English whisky eyes up more shelf space

The steady rise of English whisky has the potential to “make shelf space more equal” in the whisky category, according to the managing director of The English Whisky Company.

Andrew Nelstrop, managing director of The English Whisky Company

Andrew Nelstrop, managing director of the company, said to be the first English whisky distillery in over 100 years, told The Spirits Business he expects there will be a steady rise in the production of English whisky, a development which could “show customers there’s more out there than just Scotch”.

“Scotch has become a brand in itself,” he said. “But people are realising there are other whiskies available.

“Looking at supermarket shelves, the majority of space is dedicated to Scotch, with a small amount for Irish, Japanese and world whiskies. I think the more people know about other whiskies, including English whiskies, the more the category will grow.”

He further predicted that about “three or four” English whisky distilleries will open over the next few years, adding: “I see this as really positive for the category overall. The more the category grows, the more we will grow as a company.”

The Norfolk-based English Whisky Company began distilling at St George’s Distillery 2006 and has three ranges: a “black” range of both classic and peated single malts, a core range which includes various whisky “chapters” and focuses on the type of barrels used to age the liquid, and a higher end range consisting of cask strength bottles.

Age stock compensation

Of the company’s focus on barrel types, Nelstrop said that this was an ideal way to market whisky from a new distillery which did not already have aged stock.

“In our core range, the focus is not on age. We focus on whether the whisky is aged in a rum or sherry cask and whether it is peated or unpeated, this makes us quite unusual.”

He continued to say that although the company has the capacity to produce 160,000 bottles annually, it will most likely release 60,000 bottles rising to 120,000 bottles in coming years, citing his desire to build up the company’s aged stock.

Yet Nelstrop said that the distillery is restricted in terms of the aged expressions it released due to the level of evaporation at its dry Norfolk site.

“We would find it difficult to create whiskies as old as Scotch due to the amount of evaporation we experience. We would like to release a 30-year-old English whisky, but there’s no way we would be able to produce anything older.

“Our customers therefore won’t have the same bragging rights as Scotch consumers in terms of the age of their bottles, but we are very proud of the small batch, boutique bottles we produce.”

Nelstrop added that the strengths of his company lay in the fact it is independent and family-run, something that he claims interests today’s consumers.

This interest has been reflected in the sales experienced by the company’s liquid at high street giant Marks & Spencer.

Marks & Spencer deal

It was announced in November that the retailer would be stocking its own brand of English whisky, a liquid chosen from the casks of The English Whisky Company.

“The whisky M&S created is really great and the price point is just right despite all of the initial costs,” said Nelstrop.

While an initial agreement between the two companies was for The English Whisky Company to provide Marks and Spencer with enough liquid for 3,000 bottles, 6,000 bottles have been purchased. The 40% whisky, called Fine Single Malt English Whisky, is available at an RRP of £35.

Of the category’s position in the future, Nelstrop said that he is confident English whisky will continue to grow.

“Once English whisky has achieved a certain status, there will be no going back,” he said. “You just have to make sure that you have the right product, at the right time and at the right price.”