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KWM Advent 2018 Day 14 - Cotswolds Single Malt

Posted on November 12, 2023

by Andrew

For the second year in a row, we have an English single malt whisky in the Kensington Wine Market Whisky Advent Calendar. Last year we had the English Whisky Company, this year we have the Cotswolds distillery. Cotswolds is part of a boom in English distilling, one of at least 13 distilleries in England laying down casks of whisky. While most of the distilleries in England are laying down Scottish style single malts, they aren’t bound by the same rules as the Scotch whisky industry. Cotswolds is already experimenting with laying down rye spirit and distilling its own rum.



The distillery was founded by Dan Szor in 2014 on an estate with two old stone buildings he acquired in the idyllic North Cotswolds. The site was in poor condition at the time of purchase. The buildings were quickly brought back to working and fitted into the region’s first full-scale distillery. The doors opened in 2014 and have seen visitors every single day since.

The distillery is said to have the feel of a cozy country cottage with the entire distillery including its tasting room neatly fitted into the two cottages. A new and larger visitor center and shop was slated to open late this year. The distillery operates with two pot stills as well as a Holstein still. The latter is used for the production of gin and other spirits. The Cotswolds Dry Gin was released in 2014 and in short order, it began racking up awards. The first release of single malt whisky followed late in 2017.

 


The distillery makes much of its sense of place in rural England, nearby are Shakespearean sites in Stratford upon Avon and Winston Churchill’s childhood home, Blenheim Palace. The distillery is an integral part of the local community, with townsfolk helping with bottling and peeling fruits for the gin. The spent grains from the mash feed local cows.
The Cotswolds Single Malt is made with locally grown floor malted barley. The distillery has a long fermentation of 90 hours, with a focus on generating a fruity profile. The first casks were laid down in 2014 into a mix of First Fill Ex-Bourbon and Reconditioned Red Wine Casks. The whiskies are bottled without colouring or chill-filtering at 46%.

 

 

Image courtesy of @frombarreltobottle


Cotswolds Single Malt – 46% - American Oak & Ex-Red Wine Casks –

Andrew’s Tasting Note

Nose: warm, buttery, almond paste filled croissants; big orange citrus and Scottish shortbread cookies; beer nuts and maple glazed almonds; malty and herbaceous.

Palate: round, chewy and very malty; the barley really shines on the palate; the whisky is young but the spirit very elegant; more orange and nutty almond tones along with both shelled and sugared peanuts; there is a touch of leather on top of a base of creamy vanilla.

Finish: light and short in length, but pleasant.

Comment: this is a young single malt that shows oodles of promise; can’t wait to see how this evolves over the next couple of decades! - $92 for a full-sized bottle. $14 for the mini / 50mL bottle while supplies last!

 

 

Playing catch-up on our 2018 Kensington Wine Market Whisky Advent Calendar?

 

 

You can find the rest of the blog posts here!

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted in Whisky, KWM Whisky Calendar 2018, Whisky Calendars

 

 

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