Manufacturer English Whisky Co. LTD Introduced 2009 | Country of origin Norfolk, England | |
Type Single malt English whisky | ||
St. George's Distillery is a distillery based in Roudham, Norfolk. It is owned by the English Whisky Company who are a producer of single malt whisky and other malt-based alcoholic spirits. It is notable for being the first dedicated English distillery for single malt whisky in 100 years at the time of the building's completion in 2006. Their first mature batch went on sale in 2009.
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Founding and History
Initially the distillery was planned as a microbrewery, an experiment in turning excess barley into whisky. St. George's Distillery now produces in excess of 1,500 litres of alcohol a year. Marks and Spencer began selling own-label English whisky in October 2013 which is distilled at St George's.
The founder of the distillery, James Nelstrop, described manufacturing whisky in Norfolk as a dream forty-five years in culmination. His son, Andrew Nelstrop, was the main contractor in the building's construction. The barley now used by the distillery is sourced in Norfolk and historically would have been exported to Scotland's whisky makers.
The premises were officially opened by Prince Charles in March 2007. In 2010 there was a fire at the distillery, which reportedly was only minutes from burning down stock reserves. Nobody was injured and production returned to normal soon after.
Production
When The English Whisky Company first started distilling in 2006, the Nelstrops brought in Ian Henderson (formally of Laphroaig), and a year later they hired David Fitt who has been distillery manager ever since.
The barley used in production is locally sourced and the water is supplied from an aquifer that runs directly beneath the distillery. The whisky is batch made by hand with no computer assistance, matured in fine casks, is natural coloured, non chill-filtered and bottled on site at 46% abv as standard.
Products
The distillery produces a range of whisky products, not limited to beverages but also including whisky-based jams & conserves. Its single malt whisky series is noteworthy for being released in batches called 'Chapters' denoting the change in the spirit throughout the aging process. Chapter 15, for example, was dubbed European Whisky of the Year in 2014.