A strong aroma around this ‘award-winning’ whiskey brand: TONY HETHERINGTON investigates

Tony Hetherington is the Financial Mail on Sunday’s star investigator, battling readers’ corners, revealing the truth behind closed doors and winning victories for those left penniless. Find out how to contact him below.

SM writes: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) set out enforcement rules for whiskey investment companies a few months ago.

However, Riverside Whiskey Partners Limited continues to blatantly violate those rules. Why won’t anyone hold them accountable?

Tony Hetherington replies: Selling whiskey barrels as an investment requires no research, licensing or regulation and has no compensation plan if something goes wrong.

A growing number of companies have entered this sector, and the City of London police have urged investors to be cautious, citing Trading Standards advice: “Kegs are sold as a long-term investment because the whiskey needs time to mature in the barrel.” .

“This means it could take several years before investors realize that their investments are not paying off.”

They were not specifically referring to Riverside Whiskey Partners (RWP). However, RWP clashed with the ASA over claims that investors could expect “tax-free annual returns of 13 to 20 per cent”.

The ASA Enforcement Notice, issued to all whiskey investment firms, made it clear that any such claim required documentary evidence.

When the ASA intervened, RWP withdrew its forecast. But other claims persisted.

When I looked at the RWP website, it displayed the names and logos of the Forces charity SSAFA, Dementia UK and King’s College Hospital Charity, with the claim that RWP sponsored them.

Dementia UK told me: ‘Riverside Whiskey Partners has never been a sponsor of Dementia UK. We have followed up with the company to request that our logo be removed.

A hospital charity manager said: “I can confirm that Riverside Whiskey Partners is not a sponsor of King’s College Hospital Charity.”

And an SSAFA spokesperson told me, “There is no record that SSAFA ever had a relationship with Riverside Whiskey Partners.”

The RWP website also had a section titled “Awards”, which displayed the names and logos of three whiskey industry bodies.

The organizers of the World Whiskeys Awards told me that RWP had not won such an honour, adding: “We have written to RWP asking for the logo to be removed and have been ignored on several occasions.”

Roy Duff, co-founder of the Online Scotch Whiskey Awards, told me that RWP had not won any awards and did not have permission to use its logo. He described RWP’s promotion as “misleading and a misuse of our brand.”

And the Scottish Whiskey Awards told me they had given no awards to RWP, saying: “We first requested that our logo be removed from this website in November 2022.”

The ASA has also warned whiskey investment firms not to claim to have appeared in the press unless those articles are genuine, saying: “If you have paid to appear, it is likely to be considered misleading.”

Under the heading “Recently in the Press,” RWP provides links to three publications. Two are dead, while the third leads to an article written by RWP, described as “sponsored”, that is, simply an advertisement.

I put all this to RWP boss Neil Cahillane, who insisted that donations had been made to charities, but that they could have been from him personally or from a related company.

He said the logos would be removed, adding: “I must personally apologize, as director, for this mistake.”

He accepted that the press coverage consisted of ‘advertorials’, but told me this had been approved by a marketing company.

He made no mention of the ASA’s warning on the issue and offered no comment on the misuse of whiskey industry awards logos.

None of this has anything to do with the price at which Cahillane’s company sells its barrels. And it certainly doesn’t address whether the value of that whiskey will increase or decrease during the many years leading up to its bottling and sale.

But it does raise the question of whether you would trust RWP’s sales pitch. The answer is no.

The account wake-up call

DA writes: I am contacting on behalf of a local transport history society who allowed their Santander account to become inactive after being warned that reactivating it would be simple. But now that society wants to use its funds again, that has not been the case. I wonder if you can help?

Tony Hetherington replies: The society had three trustees, however one died and the other two are elderly. None were replaced and the society became inactive. Some of its supporters, including you, want to revive it and merge it with a similar local history organization. I asked Santander for help and they told me they needed proof of identity for the remaining trustees.

For one of the administrators this was no problem, but the other is 87 years old and does not have a passport or driving license. His travel pass was accepted when he voted in the recent elections, but was not acceptable to Santander.

I suggested he apply for a driving licence, although I wouldn’t use it as it would be acceptable.

However, I am pleased to say that Santander accepted a letter from HMRC as proof of identification. The account is now unlocked and the two trustees can use it and approve the merger.

• If you believe you are a victim of financial irregularity, please write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Due to the large volume of inquiries, it is not possible to provide personal responses. Please only send copies of the original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.