Costswolds celebrates local ingredients in this single malt. By Holly Graham.
What is it? The first whisky to be distilled in the UK’s Cotswolds, the distillery is committed to using only Cotswolds-grown barley and is one of the very few British whisky makers to use 100 percent floor-malted barley, which is unpeated. The distillery takes water from the local village supply and filters, softens and demineralises it before use. The barley is fermented for more than 90 hours, to help develop a fruitier flavour, then distilled in two Forsyths copper pot stills. Aged for just over three years in re-charred first-fill Kentucky ex-bourbon barrels and reconditioned American oak red wine casks, the whisky has no added colouring.
How does it taste? On the nose, apricot first, then paired with vanilla and caramel. On the mouth, the charred oak really comes through, giving the whisky savoury notes balanced by fruitiness. There’s a creamy, nutty mouthfeel too, followed by a long finish. Best sipped neat.
