Yorkshire's First Single Malt Distillery Set To Open

Looking for a merry way to celebrate Easter? You will be pleased to know that Yorkshire is looking forward to the public opening of its first whiskey distillery.

Single malt whiskey is now being produced in Yorkshire Wolds, popular for malting barley, one of the primary ingredients for whiskey production. The water that is used in the process is drawn from chalk aquifers, found below the farm.

Spirit of Yorkshire distills its spirit traditionally. It uses the wash and spirit stills for six months, and distills malt in the column still for the rest of the year. Thompson’s aim is to create easy drinking signature malts in bourbon casks, before the distillery adds more complex whiskies to its range, using other casks.

Last year, the brewery founder and local barley farmer, Tom Mellor, partnered with David Thompson to set up the distillery. Renowned whiskey expert, Jim Swan, had mentored Mellor and Thompson in their unique whiskey-making operations.

In a press release, Director of Whiskey at Spirit of Yorkshire, Joe Clark, informed that, “…the distillery is an extension of the brewery, which itself is an extension of the farm.” He further added, “We only use barley grown ourselves, so lots of traceability. We want to put field numbers on our bottles eventually.”

At present, Yorkshire’s first distillery is distilling four times in a week and holds a capacity of producing at least 80,000 liters of pure alcohol in a year. The distillery also features a shop and a café that will offer tours from this Easter Monday.