St George's Distillery is a
distillery
Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...
based in
Roudham
Roudham is a small settlement in Norfolk, England, part of the civil parish of Roudham and Larling in the district of Breckland. It was once home to Roudham Junction railway station. There are remains of a medieval
In the history o ...
,
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
. 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.
Founding and history
Initially the distillery was planned as a
micro distillery, an experiment in turning excess
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
into
whisky. St. George's Distillery now produces in excess of 80,000 litres of alcohol a year.
Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...
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
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
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 Iain Henderson (formally of
Laphroaig), and a year later they hired David Fitt who was the head distiller until 2022, Chris Waters is currently the senior distiller on site
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.
Products
The distillery produces a range of whisky products, including beverages and 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.
In 2016 the company drop the Chapters format and rebranded the range to "The English" the first two new expressions were ''Original'' and ''Smokey''. Followed a year later by the introduction of "The Norfolk" brand, a single grain range.
See also
*
English Whisky
References
External links
Homepage St George's Distillery
{{DEFAULTSORT:St Georges Distillery
Distilleries in England
British companies established in 2006
2006 establishments in England
Food and drink companies established in 2006
British distilled drinks