English whisky

English whisky is whisky produced in England. There are currently at least six distilleries producing English whisky. Though England is not very well known for making whisky, there were distillers previously operating in London, Liverpool and Bristol until the late 19th century, after which production of English single malt whisky ceased until 2003.[1]

History

England, like Scotland, has a history of producing single malt whisky. However, the production of English single malt whisky ceased around 1905 with the closure of Lea Valley Distillery, in Stratford, London, by the Distillers Company Limited, one of the forerunners of Diageo.

In the 1887 book The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom by Alfred Barnard, the following English distilleries were listed:[2]

  • Lea Valley Distillery, Stratford, Essex (founded in the late 19th century) — produced both grain and malt whisky.
  • Bank Hall Distillery (Liverpool) — produced grain and malt whisky.
  • Bristol Distillery (founded in the 17th century) — produced grain whisky which was "sent to Scotland and Ireland to make a Blended Scotch and Irish whisky, for whisky purpose it is specially adapted, and stands in high favour".
  • Vauxhall Distillery in Liverpool (founded in 1781) — produced grain whisky.

In 2013 The London Distillery Company began production of the first single malt whisky in London since Lea Valley Distillery closed in 1903. Two other English distilleries, also producing whisky by 2014, were The Lakes Distillery and The Cotswolds Distillery.

Distilleries

Hicks & Healey

In 2003 two of Cornwall's drinks producers, St Austell Brewery and Healey's Cyder Farm, announced that they had begun to produce the first whisky in England for almost a century.[1]

In September 2011 the partnership released a 7-year old single malt and opted to use the spelling "whiskey". Whisky commentator and author of The Whisky Bible, Jim Murray, described the whiskey as "among the best debut bottlings of the last decade".[3]

St George's Distillery

St George's Distillery in Roudham, Norfolk, began production in 2006.[4]

The company founder James Nelstrop described it as a 45-year-old dream to make whisky in Norfolk and said that barley has historically been sent from Norfolk to Scotland to make whisky.[4]

The Cotswolds Distillery

The Cotswolds Distillery was established in 2014, and was the first full-scale distillery to be located in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Situated in a 5-acre site in Stourton in the North Cotswolds, its focus is distilling single malt whisky. It is one of only six distilleries producing English whisky.

The London Distillery Company

The London Distillery Company (TLDC) was based in a former dairy cold room in Battersea, London until December 2015 before moving to a railway arch in Bermondsey.[5]

TLDC was registered with Companies House in July 2011 by Darren Rook,[6][7] and investor and former microbrewery owner, Nick Taylor.[8]

East London Liquor Company

East London Liquor Company is based in a building that was once a glue factory in Bow Wharf, East London.[9]

Wharf Distillery

Wharf Distillery is a small batch distillery founded in 2014 by Laurence Conisbee to produce apple brandy from its own cider (Virtual Orchard Cider[10]).

The distillery uses 300 litre, hand-beaten copper pot alembic stills from Portugal. Their range now includes a gin Safine Drenc[11], vodka Gadan Drenc, and a range of single malts Fyr Drenc. Later in 2018 they plan to introduce a dark rum.

Their first whisky, named Cattle Creep after the narrow tunnel passing under the nearby Grand Union canal, is scheduled for release in late 2018. Matured in a Madeira cask, this very limited release will be bottled at 40% with a small offering of a Distiller's Cut being made available some time after. The release of their whisky will make them England's smallest whisky distillery.[12][13]

The distillery takes its name from its original location on Galleon Wharf alongside the Grand Union canal. It is currently located in the village of Potterspury, Northamptonshire.

Cooper King Distillery

Cooper King Distillery is an independent English whisky and gin distillery based in Sutton on the Forest, Yorkshire, which was founded after the owners spent time living in Tasmania and became inspired by the Australian whisky industry.[14]

Established in 2016 by co-founders Christopher Jaume and Dr Abbie Neilson, the distillery started producing gin in early 2018 and will cask their single malt whisky in the summer of 2018. It is the country’s smallest and first self-built whisky and gin distillery.[15]

Cooper King’s single malt whisky is produced using a 900 litre Tasmanian-made copper pot still the only one of its kind outside Australasia, using Yorkshire barley, and aged in a variety of casks including ex-port, ex-sherry, and ex-bourbon.[16] [17] The distillery is powered by 100% renewable energy.[18]

Casks for the distillery are handmade at White Rose Cooperage by Alastair Simms, one of England’s last master coopers.[19]

The distillery is named after owner Chris Jaume’s great-great-grandfather, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Cooper King, who traced the family’s history back to Yorkshire in 1030 AD.[20][21]

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Cornish take on Scotch, BBC news, Thursday, 1 May 2003.
  2. ↑ English Whisky page at Royal Mile Whiskies commercial website.
  3. ↑ Press Association (2011-09-22). "Cornwall produces first whiskey in 300 years". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
  4. 1 2 English whisky bottled for first time in a century, BBC news, 10 December 2009.
  5. ↑ "Interview with Darren Rook on Whisky Market Place". Whiskymarketplace.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
  6. ↑ Whisky Guy whisky blog
  7. ↑ "Times online - Clampdown on freelancer rules". Thesundaytimes.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
  8. ↑ "Envestors London Team". Envestorslondon.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
  9. ↑ "East London Liquor Company offers whisky lovers dram come true". Harpers Website. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  10. ↑ "Virtual Orchard". Berkshire Life and Buckinghamshire Life Magazine.
  11. ↑ "Gintroducing…. Safine Drenc!". Laurence Conisbee.
  12. ↑ "This is England". The Dramble.
  13. ↑ "Wharf Distillery commercial website".
  14. ↑ http://www.womanthology.co.uk/evaporate-accumulate-scientist-gin-whisky-entrepreneur-dr-abbie-neilson-co-founder-cooper-king-distillery/
  15. ↑ http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/NEWS/15885480.Eco_friendly_gin_and_whisky_distillery_announces_its_launch/
  16. ↑ https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2018/02/englands-smallest-distillery-gains-75k-funding/
  17. ↑ https://www.insidermedia.com/insider/yorkshire/natwest-funding-for-new-yorkshire-distillery
  18. ↑ https://www.insidermedia.com/insider/southwest/ecotricity-partners-with-new-distillery
  19. ↑ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/4108266/Englands-only-master-cooper-predicts-demise-of-barrel-making.html
  20. ↑ https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0016756800141639
  21. ↑ https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/couple-aiming-to-produce-whisky-galore-1-8706265)

Bibliography

  • Castle, Ian (16 May 2014). "Slowly Producing a Spirit England Can Call Its Own". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  • Rowley, Tom (9 February 2014). "English distillers race to profit from the £4bn whisky boom". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.