Living: The Year that Was

We’ve just passed cask 2000, filled last week by our distiller Dom, Whisky Director Joe, and Co-Founder David. It’s now sitting comfortably in the warehouse, not to be seen again for a while. It felt like a really good way to round off a busy year…

We started 2019 as a fledgling distillery and we end it as whisky-makers.

Three years of waiting came to pass in June, meaning that we really and truly had Yorkshire’s first whisky in our warehouse. Then somehow it was the autumn and we were all-hands-on-deck getting Filey Bay out into the world.

Our aim has always been to make a world-class whisky. Taste has been our focus above all else right from the start and so we were exceptionally proud that Distillery Projects 003 was awarded 95/100 by Jim Murray in his Whisky Bible 2020 (unprecedented for a not-quite-whisky). Filey Bay First Release won ‘Dram of the Day’ at both York and Manchester Whisky Festivals, as well as garnering extremely positive reviews from customers and whisky journalists alike. We’ve got a really exciting product plan in place for next year with more bottlings in the pipeline.

Away from the liquid we’ve been working hard behind-the-scenes to keep improving our facilities. We’ve also made some great new hires across all area of the business, from front-of-house, to production, to finance. Our tours keep growing in popularity and we won two tourism awards this autumn – the York Press Business Awards and the White Rose Awards, the latter meaning that we’re now entered into the Visit England national awards too.

The Pot Still Coffee Shop’s popularity in the local community is growing and growing; we’re very pleased to see weekly regulars as well as new faces. We’ve increased the amount of local produce we use in our baking too and we were proud to be shortlisted in the Afternoon Tea category of the DeliciouslYorkshire awards too. Our music nights continue to be really popular each month and we have some exciting new bands and artists booked for next year. 

All of this means that we’re incredibly excited for 2020. Keep watching this space…!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The Spirit of Yorkshire Team.

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