Ep. 11: David Thompson, Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery

Episode 11! Today, we’re going across the pond to the North of England and Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery. I’m joined by founder and Managing Director, David Thompson.

Dave is a farmer at heart, and Yorkshire is his garden. Yorkshire is the largest county in England by far and has ample space to grow grain and everything you need for distilling. And yet, like much of the rest of England, distilleries are few and far between compared to its Northern and Western neighbors.

I ask Dave why this is, what constitutes a “Yorkshire” style of whisky, if there is one, and what he and Spirit of Yorkshire bring to the table. The core answer and the most fascinating one is that they are, again, farmers at heart. Spirit of Yorkshire isn’t meant to be a global, shelf-filling enterprise – it’s meant to showcase what can be made with the local product and share it with those who will enjoy it. As their acreage grows, so will they, and not a second sooner.

Spirit of Yorkshire is a field-to-bottle operation, distilling their own home-grown barley. Keep in mind that this is the same barley that could be going to Scottish or Irish distillers – much of what’s distilled to the North and West is barley grown in mainland England, and yet there are conspicuously few distilleries where the barley is actually grown.

I love talking to distillers and producers right on the cusp of something big, and that’s exactly where Spirit of Yorkshire is. As we speak, new agreements with distributors in the US are being signed for their Filey Bay line to get to the US.

I’d also be remiss in not mentioning that Spirit of Yorkshire is a Jim Swan-connected project. The late Dr. Jim Swan, who passed away in 2017, was prolific. If you’re an American whiskey drinker, the most apt comparison might be Dave Pickerell, but with all due respect to the late Mr. Pickerell, Jim Swan’s influence reached as far as one possibly could in whiskey. Dr. Swan’s fingerprints remain on some of the most exciting distilleries around the world, from Yorkshire to Kavalan in Taiwan to Penderyn in Wales, India’s Amrut, and Kilchoman on Islay. He had influence in every major whiskey-producing country and many of the up-and-comers, too, with a signature style that was less about him and more about what the local style was or could be like.

So, does it make a difference to distill where the barley is grown? Well…to be honest, I’ll have to wait to find out. Not a long time, but just a little until distribution hits New York. I am very excited to do so and will be posting my tasting notes as soon as I can grab a bottle (or three). Until then, keep your sights on Spirit of Yorkshire, its methods, its expansive and informative website, and I’ll sit back and enjoy revisiting my medieval history years just a few hours from where the Vikings landed at Lindisfarne.

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Thank you for listening and for supporting, and please enjoy my chat with David Thompson, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery.