Living: Meet the Team – Joe

Meet Joe, our Whisky Director. Joe’s the guy that picks which of our casks make up each bottle of Filey Bay single malt whisky. You can find Joe in the office, the distillery and at our events but mainly, he’s up in the warehouse, right at the heart of our whisky!

Q: What’s your favourite part of your role at the distillery?
A: Not easy to answer, think I can narrow this down to two things. 1) Cask selection and making sure that our whisky and all our releases taste as amazing as possible. 2) Hearing from customers who have enjoyed our whisky. It takes so much time, effort and care from a whole team of dedicated people. We set out to make the best whisky we possibly can so it’s genuinely really nice to hear when it’s being enjoyed, it makes all the hard work worth it.

Q: Name your top 3 favourite Spirit of Yorkshire releases?
A: Filey Bay First Release, this has to be on the list as it was such a landmark bottling. Not only our first whisky to be bottled but the first from the county, after that I would have to say Moscatel Finish followed by Yorkshire Day 2020.

Q: Your favourite whisky, excluding Filey Bay?
A: Not easy to answer sadly some of the best whiskies I’ve ever tasted are incredibly rare and way outside everyday drinking budget. If pushed for my absolute favourite whiskies/distilleries I would have to say 60s Bowmore, 70s Ardbeg and almost any Brora. I’m a big fan of Springbank, Lagavulin, Clynelish and Highland Park. But right now my go-to bottle at home for daily dramming is a Talisker 18yo. There’s so much good whisky out there I don’t think I could ever have just one favourite.

Q: If you could enjoy a dram with someone famous, who would it be and why?
A: Quentin Tarantino, to talk cinema and general nonsense

Q: Pick your favourite meal or piece of music to go with your favourite dram
A: Music always sounds better with whisky in your blood, but a bottle of cask strength Lagavulin and cheese board is a real thing of beauty

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