England’s first peated whisky to launch next month
Distillery manager David Fitt told FoodManufacture.co.uk that a limited edition of the ‘Chapter 9’ peated whisky had been released last week, with a full public release scheduled for June 7.
He added: “As far as I am aware, this will be the first publicly available peated whisky ever to have been made in England.”
About half of the single malt produced at the distillery is peated (made using smoked malt) and half is unpeated, or plain, said Fitt.
The first (plain) single malt three-year-old whisky (‘Chapter 6’) produced by the distillery was released in December 2009 and has received very positive feedback from the trade, said Fitt.
“We’re exporting to France, Canada, Belgium, Holland, Japan and Germany, but most of it has actually stayed in the UK, which is great.”
The Norfolk-based distillery filled its first barrel of 'St. George's whisky' in late 2006 and now produces on average 13 casks a week, he said.
The whisky matures in American white oak bourbon barrels and is stored at ambient temperature, he added: “We don’t try to control the humidity. It’s what gives our whisky its unique character and colour.
“Some distillers add caramel for a more uniform colour at the bottling stage, but we don’t do that.
“We don’t chill filter it [to make its natural oils solidify so that they can be filtered off, reducing cloudiness] either because you can lose some flavour.”
