The team at Yorkshire’s first malt whisky distillery is celebrating after winning a coveted VisitEngland award just ten months after opening to the public.
Spirit of Yorkshire based in Hunmanby, North Yorkshire were awarded a Welcome Award in the Attractions Accolades in appreciation of the outstanding experiences they have provided since they opened their visitor attraction in April 2017.
Director and Co-Founder, David Thompson said: “We’re delighted to win this award, especially when you consider that we’re such a young business. It’s testament to our great team that we are one of only 86 businesses nationwide to win one of the five Attractions Accolades in our first year.
“We aspire to put Yorkshire on the UK malt whisky making map and this win stands us in good stead to build on our visitor offering that includes whisky tours and tastings, The Pot Still Café, events, music nights and distilling experiences.”
Designed to celebrate excellence within the visitor attraction sector, the VisitEngland’s Accolades showcase those businesses that go the extra mile to provide a high quality day out, whether through a warm welcome, an engaging story, a delicious lunch or the overall visitor experience.
Spirit of Yorkshire was launched in 2016 and is a collaboration between farmer and brewer, Tom Mellor from Wold Top Brewery and his entrepreneur friend, David Thompson. The pair have invested significantly to follow their dream of creating a Yorkshire whisky that doesn’t simply replicate Scotch.
Early signs of their success include selling out of their first Maturing Malt 001 in only four weeks, glowing feedback from industry professionals and healthy visitor numbers. The maturing malt gives a flavour of what the first malt whisky will taste like when it is bottled in 2019. Maturing Malt 002 will be released in March and is expected to sell out more quickly than its predecessor as the maturing malt becomes ever closer to the date that it can be called a malt whisky.