Cotswolds Reserve
This week I’m trying something a little different - an English single malt whisky. There are less than 50 active whisky distilleries in England, nearly a third the number that exist is Scotland but this isn’t the whole story. The majority of these distilleries, including the Cotswolds, are less than 10 years old (I could only find two releasing whisky before 2017!). Needless to say, this is still an extremely young industry in England!
A few months ago I visited the Cotswolds Distillery and heard all about owner Dan Szor’s passion for whisky and locally-sourced barley. As with many other new English distilleries when they started distilling in 2014 they needed to produce gin alongside their whisky in order to have something to sell while the whisky lay dormant, maturing. Their gin was what first propelled them into the mainstream, winning multiple awards and is arguably what they are best known for, but whisky is truly at the heart of this distillery. Let’s find out if it’s any good.
Bottle
A simple bottle but individual even in its simplicity. It follows my favoured bottle shape - slightly short but robust and solid. There is an elegant taper towards the foot of the bottle and the label design is beautiful with a distinctive secondary label diagonally round the bottle. It feels premium from the moment you pick it up.
Colour
As with many of these smaller distilleries that are not selling whisky to the masses they focus on keeping the liquid natural - non-chill filtered and natural colour. Somewhere near the middle of the colour chart this whisky has an inviting burnished colour.
Nose - On first nosing, the most noticeable aroma is of caramel, not sickly but certainly rich sweetness. There is slightly more subtle, fruity element too with some apple breaking the richness - probably apple juice more than fresh fruit. Finally, as you would expect from a first fill bourbon cask there is a smooth vanilla aroma making this a delicious smelling dram.
Palate - This is a wonderful warming dram, the first sip reveals more of the vanilla and caramel but now there are a few spices, nutmeg and cinnamon, that give it hint of cola flavouring - not Coke or Pepsi, more like the sort from a brand purporting to use a centuries old recipe.
Finish - The finish is long and powerful. At 50% ABV there is quite a punch here especially when combined with the spices mentioned above.
Overall
English Whisky is on a rapid rise. We probably won’t see the best of it for a few more years but this is a great vision of what will be to come. The whisky is really good, the only stumbling block is the price tag, at nearly £55, this is a pretty pricey dram but given the youth of the distillery and limited number of bottles released it is understandable. If you happen to be in the Cotswolds I would really recommend a visit to the little distillery and I can’t wait to see what they can produce over the coming years.
Available from Master of Malt for around £54
