The whisky production world just got a major technological upgrade that promises to transform how distilleries track every drop of spirit from the moment it enters a cask until it reaches compliance reporting.
Proof 8, a blockchain-backed platform designed for modern distilleries and warehouse management, has joined forces with Cockayne Systems, a division of DPS Group known for their precision cask filling equipment. The partnership, announced in London on January 20, 2026, represents a fundamental shift in how whisky producers handle one of their most critical operations.
For decades, distilleries have wrestled with a frustrating problem. When workers fill casks with new spirit, they typically record vital information—volume, alcohol by volume (ABV), and other production metrics—by hand. These manual records then need to be transferred into digital systems, creating opportunities for errors and duplicated work. It's a time-consuming process that every distillery knows well but few have been able to fix effectively.
The new partnership tackles this challenge head-on by connecting physical equipment directly to digital record-keeping. Cockayne's cask filling systems, which have served the Scotch whisky industry for over five decades, now feed data automatically into Proof 8's management platform the instant a cask gets filled. No more clipboards, no more re-entering numbers, no more wondering if someone misread a gauge or transposed digits.
Image credit: Proof 8
"This partnership represents a new operational framework for distilleries where the moment of cask filling becomes part of a real-time digital record," said Stuart Maxwell, COO at Proof 8. "It not only simplifies compliance reporting further down the line, but improves traceability across the whole supply chain, now connecting every stage of production. Our two systems together provide one connected workflow, connecting the physical aspects of distilling with the digital, to form one tamper-proof, accurate source of truth about a cask."
The implications extend far beyond just saving time on paperwork. Each cask now receives what Proof 8 calls a Digital Deed—essentially a verified digital identity created from day one. This permanent record follows that cask through its entire life, tracking not just what's inside but where it's been and who has owned it along the way.
For distillery operators and warehouse managers, this means having immediate access to precise information about every cask in their inventory. Want to know exactly how much spirit went into cask number 4,872? The data is right there, captured automatically when the fill happened, not reconstructed later from handwritten logs.
Image credit: DPS Group
Murray Blyth, Client Relationship Director of DPS Group, highlighted another practical benefit that distillers will appreciate. "By combining these filling records with the output from disgorging operations, customers are finally able to easily determine accurate cask by cask losses, quantifying the Angel's Share," Blyth said.
The Angel's Share—the portion of whisky that evaporates through the cask during aging—has always been part of the business. But knowing exactly how much each individual cask loses over time, rather than working with industry averages, gives producers much more accurate data for planning and compliance purposes.
"This partnership is particularly significant for distilleries already using or considering our systems, as it provides them with a frictionless route into digital transformation for their entire operation," Blyth noted. "By aligning our precision fill systems with Proof 8's platform, we're helping distilleries remove the duplication that's often involved in recording key production data at the time of filling."
The timing of this partnership makes sense when considering broader trends in the spirits industry. Regulatory requirements continue to grow more complex. Consumers increasingly want to know the provenance of what they're drinking. And as whisky casks become investment vehicles and tradable assets, having rock-solid documentation of what's actually in them becomes essential.
Cockayne Systems brings serious credentials to the partnership. The original JE Cockayne business provided cask filling and disgorging equipment to the majority of the Scotch whisky industry before joining DPS Group in 2025. Their equipment already employs advanced technologies to ensure every drop gets accounted for during transfers into and out of casks. Now that precision measurement capability connects seamlessly with comprehensive digital tracking.
DPS Group itself operates as one of the UK's only integrated providers of electrical, instrumentation, and process control solutions. Headquartered in Glenrothes with offices across the UK and Ireland, they've spent more than two decades serving the food and drink industry. Their partnerships with major technology vendors like Siemens, Rockwell, Mitsubishi, and Schneider Electric position them to deliver industrial-grade reliability.
The company's focus on secure digitalization of customer processes means operational data gets gathered automatically and presented in real-time, enabling managers to make informed decisions quickly rather than waiting for weekly or monthly reports.
For Proof 8, this partnership reinforces their commitment to solving actual production problems rather than just offering theoretical digital solutions. Their software-as-a-service platform already streamlines distillery operations and warehouse management, but connecting it directly to the physical equipment where spirits production happens takes the concept to a new level.
The blockchain backing of the Proof 8 system provides the tamper-proof foundation that makes these digital records trustworthy. Once data enters the system, it can't be altered retroactively, which matters enormously when dealing with high-value inventory, tax compliance, and eventual consumer sales.
Distilleries looking at this integrated solution get several concrete advantages. Time savings come first—no more double-entry of the same information. Accuracy improves because machines don't make transcription errors. Compliance becomes simpler when the data regulators need already exists in organized, verified form. And traceability strengthens across the entire supply chain, from the moment spirit enters a cask through bottling and beyond.
The partnership also points toward where the wider spirits industry is headed. As operations grow more sophisticated and stakes get higher, the old ways of managing production with paper records and disconnected systems increasingly can't keep up. Having physical equipment and digital platforms that speak the same language and share information automatically represents the kind of operational efficiency that successful businesses need.
For established distilleries with decades of traditional practices, change doesn't always come easily. But when that change eliminates tedious duplicate work while simultaneously improving accuracy and providing better information for decision-making, the case becomes much easier to make.
The whisky industry has always balanced tradition with innovation—aging spirits in oak casks for years while employing precise temperature control and sophisticated quality testing. This partnership between Cockayne Systems and Proof 8 fits that pattern. The fundamental process of filling casks remains the same, but the recording and tracking of what happens gets thoroughly modernized.
As demand for transparency, compliance, and data integrity continues rising throughout the whisky world, solutions that deliver practical results rather than just technological novelty stand out. By connecting proven filling systems that distilleries already trust with comprehensive digital management, this collaboration offers a path forward that doesn't require ripping out everything and starting over.
Instead, it builds on what works—Cockayne's reliable equipment and Proof 8's robust platform—while eliminating the gap between them. The result is a connected workflow where every stage of production feeds into the next, creating the kind of operational visibility that makes running a distillery more efficient and less prone to costly mistakes.
For anyone who's spent time in a warehouse surrounded by maturing casks, knowing exactly what's in each one, when it was filled, and how it's aging isn't just data—it's the foundation of the entire operation. Making that information more accurate, more accessible, and more reliable doesn't change what whisky is or how it's made. It just makes the business of producing it work better.
