Filey Bay STR Red Wine Cask English Single Malt Whisky

The first single malt whisky distilled in Yorkshire. Made on the family farm where the barley is grown — field to bottle, on the coast where the Yorkshire Wolds meet the North Sea.

A 700ml bottle of English single malt whisky, distilled at Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery in Hunmanby, on the cliffs above Filey Bay. The barley is 100% homegrown, regeneratively farmed at the family's Hunmanby Grange Farm. The water comes from the same chalk that lies beneath the vineyards of Champagne and the South Downs. Tom Mellor and David Thompson — farmers, brewers and distillers — fired their stills for the first time in June 2016 and bottled their first whisky three years and three months later.

This expression is matured in two stages. First, in American oak ex-bourbon barrels — the foundation of the light, creamy, fruity Filey Bay house style. Then finished in shaved, toasted and re-charred (STR) ex-red wine casks from Spanish Rioja vineyards. The STR technique was developed by the late Dr Jim Swan, the whisky industry's most celebrated cask consultant, who mentored the Filey Bay team in their early years. Shaving the cask removes spent wood; toasting and re-charring activates fresh oak tannins. The result is a finishing cask that gives more of itself, faster, with red fruit complexity rather than heavy oak.

Made using a fractional blending system inspired by traditional Spanish solera — older casks topping up the released whisky each batch, building consistency and complexity over time.

On the nose: chocolate orange, toasted teacakes, fresh barley. On the palate: salted caramel, red berries, subtle barrel char, cinnamon spice. The finish: strawberries, black pepper, dark chocolate, dry oak.

Bottled at 47.3% ABV. Non-chill filtered, at natural colour.

World Whisky Masters Gold (2021). International Wine and Spirits Competition Silver (2021).

For roast lamb, dark chocolate raspberry desserts, aged cheddar. For sipping neat, room-temperature, with a few drops of spring water.

70cl. Please drink responsibly.