Yorkshire’s first malt whisky distillery launches second maturing malt

The team at Yorkshire’s first malt whisky distillery has launched the second of its Distillery Projects ahead of the first bottling of its premium single malt whisky in 2019.

Spirit of Yorkshire’s Distillery Projects 002 is a limited edition maturing malt and offers a taste of the maturing casks at the Hunmanby, North Yorkshire, distillery.

The second of a series of four collectible spirits, DP002 is described as being ‘light, fresh and fruity, with notes of honeycomb, hot cross buns, barley sugar, gingerbread, orange sponge cake, black pepper, pear drops and white chocolate.’

Of the launch, Spirit of Yorkshire whisky director, Joe Clark said: “The Distillery Projects series evolved from positive feedback to samples of the maturing malt that visitors enjoyed when touring the distillery.

“With DP002 we wanted to showcase the lighter of our two spirit styles and create a more fruit and distillate driven expression. In contrast to our first release, where the focus was on our richer, heavier spirit style and more wood driven flavours, this new release really sings in your glass, and, like the first, is sensational easy drinking.

“Unlike conventional malts, DP002 is distilled in a combination of column and pot stills for an appealingly light texture. It’s then aged in a mix of bourbon, sherry and red wine casks to add depth to the flavour. And, as always, every ingredient is sourced from the land around us.”

Spirit of Yorkshire, the toast sponsor for TheBusinessDesk.com’s Yorkshire Business Masters Awards on April 26, was launched in 2016 and is a collaboration between farmer and brewer Tom Mellor from Wold Top Brewery and business partner David Thompson.

The pair have invested significantly to follow their dream of creating a Yorkshire whisky that doesn’t simply replicate Scotch. The distillery boasts two of the largest Forsyth pot stills operating in the UK outside of Scotland.

Mellor said: “We’re obsessed with distilling, from grain to glass. Our instinctive approach is all about taking the best of tradition and applying new thinking. We didn’t set out to just replicate Scotch, but to create a whisky that is filled with our own unique spirit and that of our local area.

“We’re committed to making every drop of our whisky from first principles. We only use locally and sustainably produced ingredients – all the barley and spring water that we use is grown and sourced from our family farm, just a few miles away from the distillery.”