Newer Distilleries : Weetwood

This is the latest in an occasional series about newer distilleries, this entry is about the Weetwood Distillery.

Including a look at their first release: The Cheshire.
Location

The distillery is located within the @weetwoodales Brewery here.

History

Weetwood Brewery, a 30-barrel SALSA accredited brewery, was founded in 1992 with brewing starting in 1993. The brewery changed hands in 2014 and is now run by brother and sister Phil McLaughlin and Laura Humby.

Their ales available all over the country, in 2018 they decided to add a still to the brewery to allow them to distil gin, vodka and whisky.

Production

A tonne of English Maris Otter malted barley, mashed with soft Cheshire water, then slowly fermented gives 4,000 litres of wash distilled in a 400 litre copper pot still from Kothe in Germany.

Maturation

Weetwood use 145 litre shaved, toasted and re-charred American oak quarter casks to mature their spirit, they're stored for the first two years of their life in a shipping container where temperatures have varied from -5°C to +50°C, to quote Phil the angel's share was "massive"!

The spirit is then re-casked into a combination of European Oak Port, Sauternes, Red Wine and Madeira casks, The Cheshire is a combination of these maturations.

Their first cask was filled in December 2018, they're currently filling around 25 casks a year.

Website
Link to the distillery website

 

Review:

Weetwood's first release, The Cheshire, was bottled in Sep '22

Distillery notes:

Our whisky has been produced using premium English malted barley and soft Cheshire water. It has been matured in American oak quarter casks which have been shaved, toasted and re-charred to our specification before being finished in European oak barrels. At every stage of our production process, a journey of many years, we’ve gone to great lengths to generate flavour and character.

Nose: Creamy vanilla, baked apple and ripe tropical fruit. A floral background of jasmine, lavender and orange blossom. 

 

Palate: Sweet, creamy malt, orchard fruits and toasted hazelnuts, some green tobacco bitterness and peppercorn spice. 

 

Finish: Smooth and mellow with lots of orchard fruits and sweetness and just a little spice. Smouldering embers alongside caramelised pineapple.

My thoughts:

Appearance: Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, take an age to bead up before falling as slow thin oily legs.

 

Nose: stewed orchard fruit notes to start: apples, pears, a little dried fruit. Honey and brown sugar give some sweetness, orange zest a little citrus. There's some malt notes and a little hint of smoke here, a little vanilla and a some peppery spice.

Palate: thick sweet arrival: honey and caramel coat the tongue. The fruit from the nose is here, a little tropical as well as orchard: sweet dried pineapple, kiwi, apricot and mango. Marzipan notes - sugar and almonds and some berry notes are here too. Each sip reveals a little more but also leave the mouth dry, wanting more. A little cinnamon spice as the liquid disappears.

Finish: lingering dry nutty notes with a hint of spice, smoke and tropical fruits.

Overall: Wow - an impressive first whisky, no new make notes even though it can't be even 4 years old? A lovely colour from the STR casks and some dry spice and fruit from the European Oak wine finishes. This is much better that a lot of young first releases I've had, up there with Raasay. I can't wait for their next release due in March next year!