A new whisky distillery is being built in the Faroe Islands and apparently they will be the first in the world to be community funded using crypto currency.
Despite its close proximity to Scotland (it is situated 200 miles away), the small archipelago of the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic – a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark – does not yet have a whisky brand on the market. This is about to change with test production and maturation of “Faer Isles Whisky” having been conducted for some time now.
From 1st August to 30th September 2020, whisky enthusiasts all over the world can register as founding members for €200 in order to later have the opportunity to invest in the project. Members will also receive a bottle of Faer Isles Founders’ Club Edition Seaweed Gin, the new make Faer Isles single malt, and a bottle of Faer Isles First Edition 3yo single malt once the spirit has completed its ageing process.
The beautiful and remote Faroe Islands are a fantastic location for whisky production and maturation because of the abundance of clean surface water. This is due to the high humidity and rainfall caused by the passing North Atlantic Current, which also ensures the very stable year-round temperature. The constant wind provides a salty atmosphere that has been used for centuries to dry and ferment food and will now benefit Faroese whisky as well.
Behind the project are a group of local whisky enthusiasts and investors. Below is the team behind the distillery project.
To ensure the necessary industry knowledge an Advisory Board of International experts within spirit production has been established, composed of people with extensive experience in the spirits industry, both from a production, quality assurance, and business perspective. The Advisory Board is non-executive:
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Julia Nourney, Germany (Independent Spirits Consultant with 20+ years of experience)
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Heini Zachariassen, USA (Founder and CEO of Vivino, the world’s largest online wine marketplace)
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Michael Fraser, Scotland (Business Development Manager at Badachro Distillery, previously at GlenWyvis Distillery)
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Alexandre Sakon, France (Director , ASC Barrels)
The funding obtained through the membership payment will be used to purchase the initial distilling equipment to start commercial production. This is the first step towards the actual crowdfunding that will be launched later this year that will fund the full-scale commercial production at the picturesque site in the old Viking village of Kvívík. Faer Isles plans to erect buildings based on opnahjallur (pictured below), traditional Faroese wooden drying houses with gaps that allow the cool wind to pass through.
The crowdfunding will apparently be managed through a Security Token Offering. An STO is similar to an IPO as it enables people to invest in a company. The difference is that the shares are not traded on a traditional stock exchange but are instead traded via a crypto platform. This method of funding is becoming more and more common for startups, but Fair Isles Distillery will probably be the first whisky distillery in the world that is funded this way.
The crypto platform used is based on ERC-20 (Ethereum), which is approved by EU legislation. Token-based crypto funding is basically a very efficient and consistent method to create a digital share register to keep track of all the micro-owners registered through crowdfunding. Everyone who invests in (or later trades) shares will need to go through the KYC process, which is governed by EU legislation, ensuring protection against money laundering and similar problems that have previously been connected with crypto funding.
Read more on www.faer.io
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