Chase family moves into English whisky with Guy Ritchie
The family behind Chase Distillery has returned to the spirits sector with the launch of a new English whisky brand, backed by film director Guy Ritchie.
In 2008, brothers James and Harry Chase, along with their father, William Chase, launched Chase Distillery on their family’s land in Herefordshire. The distillery produced vodka and gin.
More than a decade later, Chase Distillery was acquired by UK drinks giant Diageo. However, the distillery returned to the family’s hands (including 500 casks of whisky that were part of the original sale) when Diageo decided to close the site and move production of Chase’s products to Scotland in January this year.
The family repurchased the distillery several years ago, which is located on their farm, and have launched their first English single malt, called Rosemaund Farm Whisky.
The debut release from the brand, named after the family’s farm, is a 10-year-old single malt made with locally grown Maris Otter barley.
The distillery has also tapped Guy Ritchie as an investor, known for directing films such as Snatch and The Gentlemen. Bartender and author Tristan Stephenson has also joined the distillery as master blender.
In addition to James Chase (who manages business and commercial operations) and Stephenson, the Rosemaund team includes distillery manager William Skinner (who has worked at the distillery since 2018) and Lorna Chase, co-founder – marketing and brand development, who is married to Harry Chase (co-founder – farming and agriculture).
Co-founder James explained that while they were creating gin and vodka during the Chase Distillery days, the distillers had been making batches of whisky every year from 2012. “It was really to express more creativity,” he explains. “We really had to keep focused on gin and vodka, because that was paying the bills, but it meant that we also didn’t have to talk or sell the whisky. It was such a long-term project.”
The 500 whisky casks the family had sold to Diageo never left the farm, he added. “It only seemed right to launch an English whisky. Those casks have stayed there for all of those years, and they’ve been ageing and no one really knows about them, apart from all of the guests and bartenders that visited [Chase] distillery.”
James added that the opportunity to launch the English whisky came when Diageo announced its plan to shift production to Scotland.
“They’ve invested heavily in the distillery [on Rosemaund Farm], and it really is a state-of-the-art production site now. And I’ve always loved drinking whisky. Since 2021 I really missed the industry, and I was always kind of craving a way back in. Within that time, I’ve gone off to start a family and kind of get on with my own life. But there’s always been a huge passion for whisky and a love of whisky.”
Apple influence
Explaining the decision to release a 10-year-old, James says it “shows the age and depth within the cask”. He adds: “The minimum age is 10 years. But of course, we’ve got that 2012 aged cask in there as well. And it’s just amazing kind of how much flavour it’s taken on within that time. We thought that kind of age was quite a bit of a statement to come out with because we’ll have some of the older stock around.”
The debut whisky (47.2% ABV) has been distilled and aged among old apple orchards on the family farm, deep in the English countryside, resulting in apple blossom being a significant flavour in the liquid.
The 10-year-old carries notes of meadowsweet, orchard fruit, soft baking spice and sweet malt. On the nose, it brings polished oak, fragrant meadowsweet and malted biscuit, with hints of cinnamon spiced plum, baked red apple and candied orange peel.
The palate is said to replicate the dryness of a Manhattan cocktail, carrying ginger heat and black pepper dance with orange zest and malty sweetness.
The first release of Rosemaund whisky is limited to 2,700 bottles and available to purchase through a ballot system this month. The hope is to increase the number of bottles available for future releases.
The plan is to launch more whiskies next year through two ballots, one in spring and one in August, with the focus on “following the faming seasons”, says James.
There are no plans currently for a permanent range, James says, but he hasn’t ruled it out for the future.
“I’d love to, at some point, say yes,” James says of launching a flagship whisky. “These first few batches, I think there will be variances to them, until we’re distilling consistently. We start distilling again next year, but the model is to release two ballots next year, and they will be slightly different in flavour and taste. But I’ll never say never. At the moment, we’re just focusing on this batch, we’re just not at the scale yet to kind of have a main consistent line that we want to make volume with. It’s really not the business plan or model.”
Stephenson, who James has known for more than 15 years, has worked with Chase Distillery on events, cocktail menus and programmes in the past. “We stayed in touch over a love of whisky,” says James. “And this opportunity came up, and I was looking for a blender, somebody that could offer kind of impartial, unbiased advice that had like a worldwide palate. There are very few people that have gone to as many distilleries as Tristan.”
James explains that when it came to creating the inaugural whisky, Stephenson was given the choice of around 10 casks. “We’re really happy with it and he’s really fun to work with,” James adds.
Both Stephenson and Ritchie are shareholders in Rosemaund Farm Distillery with James meeting the film director through a friend.
Partnership with Guy Ritchie
“We’ve known Guy for a while, he shares our love of farming and kind of countryside and the values of family,” he explains. “We were introduced through a friend, and kind of how it happened with Tristan, after a few whiskies and some promising conversation, he was really kind of wanting to get involved in a project like this.”
Ritchie brings “significant weight to the project” and will be featuring the whisky in his future work, although James was tight-lipped on the details.
“I can’t specifically give away too much,” James teases, but he is hopeful that the brand will be included in Ritchie’s future films.
“He’s a creative collaborator in the business, so he’s been really kind of getting to know Tristan and advising on everything from the design and where we’re steering the brand,” James notes. “But where Guy really has helped out is he’s given the business a WildKitchen, which is one of his outdoor cooking tents, which he’s really passionate about, so grilling and connecting people over fire.”
Rosemaund has one of the WildKitchen cooking stations outside (also seen in Ritchie’s Netflix series, The Gentlemen, a spin-off of his 2019 film), giving visitors the chance to end the distillery experience by cooking food over a fire.
“It’s a really immersive event. And I think that’s like the next level on tourism is it’s not just about the distillery and how good our whisky is, but it’s also the connection with people when we’re there, and we love this narrative over fire. So it’s really fun.”
The plan is also to run supper clubs to promote the whisky and hold events at Ritchie’s pub in London, called Lore of the Land.
Support for the English whisky GI
James has also expressed his passion for the “new wave of English whiskies”, citing the likes of Woven, Fielden, Lakes Distillery and Bimber.
As the English Whisky Guild pushes for a geographical indication (GI) for the category, James noted his support for the legislation and emphasised the importance of “that sense of place”, which Rosemaund is championing.
“I think it’s great for the category, and I personally am really well for it. I think a lot of bigger distilleries say that they’re aged in one place, but they ultimately get moved to a city where they’re aged. And I believe over 50-60% of a flavour of a whisky comes from the location of where those casks are aged. And I think that’s what an English category can define, and by keeping them on site, I think is where English whisky is really going to be held up and have a big point of difference to the Americans and Japanese. We fit in with the [proposed GI] definition, and we’ll be really championing the other brands that are supporting this.”
The deal with Diageo included the Chase brand name, the equipment and a lease for distillery on the farm, which remained in the hands of the Chase family.
I ask James if he ever envisioned the distillery coming back under his family’s ownership.
“In all honesty, I think Diageo, alongside a lot of other global spirits producers, have come under a huge amount of pressure. There [was] a certain promise for the brand to stay in Herefordshire. We knew increasing that that looked less likely given market conditions.
“I’ve got to stay positive in this because something good has come out of that. So did I want Chase to always stay in Herefordshire and be a farming heritage brand? Yes. Am I annoyed? Kind of. Am I annoyed about the moving? Well, it’s presented this amazing opportunity and left a distillery that’s been heavily invested in. So I’ve got utmost respect for Diageo, and I understand how bigger businesses work and hopefully we will have a good dialog with them going forward. I kind of had a gut feeling, but I never got too excited about it. I kind of got on with my own life, and [then] opportunities pop up.”
James has long-term ambitions for the brand, which he plans to “build slowly and with the right people”. The company is on track to lay down 250 casks next year, with the plan to increase that number annually.
“We’ve got age on our side, we hope, and we’ve got a team that is patient,” he says, adding that the aim is to “achieve margin, a good price point” and deliver a whisky “that is fantastic and great value”.
Related news
The English unveils ‘once-in-a-generation’ whisky
