Cotswolds Distillery
Founded in 2014 the Cotswolds distillery does in fact hail from the Cotswolds, not only is the distillery located here but they also source all their barley from here too..
Pride in the local area demands they use locally sourced ingredients and although some things are beyond this what can be sourced certainly seems to be done so.
Once the barley is harvested then it is sent to Britain’s oldest maltings located in Warminster, the malting is done traditionally, on the floor !
Everything is done on a small scale compared to the typical Scottish counterparts, fermentation is around the 90 hour mark which is longer than most distilleries tend to do but there is a thought that slightly longer fermentation does give off a more fruity side to the spirit so we will see..
Double Distillation takes part on day 5 with the first wash ( Mary ) taking 2,500 litres before ( Janis ) the 1600 litre spirit still does her magic.
The distillery also produces Gin but that is not today’s topic so back to the whisky.. The distillery is now producing whisky and although I have not had the chance to try any of the distilleries own releases I am looking forward to tasting this indi bottling..
Batch 1 – 3 year old Cotswolds Whisky
Distillery.. Cotswolds
Region.. Cotswolds – UK
Age.. 3 years
Abv.. 50.4%
Outturn.. 1,785 x 50cl bottles
Nose.. Starting off with an explosion of fruits and spices this does everything it can to pull you in.. There is a delicious red apple aroma that mingles beautifully with fresh orange, plum and a little worthers original candy..
Palate.. Lots of spice greets with the emphasis on a little heat.. Fresh ginger and pepper turn into cough candy twists, orange peel and a dash of cinnamon.. The fruits do eventually show up with stewed apples and a little peach note trying its best not to get recognised..
Finish.. Oak and spice..
Thoughts.. This is youthful and raw but boy does it show some potential, the heat on the palate gives the age away but don’t let that fool you ! This is the beginning of a long journey for this distillery and the fact they are releasing young spirit shows how confident they are for the future.. Ok so some will argue that it’s a necessary development in order to pull in revenue but it can be a risk if the spirit isn’t ready!!
ocdwhisky.com 
I wouldn’t be surprised if this distillery overtakes the lakes very soon..
LikeLike
Hi, Sorren. Visited the distillery a couple of years ago. Less than impressed by their first whisky at the time BUT they’ve really got up to speed quickly and the stuff has improved massively. The malted barley I tasted there (always munch the barley!) wasn’t particularly sweet and suggested a low yield in terms of sugars. That and the long fermentation suggest they’re genuinely chasing flavour over litres of output. Being independent they are free to experiment with what works best with their set up to produce good quality. I reckon their whisky will be too notch in years to come (might even rival the Lakes who have really hit the ground running, Whiskymaker’s 2 is outstanding). Slanjeevaurus 🐢 Mick (loved your “den”, by the way – shelftastic!)
LikeLiked by 1 person