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The English Distillery, Norfolk releases England’s oldest whisky
By Shivani Dubey | 15 September 2025 | Food & Drink
The English Distillery in Norfolk has unveiled the oldest whisky ever bottled in England, 18 years after the very first barrel was filled in the distillery in 2006
18 years ago, farmer James Nelstrop opened the English Distillery in Norfolk, which became England’s first whisky distillery in over a century. This month, the English Distillery unveiled England’s oldest whisky ever bottled, the Cask 001.
Drawn from the very first barrel ever filled when the distillery opened in 2006, this whisky was matured for 18 years in the stone-walled Bond 1 warehouse. With only 60 bottles to ever exist, the whisky is presented in hand-crafted Norfolk glass.
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Over the last 18 years this whisky has remained at the distillery, being disturbed just twice – once to be transferred into a single sherry cask, before being returned to its original American standard barrel.
On the nose there are initially aromas of vanilla, red fruit and sandalwood, followed by crème brûlée and fresh strawberries. A little taste reveals a rich caramel with plenty of oak and stewed apples.
Alongside this, the English Distillery is also releasing the Founders’ Private Cellar 18 Year Old as a tribute to James, who passed away in 2014. His son Andrew, who now runs the distillery, described the releases as “a toast to the man who made it all possible” and “a fitting tribute to the revival of English whisky.”
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This whisky is full bodied with warming notes of cinnamon and clove underpinned by smooth vanilla, raisins and boiled tropical sweets. Final notes of chocolate and liquorice are finished with a linger of tropical fruit and slight oak smoke.
In 1901 the last recorded whisky distillery in England swapped from whisky to gin production before being destroyed by fire. This saw the end of whisky distilleries in England until The English Whisky Co. Ltd was granted a license to distil whisky by HMRC. In 2006 it opened the first registered, operational whisky distillery in England for over 100 years.