This single malt whisky is the first special release of the year from the English distillery Spirit of Yorkshire. The Filey Bay Porter Cask is a small batch bottling and features spirit distilled in 2018. This spirit was filled to ex-bourbon casks that had previously held Rip Curl porter, a beer produced at the brand’s sister brewery of Top Wold. The Rip Curl had been matured for 15 months in ex-Filey Bay cask. This beer, entitled Rip Curl Ebb & Flow 2023, is also available to purchase in limited quantities.
The Spirit of Yorkshire distillery is the brainchild of Tom Mellor and David Thompson. It is in the village of Hunmanby, between the towns of Bridlington and Filey. It was the first single malt distillery to ever be registered in the county of Yorkshire and gives a true ‘field to bottle’ offering.
They grow all the barley needed for whisky production on a nearby farm owned by Mellor before producing, maturing and bottling all spirit on site. The milling, mashing and fermentation parts of the process take place at the Top Wold brewery, which is a couple of miles from the distillery. Production began in Spring 2016 and current production sits at just over 100,000 litres per year.
Filey Bay Porter Cask is limited to just 2,000 bottles. These will be available at the distillery visitor centre, via spiritofyorkshire.com and specialist whisky retailers in the UK and selected world markets. It is released at 50% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. A bottle will cost £78.
Our Tasting Notes
The colour is vibrant gold and the nose is bright and sweet. Aromas of malted cereals and caramelised apple rise from the glass along with hints of vanilla custard, candied citrus peel (especially orange and grapefruit) and milk chocolate. Background aromas of warm baking spices, treacle sponge cake and baked pear create an enticing combination.
On the palate this whisky is deliciously fresh and green with a lovely sweetness and underlying robust maltiness. The bittersweet cereals underpin all the other notes that evolve to give the whisky depth and complexity. Notes of golden syrup and spiced apple crumble dessert lead the way and are quickly joined by vanilla custard, flaky buttery patisserie pastry and a pinch of cocoa powder.
There is also plenty of caramel and a developing note of citrus peel – this has a candied feel as on the nose. The whisky also becomes more chocolatey and spicy with time. Think of creamy milk chocolate here, plus woody baking spices such as cinnamon and cassia bark. There is a building heat towards the finish that is reminiscent of white pepper, clove and fresh ginger.
The finish sees the sweet and citrus-like characteristics fade. Of these the milk chocolate element last longest. This leaves the bittersweet cereals and warming spices to do battle. This creates mouth watering heat and dryness on the finish. Something green appear right at the end, which is reminiscent of green jelly babies.
What’s The Verdict?
This is a lovely whisky from Spirit of Yorkshire and we are enjoying their experimentation with different cask types. This is pushing the flavour profile in differing and unorthodox directions, which is something they seem to do particularly well. Their whiskies really seem to be coming of age now.
We also received a bottle of the Rip Curl porter with our sample, so also look forward to tasting that in due course. Spirit of Yorkshire and their Filey Bay single malts are developing very nicely and we cannot wait to see what comes next.
