THEY MAKE SCOTCH IN ENGLAND TOO

They make Scotch in England to. Although it’s not called Scotch, its called Whisky.

It’s the 1800s and the colonists have cooled it a bit with the colonising. So, what do they turn to? Tea? Coffee? Bovril?

No, it’s Whisky, that other brownish liquid. By 1887, there were 4 English whisky distilleries producing mostly grain whisky. Some say that they should’ve just left the distilling of whisky to the Scottish. When I write “some say”, it is more like “everyone says” as by 1903, English whisky had stopped and all the distilleries had closed down.

In the spirit of wanting to remember those distilleries that we have lost, their names are:

1. Lee Valley Distillery

2. Vauxhall Distillery

3. Bank Hall Distillery

4. Bristol Distillery

Rest in peace.

So, English whisky slept for a short while. Then after a brief 102 years later, the length of one Transformers movie, it had returned. The English Whisky Co. Ltd. They received their planning permission, an environmental survey and a nod from the council. The resurgence had begun.

Before we go into any more detail, I would like to share a thing I found. In my research for this article, I saw this on the Wikipedia page for English Whisky. It turns out Cornish whisky does exist. But where? Perhaps we will never know.

Okay, back on track. So, since 2005 there have been 55 distilleries that have produced a form of whisky in England. To say that English whisky doesn’t have much tradition is an understatement. There is no tradition. But, that lack of structure does allow them to try things. Many things. Kind of like Orson Wells in Citizen Kane (but not as famous as that).

When the distilleries are not attached to a history and a tradition of using the grain in a certain way, they get freaky. More than a quarter of English distilleries use a wide range of different grains from rye to oats. Through using some more bizarre ingredients and newer techniques, English distilleries have created a bit of a wave around the whisky world. Imagine that. A whisky wave.

Not only have these whiskies been getting award after award at various competitions, but the value of English whisky has skyrocketed in the last few years. I mean, in comparison to Scotch, it is barely anything. The plucky brit keeps improving though. According to people that estimate things, there will be 50,000 casks maturing in English warehouses and the value of stocks in all of these distilleries is around £1 billion. Now that is more than £999 million.

Will English whisky fall asleep again? Maybe. Will Michael Bay make another Transformers movie? Most definitely. Are you going to pick up a Cotswold whisky next time you're in the shop? Probably not…but maybe you will.