Today, English whisky is a growing category.
In 2006, things looked rather different.
The English Distillery became England's first registered operational whisky distillery for more than a century, when the Nelstrop family established St George's Distillery at Roudham in Norfolk.
It wasn't simply another distillery joining an established English whisky industry.
It helped create one.
The ambition from the beginning was straightforward but considerable: to make world-class single malt whisky in England.
Nearly two decades later, two world titles suggest that ambition wasn't misplaced.
The family that helped bring whisky distilling back to England
The story began with James Nelstrop, a farmer with a long-held ambition to make whisky.
In 2005, James began turning that ambition into reality, submitting plans for a whisky distillery in Norfolk.
The following year, The English Distillery became England's first registered operational whisky distillery for more than 100 years.
Noted distiller Iain Henderson, formerly of Laphroaig, helped establish production and led the distillation of the first whisky.
In 2007, the distillery was officially opened by the then HRH The Prince of Wales, now King Charles III.
The distillery remains family-owned today and is led by James's son Andrew Nelstrop, continuing the family's original ambition to make exceptional single malt whisky in Norfolk.
Why Norfolk?
Norfolk isn't simply the location of The English Distillery. It plays a part in how the whisky is made.
When the distillery was built at Roudham, the site was chosen directly above a source of sweet, mineral-rich water from the Breckland aquifer.
That same water has been used to make the whisky since 2006.
The distillery also points to Norfolk's climate – its relatively mild winters and dry summers – as particularly well suited to barrel maturation.
Every drop of The English is matured in carefully selected casks on site in Norfolk.
So from water and distillation through to maturation, Roudham isn't merely an address printed on the label.
It's where the whisky becomes The English.
How is English whisky made in Norfolk?
The English Distillery deliberately takes a traditional approach.
Whisky is produced using slow processes and traditional copper pot stills, with considerable emphasis placed on the quality of the spirit before it reaches the cask.
Then comes time.
The distillery maintains a diverse collection of maturing whisky in its Norfolk warehouses, using different cask types and maturation techniques to create everything from approachable core single malts to much smaller experimental releases.
There are no shortcuts to making mature whisky.
The fact that The English Distillery has been filling casks since 2006 now gives its whisky makers something particularly valuable:
nearly two decades of Norfolk-matured spirit to work with.
The World's Best Single Malt – made in Norfolk
In 2024, something rather significant happened at a rural Norfolk distillery.
The English Sherry Cask was named World's Best Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards.
It wasn't simply named best English whisky. It competed against single malts from established whisky-producing countries around the world and took the overall title.
Then, in 2026, The English did it again in another category.
The English Gently Smoked Sherry Hogshead was named World's Best Small Batch Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards.
Two world titles in three years make a compelling argument for something that would have seemed rather improbable when the Nelstrop family started building a whisky distillery in Norfolk:
world-class single malt whisky can be made in England.
From approachable single malt to small-batch releases
One of the strengths of The English collection is that it doesn't require you to be a whisky expert before you're allowed to enjoy it.
The distillery deliberately aims to make whisky that is approachable without being dumbed down.
That means the range can take you from accessible expressions such as The English Original through smoky and sherry-matured whiskies to rum-cask maturation and increasingly limited small-batch releases.
For whisky enthusiasts, the distillery's growing stocks provide opportunities to explore different casks, ages, levels of smoke and maturation techniques.
For somebody discovering English whisky for the first time, there's an equally straightforward starting point.
Where can I buy Norfolk whisky?
You can buy The English whisky from The Norfolk Deli in Hunstanton, where we stock a selection from Norfolk's own English whisky distillery alongside other spirits made across the county.
You can also order Norfolk whisky here through our online shop for UK delivery.
So whether you're looking for your first bottle of English single malt, searching for a Norfolk whisky as a gift or already know exactly which expression from The English you're after, you'll find our current selection above.
