Side by side : An Adnams flight

Launched in 2010 Adnams Copper House distillery was one of the first of the new wave of English distilleries, better known for their beer, the distillery is located within the brewery.

Here I'll try 3 drams.

Adnams have been brewing beer in Southwold, East Anglia since 1872, but the brewhouse existed long before then. In 2010 they installed an 800 litre copper pot still with 42 plated rectifying columns with two extra 1000 litre pot stills installed in 2015 to produce gin, vodka and whisky.

Locally-grown malted cereals are milled and mashed it in the same way as their beers, using a Mash Conversion Vessel from Huppmann rather than a more traditional Mash Tun.

They have a number of mash bills including 100% barley, 75% rye & 25% barley and a triple malt of 60% wheat, 30% barley & 10% oats. Each is fermented for 7 days using their unique two-strain brewing yeast, that has been in use for over 70 years.

Adnams yeast is unique in whisky production in that it's a top-fermenting yeast (like beer) rather than a bottom fermenting yeast that most distillers use. Equally unique is their use of 19 'square'  rather than round fermentation vessels.

An American Bourbon style “Beer stripping” column still: Copper Pot still and Rectifying columns with 42 plates (manufactured by Carl GmbH of Germany), has a capacity of 1000 litre per hour producing very high ABV spirit from the 7% wash.

Some casks are matured below the distillery in the old brewery cellars.

Let's see what the whisky is like:

Dram	Spirit of Broadside (Spirit drink)	Triple Malt	Rye Malt
Characteristics	40% ABV	47% ABV American Oak	47% ABV French Oak
Bottler info	Spirit of Broadside is an eau-de-vie-de-biere, produced by direct distillation of fermented beer that would normally be destined for the bottle. It undergoes an ageing process similar to whisky and has been in wood well beyond whisky’s legal requirement of three years. However, we can’t call it whisky because it does not evolve from neutral grain spirit. Spirit of Broadside retains some of beery characteristics - namely caramelised malt and hints of hoppy astringency. Maturation in oak barrels for at least three years adds a woody sweetness and spicy notes of nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom. The sorbet-like hoppiness cleans your palate, followed by a lingering vanilla sweetness and black pepper finish.	Adnams Triple Malt Whisky is made with wheat, barley and oats. The wheat creates extra smoothness and the oats, creaminess. Ageing in new American oak barrels for five years has created bold, strong flavours of coconut and chocolate. The nose is complex with notes of spice, coconut and toasted oak, citrus fruit and sweet honey. The palate takes you through sumptuous chocolate and exploding spices, before a long, satisfying finish.	Made from 75% rye (grown by Jonathan Adnams at his farm in Reydon, just a few miles away from our brewery and distillery in Southwold) and 25% barley. Rye is a complex grain that creates a thick, syrup-like 'mash' due to its protein structure and ability to retain water. Rye creates a whisky with great depth and character with a drier and spicier finish. Our Rye Whisky has spent at least five years in brand new French oak barrels before bottling.
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line and fall as slow thin legs.	Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line and fall as slow thin legs.	Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line and fall as slow thin legs.
Nose	Sweet beer notes to start with, hoppy and fruity. Orchard fruit: apples, pears and apricots balanced with hoppy herbal notes and vanilla.	Buttery popcorn, vanilla, tropical fruit: pineapple, mango, coconut and a hint of ginger spice. A little rum and raison fudge.	Vanilla custard covered stewed pears, a little dry oak and some meaty new make notes.
Palate	Smooth sweet arrival gives way to sour beer notes, some citrus and a hint of oak. There is some fruit here but also a weird hoppy note - it's like weak beer but with a high ABV. A few more sips offer toffee with a little sour citrus.	Smooth buttery arrival, toffee popcorn and ginger spice. There's some malt and sour citrus alongside a Bounty coconut milk chocolate note.	Smooth dry arrival, some fruit and milk chocolate chewing nut toffee. Like the nose there is some meaty new make hints alongside some hoppy beer hints. A few more sips offer citrus and
Finish	Unpleasant sour beer note.	Vanilla  and coconut with a sour citrus kick.	Sour citrus and fruity beer notes
Overall	It's really hard to get away from the fact that Adnams is a beer brewer and whisky is a recent addition to their range. The Broadside actually uses a beer wash which is why it can't be called whisky but the other two have beer notes in them too. To be honest as a whisky drinker I wouldn't bother with the Broadside or the Rye but the Triple Malt is worthy of further investigation. Tried on it's own I think the beer influence would be less, tried blind maybe you wouldn't get it at all? All of these are young drams so I can't ait to see what they have in the warehouse in a few years time when a little more maturation has occurred.

Many thanks to @johngoonn for the sample swaps.