The English Sherry Butts - 46%
Based in Norfolk, St George’s Distillery are England's oldest whisky distillery and an independent family owned business. Originally conceived by father and son partnership James and Andrew Nelstrop as a micro-distillery, plans quickly changed due to HMRC requiring a still size of no less than 1800 litres.
With the help of then retired ex-Laphroaig Master Distiller Iain Henderson, production started and the first 29 casks laid down in December 2006.
St. George’s use locally sourced barley and fresh water from the Brecklands aquifer which runs beneath the distillery.
From the distillery
A first for The English, whisky matured in a sherry butt. These lovely big oak sherry casks have imparted wonderfully delicate flavours to our whisky; with no peatiness to the whisky, the flavours shine though resulting in a wonderful taste reminiscent of sticky toffee pudding.
Tasting Notes:
Appearance: Cooper gold, forms a thin line which slowly falls as thick, oily legs.
Nose: Rich dried fruit, candied peel and soft brown sugar.
Palate: Fruit cake, Seville orange marmalade, sticky toffee pudding and a slight hint of dark chocolate. Cinnamon and ginger add a little spice.
Finish: Follows on the fruit cake and marmalade from the palate, cinnamon warmth lingers.
Summary: Another well balanced, sherry influenced whisky from The English. Not quite in sherry bomb territory, the distillate still gets it’s chance to shine. A good, solid whisky all the way from nose to finish, and one of those to sit back and savour.
At a current price of £65 it’s certainly worthy of consideration, however my personal choice would be the Gently Smoked Sherry Hogshead expression which offers a little more complexity for around the same price. That said, it’s a great option if peat isn’t your thing.
If you would like to know more about The English whiskies, and the St. George’s distillery, follow the link to the company website.
Transparency: This sample was part of a 5 dram sample set, purchased from The Spirits Embassy. No goods or other incentives were exchanged, offered or requested for this independent review.
