St George's Distillery

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.[1]

St George's Distillery
TypeSingle malt English whisky
ManufacturerEnglish Whisky Co. LTD
Country of originNorfolk, England
Introduced2009

Founding and history

Initially the distillery was planned as a micro distillery, 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.[2]

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.[3]

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 matured in casks, is natural coloured, non chill-filtered and bottled on site at 46% abv as standard.[4]

Products

The distillery produces a range of whisky products, including beverages and whisky-based jams & conserves.[5] Its single malt whisky series is noteworthy for being released in batches called 'Chapters' denoting the change in the spirit throughout the aging process.[6]

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See also
  • English Whisky

References
  1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8405783.stm BBC News on the English whisky boom
  2. "English distillers race to profit from the £4bn whisky boom". The Daily Telegraph.
  3. http://www.dissexpress.co.uk/news/latest-news/english-whisky-company-minutes-from-disaster-1-709281 Local news report
  4. http://whisky-discovery.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/visit-to-st-georges-distillery.html Whisky Review Blog
  5. http://www.englishwhisky.co.uk Official English Whisky Co. Website
  6. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/best-whisky-in-the-world-prize-won-by-japanese-malt-for-first-time-as-scottish-distilleries-lose-out-9835583.html Independent report on whisky awards
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