top of page

The Incredible Rise of English Whisky

richesquire
Richard Chambers tour guide and founder of Richard's Tours
Richard Chambers, Owner of Richard's Tours and English Whisky Enthusiast

In 2006 when The English Whisky Company fired up their Stills at St George’s Distillery for the first time, they became England’s only dedicated Whisky producer. It had been over a century since the last English Whisky Distillery closed it’s doors. But a Norfolk Farmer with a vision and passion for Whisky came along and changed all that.


James Nelstrop had enjoyed a long and varied career, and should have been set to enjoy retirement. However, James was a man with a dream. A dream to create a England’s first Whisky Distillery for one hundred years.


James Nelstrop, Father of the English Whisky revival
James Nelstrop, Father of the English Whisky revival

It makes sense right?

England is a great grain growing nation, and James has all that experience in farming that he can turn to growing his own Barley. England also has a great beer brewing heritage, and as all Whisky geeks know, Whisky is what beer wants to be when it grows up! Getting a Whisky Distillery set up in England can’t be that tough right? Well let’s see what Mike Fisher, Head of Global Sales for The English Whisky Co had to say in a recent chat with me……

"Think what the craft Distillery scene was like in 2005. in England there was nothing! If you were to go in to a bank with a Whisky Distillery plan and say, I need some money to set up a Distillery, employ three or four people, we won’t sell anything yet, but in three or four years we might sell some Whisky, you would have been chucked out and laughed at!” – (Interviewed for English Whiskies YouTube Channel)


The initial plan was to set up a small craft distillery, producing Whisky that the Nelstrop family would be proud to share with any Whisky fan, expert or novice. Something approachable, yet accomplished, but above all a great quality Whisky.

Mike Fisher continues……

"Then HMRC got involved, and everything started to go err…well..RIGHT! in my opinion’'


At the time in 2005, anyone crazy enough to attempt setting up a Whisky Distillery, would have to install Spirit Stills of at least 1800 litres thanks to an act dating back to 1823, so James’s plan of a small ‘Few casks a year’ operation, became a much more expensive and expansive venture. (More on Spirit Still Sizes and the 1823 Excise Act a little later!) Mike adds…. ‘Everyone thought James was raving mad. But rather than running away, he went right, sod it! I’m pushing on! and invested his own money’

According to those who knew him, James was a larger than life character and great at getting people on board with ideas. This became clear when he persuaded Iain Henderson the retired Laphroaig Distillery Manager to come and help get things set up, and to make sure that new Whisky Maker David Fitt had successfully made the transition from Master Brewer to Head Distiller. David Has certainly done that, and has gone on to win an array of medals and awards within the Industry, and remains Head Distiller. Sadly the Godfather of English Whisky James Nelstrop passed away in 2014, but he saw his dream realised, and was able to see the success of his Distillery and knew it was in the safe hands with his son Andrew. But even as recently as 2014 The English Whisky Company was a lone operator, an anomaly.


James had proved it could be done, and David Fitt had shown English Whisky could be exceptionally good. But if you had spoken to a Whisky shop owner back then and said I bet you £100 that within six years, people will be going nuts for new English Whisky brands, auction sites would be selling inaugural releases eight times the RRP, and people would be literally sitting up all night with their finger on the refresh button to grab Single Cask releases, you would have been sneered at. But it has happened! So what exactly has happened? How has England gone from one Whisky Distillery in 2006 to around 55 at the time of writing in late 2024?

Map of Current English Whisky Distilleries. There are 55 at the time of writing, and more in the planning stages. (Map Shared by Cooper King Distillery)



The answer to that question could (in my opinion) be put down to a few main key factors as follows.

1. Changes in Society and Attitudes towards Food And Drink

2. The UK ’Craft Beer’ Boom

3. The pioneering work of Hicks and Healey and The English Whisky Co, which demonstrated that English Whisky could be viable.

4. Gin Revival and Mr Alan Powell

5. The Internet and Millennial’s


Let’s have a look at each of those in turn.


Key Factor 1: Remember those dark days when beers on the pumps in Pubs with the strange names like Old Speckled Hen, Or Tanglefoot used to be referred to as ‘old men’s drinks’? something bearded men in sandals enjoyed after a nice hike across the Fells? Well it seemed that just a few years after the millennium they suddenly became ‘Craft’ Beers. And it was still bearded men in sandals drinking it, but they were now called ‘hipsters’ and instead of hikes around the fells, it was a pint of craft beer after shopping for checked shirts and beanie hats in Shoreditch.

The once fashionable Stella, Fosters and Carling were now for chavs and the unsophisticated. What happened? The 1940’s-1960’s ‘Baby Boomer’ generation had grown up and started looking around for better quality ingredients and provenance for their food and Drink (Also to get snobby about, and show off how cultured they were) Remember the Yuppie days of the late 1980’s? Out went cheese and pineapple on sticks and Black Forest Gateau, in came bottled sparkling water with loads of marketing waffle about its pure mountain source or melting glacier water filtered through pine needles and bottled by an ancient order of Benedictine Monks.

Those baby boomers had produced their own offspring now known as ‘Gen X’ and ‘Millennial’s’ They had grown up with these strange new words like ‘Organic’, ‘Global Warming’ ‘Free Range’ ‘The Environment’ and ‘Internet’ from their parents. (More on Millennial’s later) As the internet and large corporations seemed to control everything, there seemed to be a growing rebellion against mass produced and processed foods, a hark back to the good old days, when life was a slower pace and every street had a Butcher, Baker and Candle Stick Maker (Funny how people seem to forget the Small Pox, Cholera and low life expectancy in their rose tinted vision of the past)


However, spurned on by TV Chefs like Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall and others, brits were trying new exciting foods, and words like ‘Organic’, ‘Artisan’ & ‘Craft’ started appearing all over the media and on supermarket shelves.

Even now odd things have happened to Vinyl and Cassettes. Rock bands made up of youngsters who barely remember CD’s are releasing their material on old formats as they also hark back to ‘the good old days’ where the you could pick up and study something tangible, something crafted. Cafe’s and Bakeries suddenly became ‘Artisan’ and for breweries the new buzz word was ‘Craft’ to distance themselves from the bland corporate thirst quenchers. And that brings us neatly to….


Key Factor 2: UK Craft Beer was born! As in many things, the USA started a movement that would ripple through the world. Craft or Micro breweries started popping up across the USA as far back as the 1980’s and it gathered pace. The Americans were now making better IPA’s than the British, the very nation that invented the stuff to survive the long sea journeys to Colonial India. Suddenly ‘The Campaign for Real Ale’ in Britain had a new lease of life, as membership surged. The UK needed to send an answer to those cheeky beer brewing Yanks, and remind them who it was that first created Imperial Stout, Porters and IPA’s. That old bloke in the pub who had been banging on about ‘Real Ale’ for years was suddenly a wise old sage and Beer Guru. All across the UK Craft Breweries started opening. Some of those small breweries like Brewdog for example have become huge success stories are found in pretty much every major supermarket in the UK, and in many stores across the world. When people start mashing and fermenting beer, and start thinking about grains, one bright spark may chip in that Beer production is stage one of whisky making. Minds start to whirl at the possibilities of making Whisky in England. Ideas start bubbling up over pub tables. The seeds are being sown.


Key Factor: 3: It’s at this point that Hicks and Healey need to be mentioned. Two Cornish Companies, one of them Healeys makes Cider, Liqueurs and Brandies. The other Hicks, is actually St Austell Brewery. In 2003 these two Cornish Pioneers set about collaborating to making a Single Malt Whisky and they achieved it! So why didn’t I start the article with these guys as the Pioneers of English Whisky? Well, they definitely get the credit of making England’s first Single Malt Whisky, and in the annals of English Whisky they need to be acknowledged, and applauded for this achievement. But this was a collaboration between two separate companies each with their own skills and experience. It was an experiment that turned out well, but in 2006 it was The English Whisky Company that set up a Distillery purely for the purpose of Whisky production. The first English Whisky Distillery in 100 years. We have largely covered the trail blazing work by James and Andrew Nelstrop and The English Whisky Company, except to say that like all successful ventures, people get inspired to have a go themselves. They learn from the good and the bad things that the first company did, and start to think how they could achieve similar success. So by the mid to late 2000’s the more entrepreneurial and perhaps financially successful Whisky enthusiasts started to think that setting up an English Whisky Distillery was difficult, but not impossible. But still even after St Georges Distillery was up and running, the financial and red tape considerations were huge! But by 2006/7 Two companies had proven it was possible to start producing English Whisky and the Craft Beer revolution was gathering huge momentum. British Consumers were looking for the next ‘Artisan’ Craft Discovery. Something with history and tradition that could be brought back.

Enter Sipsmiths Gin, (and a rather helpful Tax man, Mr Alan Powell)


Alan Powell. The Enabler!
Alan Powell. The Enabler!

Key Factor 4: Before we take a look at Sipsmith’s and the rise and revival of UK Gin, it’s a good idea to look back in history and understand a few things about Distilling in the UK.

In the early 1800’s, small portable stills were often used by Illicit Distillers (or Moonshiners) as they were easier to dismantle quickly and pack on to horseback or cart to escape the Excise officers. At some point, so the story goes, Edinburgh’s chief excise officer, who also happened to dabble in a bit of distillation himself, looked at his own 400­-gallon (1,800-­litre) still and declared that from now on anything smaller would be illegal! This was later put in to the 1823 Excise Act and would become set in stone. Or so everyone thought! This belief that Distilling was not allowed on Stills under 1800 Litres has been repeated so often and accepted as correct that it went unchallenged. (Even if we think of James Nelstrop and the English Whisky Company in 2005/6 they invested in much larger stills than they originally planned to meet the 1800 Litre Spirit Still regulations)

Historically Customs and Excise have refused the granting of a licence to any distiller wishing to distill spirit where the largest still used is less than 18 Hectolitres or 400 Gallons. Any hopes of setting up a small craft distillery in England were abandoned as hopeless. But the amazing thing was, this 1800 Litre rule wasn’t as set in stone as people imagined. Let’s hear a few words from the only Customs and Excise Man in history to be a hero and true friend of the Distiller.


Introducing the legend that is Alan Powell.


The following are Alan’s words, taken from an interview with Istillblog.com


"I liberalized a lot of HMRC alcohol policy in the mid-1990s, especially regarding spirits production, but the message was simply not acted upon by HMRC for many years and I wasn’t aware of the difficulties experienced by the “pioneers” of craft spirits production because most of my clients were then in the “established” alcohol sector"


This liberalizing of the Spirits production that Alan is talking about, is the fact that HMRC would consider applications from distillers using stills under 1800 Litres, as long as certain conditions were met, “We may consider licence applications in respect of stills below 18 hectolitres where there are satisfactory controls in place to protect the revenue, and the required control resources are not disproportionate to the amount of revenue involved”

(Or in plain English, we would rather focus on the larger distilleries paying us loads of tax, but if you can make money, keep proper records and pay us an accurate smaller chunk of tax, we might consider it.)


Sadly though it seems Alan’s policy changes hadn’t filtered properly through HMRC even by 2007, when a couple of intrepid friends inspired by the growing American Craft Distilling Scene and a love of quality Gin, spent two years trying to get themselves a licence to make Gin in London.


Sam Galsworthy and Fairfax Hall helped launch the UK Gin craze by starting Sipsmith Distillery in 2009. The first copper-pot based distillery to open in London in 189 years. If only the duo had found Alan Powell, he probably would have sorted the licence out and got them up and running back in 2007! I don’t need to tell you how successful the Gin revival has been in the UK and beyond. The ancient outdated laws had been challenged, brave entrepreneurs were starting to go for it, and there was a trickle of new distilleries popping up, but by no means a flood, and no English Whisky Distilleries for another two years. So what happened in 2011?


It’s our old friend Alan Powell again!


This time he has met a young entrepreneur named Darren Rook over a dram at The Scotch Malt Whisky Society lounge in London. Darren expresses his ambition to make the first Whisky in London since 1903. But Darren is worried about the 1800 Litre Still Issue, and not being able to finance such large stills. Of course, our hero Alan Powell saves the day, and explains to Darren that those larger stills are not required and as long as your finance is sound, you have decent business plan and no criminal record, get an application in! And if you fail on your first attempt don’t worry! since 1995 appealing decisions has become much easier and less expensive. (Thanks to the work Alan did in changing that policy as well!) It seems that at this point Alan’s life also changed, as around this time he realised just how little of his policy changes had been acted on or understood by those in his former department. If the license decision makers didn’t know the rules, how on earth would aspiring Craft Distillers.

Thanks to the assistance of Alan Powell, Darren Rook and his business partner Nick Taylor successfully launched The London Distillery Company, and did indeed go on to produce London’s first Single Malt Whisky.


The contribution Sipsmith Gin and Alan Powell made to the Craft Distillery Industry in England is huge. Without them the Gin revival may not have happened, and who knows where Whisky production would be right now? (Solely in the hands of The English Whisky Co I would imagine) The London Distillery Company also played a significant role in influencing and paving the way for other English Whisky Distilleries.


In a recent chat with Max Vaughn the founder of White Peak Distillery, he cites Darren Rook and the LDC as a main influence on his decision to set up the Distillery. It was these pioneers and fixers that inspired and helped smooth the way for the next wave of Distilleries. By 2013 and 2014 the Craft Distilling Industry really started to fly as this Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News headline from Dec 2014 shows:

"Spike in applications for craft distillers licences takes HMRC ‘by surprise’ The number of applications for craft distiller licences in the UK has taken HMRC “by surprise”, spiking from two last year, to 35 so far in 2014"


Come on Alan Powell, take a bow! (Just check his client list of English Whisky Distilleries)


The desire to produce Whisky has also helped the Gin Industry in the UK. How?

Well, to make Whisky is a long process. It takes three years in a cask to mature and be legally classed as a Whisky. That is a whole lot of time without income for a Distillery set up with the intention of making English Whisky. So inevitably many of those distillers turn their hand to Gin, Vodka and Rum production. These spirits are quicker to produce, and can provide valuable cash flow for the distillery while the Whisky casks are maturing. Also the reverse has happened. Many Craft Gin Distilleries have been so successful that they have decided to invest some of their profits into Whisky production to meet the incredible and growing interest in Single Malt. And that demand brings us to….


Key Factor 5: The Internet and Millennial’s

‘Millennial’s’, I can feel the cringe as you read that word. I myself hold on to the definition of a millennial as someone born from 1982 and who would reach the age of eighteen in the year 2000. As I was born in 1981, and became an adult in 1999, I very happily escape the snowflake tag (just) and park myself in the Gen X camp. Why am I discussing Millennial’s here?

Well for any product to be successful it needs to have a demand. And to see incredible growth it needs a large demographic of consumers. Of course Whisky has always been in demand and had a steady amount of devotees, but lets be very honest though, it has always been seen in advertising campaigns, and on the TV and in films as a mans drink. There have always been female Whisky fans, but they were not the norm or targeted. Let us also remember that Whisky is no new thing, but the term ‘Single Malt Whisky’ is (relatively) new. It wasn’t until Glenfiddich started to market the term ‘Single Malt Whisky’ in the late 1970’s/early 80’s that this new obsession began. Previously serious Scotch drinkers drank ‘Pure Malt’ as it was known. There is an old documentary from the 1960’s called ‘Whisky Island’ and a great moment when Bessie Williamson owner of Laphroaig (and the first 20th century woman to manage a distillery) is standing on a dockside in Islay as casks are being loaded, and she mentions that ‘only a few brave souls’ like drinking pure Laphroaig Malt. The vast majority went in to blends back then, and Pure Malt was something only a few ever tried. Try buying one of those 1960’s Laphroaig Pure Malts now! You will need have very deep pockets indeed. The millennial generation however grew up with the term ‘Single Malt’. It was premium, it was the symbol of a sophisticated cultured palate.

Those Millennial’s grew up, got jobs, developed a taste for all these artisan & craft things popping up all over the place. They wanted traceability, sustainability and a return to small producers who care about their craft. And even more crucially the Millennial Whisky fan has the internet and social media to post about their new love . They can blog, Instagram and live stream their every dram. And one key and very important thing, Whisky isn’t a man’s drink, society has changed, some of the best Distillers, Writers, and Industry Entrepreneurs are Women, and this welcome shift has largely come about in the last few years.

In this search for Craft and Artisan Spirits there is also a FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) when it comes to new releases. Can you imagine ten even five years ago, an English Whisky selling out within minutes of release? Some Bimber Distillery whiskies sell out in 2-3 Minutes, and get flipped for many times their RRP on auction sites. In the case of Bimber, their Whisky is first class and they are also very slick at marketing and selling their passion, but a lot of this has only been made possible by the Internet generation and the social media tools that enable the new English Distilleries to build up some hype around the releases. Lets just make sure the Malt always matches the media hype.


The Future of English Whisky


The Future of English Whisky The English Whisky boom shows no signs of slowing down right now, but of course eventually it will stabilise. But one thing is clear England now has a Whisky Industry. Some ventures may sadly fail, we have already seen the pioneering London Distillery Company go in to administration , and others could follow for various reasons. But English Single Malt is here to stay. When we think of the great Whisky producing nations we think of Scotland, Ireland and America. Ireland currently has 32 Distilleries as of December 2020. Many of those only started up at the same time as the English Whisky Scene got going, and as a reaction to the global demand for Whisky (Or Whiskey In Ireland) England currently at 55 Distilleries is a very exciting new Whisky challenger.

English Whisky is starting to be appreciated around the world. The larger and more established Distilleries such as The English Whisky Company, Cotswold’s, and The Lakes are already in international markets. Bimber Distillery is building on it’s phenomenal success, and has recently launched across Europe. Other Distilleries are not far behind. So English Whisky is good, in fact it’s excellent in most cases. It’s in demand, it’s growing. But we have one important question to consider… What is English Whisky?


Scotland, Ireland and America all have official regulations and laws as to what their whisk(e)y is and how it should be made. Those that don’t follow the rules can’t call their spirit Scotch or Irish Whisk(e)y, and in America the term Bourbon Whiskey can’t be used. These rules are to protect quality and ensure that inferior and potentially dangerous spirit doesn’t enter the market from cowboys wanting to make a quick buck. They also to protect the reputation of these great Whisky producing nations that have spent centuries working on their craft.

In Scotland, Single Malt must be made by a single Distillery from Malted Barley, and Pot Distilled. The Spirit is matured in Oak Casks for a minimum of three years before it can be called Whisky, and must be bottled at no less than 40% Abv. In the USA to be called Bourbon, a Whiskey must be made from a mash that contains at least 51% Corn, and matured in New Charred Oak Casks. To be called ‘Straight Bourbon’ it must be aged for a least two years. Bourbon must also be bottled at a minimum 40% Abv.

The long established Whisky regions have associations and professional bodies that ensure these rules are followed. But what about England?

As it currently stands, England’s Whisky producers follow the EU Regulations on what can be labelled Whisky (or Whiskey) as follows –


"Whisky or whiskey is a spirit drink produced exclusively by: distillation of a mash made from malted cereals with or without whole grains of other cereals, which has been: fermented by the action of yeast; one or more distillations at less than 94,8 % vol., so that the distillate has an aroma and taste derived from the raw materials used, Maturation of the final distillate for at least three years in wooden casks not exceeding 700 litres capacity. The final distillate, to which only water and plain caramel (for colouring) may be added The minimum alcoholic strength by volume of whisky or whiskey shall be 40 %. Whisky or whiskey shall not be sweetened or flavoured, nor contain any additives other than plain caramel used for colouring."


But as we all know, Britain has left the EU. The current regulations above could be blown wide open, or toughened even further into a Scottish style regulation.

This is the current situation that faces the English Whisky Industry, and one that divides opinions. Debate rages within the English Whisky community with many calling for a stricter definition of what English Whisky is, and how it should be made to claim that title.

Other Distilleries are embracing the freedom to use a wide range of still configurations, cask types and maturation techniques that would be banned in Scotland/Ireland and the USA. The fear from the more traditionally minded is that if we allow too much wacky experimentation it not only risks damaging the reputation of English Whisky, but showing a disrespect to the age old art and tradition of Whisky making in general.


If for example the rules on the length of maturation were shortened, perhaps this could lead to small ‘have a go’ distilleries that produce a much more inferior Whisky than those who have invested millions in their distilleries, and English Whisky starts to be taken less seriously.


One discussion I had recently (with someone very well known within Whisky) mentioned that in England we seem to have many Distilleries popping up, with a distiller who has little or no previous experience, and within a year or two considers themselves a ‘Master Distiller’ which would be laughable to a Scotch Distillery, where a Master Distiller was practically born on a Malting Floor and has worked through every stage of a Distillery, and spent a considerable part of their career as a Head Distiller, before even considering themselves a ‘Master’ (But in the case of fairness, some of those English Distilleries have gone on to win medals for their Spirits!)


My view, (for what it is worth) is somewhere in the middle. I believe that there does need to be a set of regulations to clearly define what a Whiskey made in England is, and what you need to do to be able to label your Spirit ‘English Single Malt Whisky’ But I believe that those regulations shouldn’t stifle creativity and innovation where the main focus is on producing the highest quality Whisky. I am broadly in agreement with the current EU regulations which maintain quality, but also allow much greater freedom than other regulated Whisky nations. (I think there is an argument to say that only Barley grown in England should be used!) But I would like to finish, by going back to the start of this article, and to The English Whisky Company.


English Whisky Distilleries if you are reading this, wouldn’t it be great as a mark of respect to the English Whisky Co (who started it all) to call a conference sometime in the next year or so, down at St Georges Distillery, and have a celebration of all your achievements, and continue the dialogue on English Whisky Definition? Wouldn’t it be good to have a annual English Whisky Day!

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page