England’s ‘smallest’ whisky distillery to start production next spring

Cooper King Distillery – England’s ‘smallest’ whisky distillery – has pushed back the start date of its whisky production to spring 2018, while gin distillation will begin early next year.

The distillery, based in Sutton-on-the-Forest in North Yorkshire on the site of a former horse’s stable, was founded by Abbie Neilson and Chris Jaume.

The whisky will be made from Yorkshire barley, and the distillery aim to produce 150 bottles a month. The first whisky from Cooper King is slated for release in 2023.

Its gin will be produced in micro-batches that are “filled, labelled and individually numbered by hand” on site. Cooper King is said to be the first distillery in Yorkshire to use both “cold vacuum distillation [and] traditional hot copper-pot distillation”.

The distillery is also seeking people to join its founding members club, which will entitle members to rewards such as a lifetime membership, merchandise, rare bottlings and first releases.

The distillery aims to be run completely on green energy, and will plant a tree for each membership, “to offset carbon emissions”.

Cooper King Distillery has also produced a Yorkshire Gin Map, showing the location of 15 distilleries across Yorkshire.