Cotswolds Madeira Cask Distillery Exclusive

The Maker

A little over a decade ago I had my first taste of ‘English Whisky’. It was from what was then called the English Whisky Company based out of Norfolk. At the time it was the only significant whisky distillery in England and was treated more as a curiosity than a trailblazer. The whisky was pleasant enough. Nothing amazing, but it gave the sense that given a few years of maturation they might well be on to something.

In the years since English whisky production has exploded. At the time of writing there are 49 operational distilleries across the country with several more on the way. What’s more the standard is very high. In my own local whisky club English whiskies have consistency done very well, and that’s quite the recommendation from over a dozen Welshmen! Indeed the standard is high enough that many in Scotch are likely getting a little worried.

Among the increasingly strong field of English distilleries it’s safe to suggest that Cotswolds has rapidly become the best known. This is largely down to its simple but effective marketing, geographical name recognition around the world, and frequent appearances on supermarket shelves across the UK.

The distillery was founded in 2014 by American City of London trader Dan Szor who was apparently looking for something better to do with his life once he’d made plenty of money. To achieve it he brought on board a range of whisky experts, including Jim Swan who has made a habit of going around the world helping to establish distilleries in regions previously unknown for whisky production. These include the likes of Kavalan in Taiwan, Milk & Honey in Israel, and my local distillery of Penderyn in south Wales.

If you visit Cotswolds, as I did with the whisky club in the summer of 2022, you’ll soon realise just how small production is despite the profile they have on the whisky scene. As the tour guide explained, they only produce enough each day to fill a single barrel and are currently in the process of expanding to a new site with additional stills to significantly increase production.

The pitch for the distillery is to make something which speaks to the produce of the Cotswolds region, seeking to use nothing but locally produced barley. Yet the production itself sticks to the traditional Scottish style. This decision has become a point of debate in the wider English whisky sector between those who are seeking to replicate the Scotch style in England, and those who are seeking to embrace different production methods to produce a whole new style of whisky that England can all its own. Cotswolds, and other larger producers, seem to be firmly within the former group, while smaller sites like Bristol’s new Circumstance Distillery (site of our 2023 club outing) are looking to make something new.

All of this might well come to a head as the UK Government goes about developing a range of new ‘protected geographical indication (PGI) status’ in the coming years. I have to confess to being more in the latter camp, while recognising there should obviously be room for both. Hopefully, the UK Government will maintain some flexibility.

Given the financial pressures of producing whisky, Cotswolds have focused on releasing the vast majority of its whisky after just three years – resulting in the first batches hitting the market in late 2017. In the years since the range has been slowly expanded to include a series of maturations and cask finishes, included a peated ex-Islay cask edition which delivers that hint of peat without needing to change the barley. The fact that they are now expanding speaks to the success these products have had. As do the various awards the distillery has achieved for both their whisky and wider drinks range in recent years.

They’ve also focused heavily on their visitor experience. On the day I visited for example, the shop and café were full to the brim with locals and tourists. Yet these were seemingly people mostly visiting for a coffee, cake and pizza rather than for the whisky itself. If anything it’s become a bit of a tourist trap for ‘real people’, rather than the hive of whisky villainy normally associated with such distilleries.

The Expression

Nonetheless I went full tourist on the day and forked out £89.95 to fill my own bottle to the brim of a single cask Madeira matured distillery exclusive. Coming in at a very healthy 60.3%, this is non chill-filtered and of natural colour. It’s also a non-age statement so I presume three years like everything else. As I was driving on the day I had to trust wider group members that this was the one to go for. Given that we’ve had a fair few of the range over the years I was happy to accept their judgment that this was a cut above the rest that was on offer. That’s always reassuring to find out given that ‘distillery exclusives’ can be a bit of a mixed bag. Sure they can be great, but many use it as a way of getting rid of a cask which didn’t do what they wanted in the knowledge that 250 nerds like me will happily pay over the odds for it on a day out.

The Neck Pour

First impressions on the nose are that of dark chocolate and marzipan. And that’s definitely that almost artificial marzipan you get in highly-processed cakes rather than almond itself. But there’s also a thick, almost fatty whiff about it, like whipped cream. These develop into the sweetness and spice I was expecting from the Madeira which takes the form of soaked raisins and mace.

The first taste is much more conventional than the initial nose would suggest, but still very sweet. First off is the rich demerara sugar. Yet that quickly gives way to dried apricots followed by tinned peaches in syrup. Given that it’s cask strength the smoothness is surprising. If I had to guess I would say the percentage was in the low 50s rather than over 60. The alcohol does however come through towards the finish. This is heavy with mace yet again, but cuts away sharply.

The Body

Over time the nose has become sweeter still, but with sharp hints of spice coming through. I’d also suggest that the cask strength is now having more of an impact. By now the mace has been joined by freshly shaved nutmeg. Then the marzipan returns followed by that fatty cream that is eventually washed away by the Sherry. In contrast the chocolate is nowhere to be found. Towards the finish that creaminess is becoming increasingly waxy, which makes it a reminiscent of a good Clynelish.

Final Thoughts

I can’t help but enjoy this whisky. It’s rough in all the right places but smooth enough as a whole to make it all work. As is normal with cask strength releases I’ve been enjoying the second half of the bottle with a bit of water to see what additional flavours come out. In this case toffee and hazelnuts become more prominent in addition to what’s been found already. That waxiness is still there, but mostly sweetness and spice has remained dominant.

Given this was a distillery exclusive I know it isn’t something I’ll be able to find again. Which is a shame as I believe it to be worth the asking price. I see on social media that subsequent ‘exclusives’ are now being sold at over £100, which seems very expensive for a three year old whisky. Given the hit and miss nature of these exclusives it’s always going to be a gamble. This one at least was a winner.