The Cotswolds Distillery was established in 2014, and is one of only six distilleries producing English whisky. Initial development of the distillery was assisted by Harry Cockburn and Dr. Jim Swan. Production began on 5 September 2014, with the first cask of single malt whisky filled on 22 September 2014. The first release of whisky, when a selection of casks have reached the three-year minimum age, will take place in October 2017 and will consist of 5000 bottles. In January 2016, the Distillery opened a crowd funding initiative on CrowdBnk with the aim of raising £500,500 for expansion of the business. The investment window closed with the iniative having raised £1,001,000 from 124 investors in seven weeks.
Technical specifications
The distillery features a 0.5 tonne mash tun and eight 2,500-litre washbacks. The distillation takes place in two copper pot stills supplied by Forsyths of Rothes, Scotland. The gin is produced on a 500-litre hybrid pot and column still made by Arnold Holstein GmbH of Markdorf, Germany. Using just the pot still section of the still, the gin is rectified using the 'steep and boil' method, and the gin is collected in one shot, as opposed to the multi-shot method traditionally used by larger gin brands.
Reception and awards
The Cotswolds Distillery receives 15,000 visitors per year and in 2016 won Best Distillery Tour in the Distillery Experience Awards run by Drinks International, and a Distillery Master award for Consumer Experience from the Spirits Business organisation. The Cotswolds Dry Gin has won a number of awards, including World's Best London Dry Gin at the 2016 World Gin Awards, gold medals at the Berlin and San Francisco World Spirits Competitions, and a Platinum medal at the 2015 Spirits International Prestige Awards. In the 2016 edition of his Whisky Bible, the whisky writer Jim Murray awarded the new-make spirit that will mature into the Cotswolds Single Malt Whisky 94/100, earning it a 'Liquid Gold' award.
