The Cotswolds Distillery was established in 2014, and is one of the few distilleries producing both English whisky and gin.
The Cotswolds Distillery and Visitor Centre
Initial development of the distillery was assisted by Harry Cockburn (aMaster Distiller and former Production Director at Bowmore distillery) and Dr. Jim Swan (an expert in cask maturation whose previous projects include work with Penderyn in Wales, Kavalan in Taiwan and The Milk & Honey Distillery in Israel). Production began on 5 September 2014, with the first cask of single malt whisky filled on 22 September 2014. The first release of whisky (4000 bottles),[1] when a selection of casks had reached the three-year minimum age, took place in October 2017.[2]
In January 2016, the Distillery opened a crowd funding initiative on CrowdBnk with the aim of raising £500,500 for expansion of the business.[3] The investment window closed with the initiative having raised £1,001,000 from 124 investors in seven weeks.[4]
In June 2018, £3 million were raised on Crowdcube for a visitor centre.[5] In January 2020, the company raised £1 million.[6]
In July 2023, the distillery took first place in a ranking by Cask Connoisseur and was the most popular whisky distillery among visitors.[7]
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.[8]
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.[9]
As of 2024 the distillery focuses on three key categories of spirits, whisky, gin and rum. They also produced a limited rnage of liqueurs, bitters and a gin essence.
The Cotswolds Distillery receives over 100,000 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.[14]
On May 27, 2024 the Cotswolds Distillery was named the most popular whisky distillery in Great Britain and Ireland by the Cask Connoisseur 2024 Whisky Index.[15]
The Cotswolds Dry Gin has won a number of awards, including World's Best London Dry Gin at the 2016 World Gin Awards,[16] gold medals at the Berlin and San Francisco World Spirits Competitions, and a Platinum medal at the 2015 Spirits International Prestige Awards.[17]
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.[18]
