First bottles get new distillery into spirit
Maturing malt goes on sale from the people behind the Wold Top Brewery
The very first bottles from Yorkshire’s first whisky distillery have gone on sale.
The Spirt of Yorkshire distillery, in Hunmanby, has released its first batch of Maturing Malts, with 700 being snapped up already.
These bottles are not the first whisky produced by the business, as the single malt will not be matured until 2019.
The new venture is being driven by successful beer producer Tom Mellor and his business partner David Thompson.
Mr Mellor grows barley over 350 acres on his Wolds farm that is also home to his multiple award-winning Wold Top Brewery.
During production, all whisky starts with a beer-like liquor called a wash and so a move into whisky distillation – in a part of the country dominated by its key crop – was a burning ambition that is only now being realised after years of hard work.
The distillery has been developed on Hunmanby Industrial Estate with guidance from the late renowned whisky expert Dr Jim Swan. It is located just three miles from Mr Mellor’s farm, which is the source of all the barley and spring water used to produce its unique single malt.
Whisky production began in 2016 and the new make spirit’ must mature for a minimum of three years before it can be called a whisky.
However, a number of other spirits produced from the same process are now available to customers.
Subscribers snapped up 700 earlier this month and now it is open to the public to place their orders. There is also a chance to win the very first bottle of single malt to be produced, which will be available in 2019.
A gannet that appears on the whisky barrels and in the distillery’s logo has been inspired by the large colony of the species at nearby Bempton Cliffs, in keeping with its local provenance.
‘It released its first batch of maturing malts’