Yorkshire's first single malt whisky distillery has bottled a rare single cask in response to a request from premium independent grocers, Booths.
Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery, home to Filey Bay single malt whisky, was invited to select and bottle a single cask whisky to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the fifth generation family grocers.
Cask#175 was one of only three Pedro Ximenez (PX) Spanish sherry butts that were filled in the Hunmanby distillery's first year of production in 2016 - making it one of the oldest Filey Bay releases to date. Having spent hours in the warehouse nosing and tasting cask samples, whisky director Joe Clark concluded that Cask#175 was not only fitting, but also answered Booths' brief for a very special whisky.
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"2022 marks 175 years since 19-year-old Edwin Booth secured an £80 loan to open his first shop, The China House in Blackpool. Booths have been a great supporter of the distillery since we started running the stills in 2016 and we were honoured to be asked to select a cask for a whisky to mark this special occasion," said Spirit of Yorkshire co-founder, David Thompson.
"Cask #175 represents our PX matured whisky in its absolutely purest form. It is a delightful whisky that is rich and fruity with flavours of honeycomb, chocolate, toffee and dried fruits."
Only 521 £90 70cl bottles of the 62.5 per cent Filey Bay Single Cask Booths 175th Anniversary Edition were available and its launch, exclusive to Booths ‘ 28 stores, was eagerly anticipated, with queues forming outside stores, leading to 60 per cent of stock selling out within two days.
Booths Wine and Spirits Buyer, Pete Newton, is delighted with the release: "We have followed Filey Bay's journey from a maturing malt to a world class whisky with interest and were delighted that the team at Spirit of Yorkshire were able to bottle a rare and exclusive whisky for our landmark celebration.
"Booths is committed to sustainable agriculture, and we love the fact that Spirit of Yorkshire is one of a handful of whisky distilleries worldwide that grow 100 per cent of the barley used in its field to bottle whisky production and that our anniversary whisky is made from barley grown on co-founder Tom Mellor's farm in East Yorkshire."
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