
Search

Look up the number on your bottle

Enter the number printed on your neck label, or a canonical identifier, and you will get the record behind it. The register is opening progressively: current-shelf releases are published first, and older barrels are added as each record is verified against the fill sheets.

Printed numbers and canonical identifiers do not always match one to one across older releases. Where a label number is ambiguous, the record lists every barrel it could refer to rather than guessing.

Report a discrepancy →

Head distiller nosing a sample drawn straight from a maturing cask
Every draw is recorded, not just the last one
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