The English Whisky Original Single Malt Whisky, 70cl

Product Information

The General Wine Company is a family-owned and operated wine merchant in Liphook, Hampshire, England. Szor sees his contemporaries as part of a broader world whisky movement far beyond the UK’s shores, like Chichibu in Japan, Stauning in Denmark, Zuidam in the Netherlands, Westland in Seattle, Swedish distilleries Mackmyra and High Coast, and leading producers in India and Tasmania. Ryes usually make it into cocktails; we suggest you use another rye for mixing and enjoy this one on its own.

Jim Murray dubbed this European whisky of the year in the 2018 edition of his famous Whisky Bible and no wonder – an elegant expression with an appealing creaminess, and dangerously smooth and drinkable. As for the English Whisky Guild’s evolution, it will require consensus on batch versus continuous distillation, using pot or column stills, and whether to insist on 100% English grains, which could make life difficult for peated whisky producers. Each bottle has its own character and speaks to the terroir that distinguishes English whisky from its more established cousins. There are fruit and ‘spice-forward’ flavours, such as ginger and pepper – which the team credits to those Bimber whisky casks – and you should also detect a range of other flavours from smoky charred oak to some fresh, tingly herbs.Being small batch releases means there will be variations in each bottling, but the distillery has a clear house style which underpins each release.

It's not terrible, and by that, I mean it's perfectly drinkable, but it's blander than bland and there's far greater pleasure to be found in other whiskies costing nearly 50 notes a bottle.The whisky is very light in colour, and it’s light on the palate too, with some depth provided by some prune-like fruit and a drying oak finish. While most new English distilleries have been releasing their whiskies to a fanfare of marketing noise, Dartmoor Distillery has been going about its business much more quietly, allowing the quality of their products to do all the talking. The nose is full of tropical fruit and smattered with pepper; the palate runs away with decadent notes of heavily candied orange and burnt brown sugar, and dry apple and nutmeg join ahead of an oaky finish. English Whisky distilleries have created 443 jobs across England and is sold internationally in 32 countries around the world including: Japan, France, Belgium, Netherland [b], Germany, Canada, Singapore and the USA.