Fife-based cask dealership firm Spiritfilled has upgraded its warehouse machinery as it continues to enhance its flagship storage facility in Newburgh.

The company opened Braeside Bond 12 months ago, with both investors and collectors quickly attracted to the merits of the 20,000 sq. ft. bond overlooking the River Tay. Distillers, cask owners and importers from around the globe use the warehouse, which has capacity to securely house around 14,000 casks.

Safely handling the casks is paramount, and Spiritfilled recently took further steps to bring additional security to its operations with an equipment investment, including its first electric forklift truck.

The German-made 5-tonne Jungheinrich counterbalance forklift has a 7,500mm lift height / 3,300mm closed height mast and comes with an enhanced gas detection and control solution, which checks the atmosphere around the truck for vapours before allowing it to power on.

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Spiritfilled has also added a cask rotator and a cask tilter, with both pieces of hydraulic equipment - manufactured by McGowan Engineering of Cambuslang - able to attach to the carriage plate on the forklift truck itself.

The rotator allows the safe and efficient palletising of filled casks, while the tilter is needed for stowing and de-stowing in the recently installed state-of-the-art racking system, housing both barrels (typically 200L) and hogsheads (typically 250L) - the two most commonly traded cask formats in the private whisky investment market.

Braeside Bond operations manager Torin Currie said: "The electric forklift has great benefits from an environmental perspective and also operationally.

"The cask handling attachments are innovative pieces of machinery which will bring many benefits for clients and reinforce investors’ confidence in how we protect their assets.

"It reduces the wear and damage to assets in long-term maturation, which is key, while also demonstrating our premium handling standards to future buyers and brokers.

"It enables transparent storage practices for audit or resale events and, importantly, aligns with HMRC warehouse compliance for bonded storage procedures."

The upgrade comes after the company’s recent six-figure investment in its advanced racking system.

Mr Currie added: "We are committed to becoming a leader in secure, investor-friendly storage, using Braeside Bond to raise the bar when it comes to private whisky investment."