CHARLOIS strengthens OAKING to offer global distillers a complete cask management platform

As the global spirits industry navigates a phase of inventory rebalancing, CHARLOIS announces significant new investments through OAKING, its integrated cask management platform.

«Downturns are the moments when operators must reinvent their supply chains, and when the most committed partners prove their worth. World-class distillers need a partner willing to invest alongside them, not retreat. We choose to invest now, because we are convinced the fundamentals of premium spirits remain entirely intact.»
Charles de Lorgeril, CEO, CHARLOIS

Just as spirits gain value through aging, barrel stocks can also be optimized, through cask selection, grading, repair, bespoke coopering, reuse, logistics, financing and end-of-life recycling. In a time of volatility and excess management, the question is no longer whether to optimize, but how to help distillers manage their cask portfolios.

In 2022, Charlois acquired a 26% stake in Oakwood Cooperage, marking its entry into the Scottish market and supporting the company through a period during which its activity increased fivefold.

For more than a year, discussions have been underway despite the context to acquire the shares held by the individual investors involved in the company’s foundation, recapitalize the business, and 100% integrate it as a Charlois controlled subsidiary.

Together with the acquisition of Kelvin Cooperage in 2023, Graf Brothers in 2024 and the creation of Oaking in 2025 with a significant investment plan, the integration of Oakwood Cooperage reflects Charlois’ ambition to offer a complete cask management platform to the world’s leading spirits groups:

Graf Brothers (Southshore, KY, USA) – continued investment in primary wood processing, the foundation of the supply chain and of the wood expertise from forest to recycling;

Kelvin Cooperage (Louisville, KY, USA) – new investment plan in cooperage capacity;

Oakwood Cooperage (Speyside & Glasgow, Scotland) – strengthening of the capital base, full integration into the group, and investment in capacities of the Scottish cooperages;

Diversified supply – rstrengthened collaboration with all Houses of CHARLOIS to offer a full portfolio including finishing barrels, and investment in sherry casks capacities in Spain;

Logistics and storage – expanded capacity across the group to support distilleries with a worldwide network;

Recycling skills – ensuring that every piece of wood is properly utilized and valued.

Since the 17th century, CHARLOIS has built expertise in premium oak transformation and circular valorization. Through OAKING, the group brings together fully integrated cask management services, one partner, across the entire lifecycle of the cask.

«The spirits industry is global, and its future is bright. It now requires global service providers capable of investing through cycles, not despite them. OAKING was built to be that partner.»

Sylvain Charlois, Founder and Chairman of CHARLOIS