Why It’s On Our Shelves
An 11-year-old English single malt whisky, matured exclusively in ex-Bourbon casks at St George's Distillery in Norfolk.
Produced in Norfolk by English Whisky →
The English 11 Year Old is part of The English Whisky Company's annual aged releases, offering an opportunity to explore what extended maturation brings to whisky produced at the Norfolk distillery.
After more than a decade in ex-Bourbon casks, the whisky has developed an intriguing combination of vanilla, citrus, orchard fruit, tropical fruit, herbs, oak and gentle spice.
The nose moves from vanilla and citrus through mint and sage to baked apple, peach, mango, dried apricot and cherries. On the palate, those fruit characteristics meet drier oak and peppery warmth before developing into a long, warming finish of lingering fruit, spice and sweet oak.
For anyone interested in how English whisky develops with age, this is a particularly interesting bottle.
What does The English 11 Year Old taste like?
This is a fruit-led, mature single malt with oak, herbs and gentle spice alongside the sweeter characteristics of ex-Bourbon cask maturation.
Nose: Gentle vanilla and citrus with a touch of nuttiness and herbal notes of mint and sage. Baked apple, peach, mango, dried apricot and cherries provide plenty of fruit.
Palate: Dry oak is followed by cherries, apples and tropical fruit, with peppery spice and a warming tingle. Orchard fruit, creaminess and soft oak develop as you drink.
Finish: Long and warming, with lingering fruit, gentle spice and sweet oak.
How old is The English 11 Year Old Whisky?
As the name indicates, this English single malt has been matured for at least 11 years.
Age statements on whisky refer to the youngest whisky contained in the bottle, so a whisky carrying an 11-year age statement cannot contain whisky younger than 11 years.
For The English Whisky Company, releases such as this also provide an interesting demonstration of how stocks laid down at St George's Distillery are developing with extended maturation.
What casks are used for The English 11 Year Old?
This release is matured in ex-Bourbon casks.
These are barrels that previously held American Bourbon before being used to mature English single malt whisky.
Over 11 years, interaction between the whisky and those casks contributes to the vanilla, fruit, oak and spice characteristics found in the finished whisky.
What does an ex-Bourbon cask add to whisky?
Ex-Bourbon barrels are widely used for maturing single malt whisky.
They can contribute characteristics including vanilla, sweetness, oak, spice and fruit, while allowing the character of the underlying spirit to remain apparent.
With longer maturation, that interaction between spirit, wood and time becomes increasingly important to the finished whisky.
In The English 11 Year Old, you'll find vanilla and fruit alongside drier oak and gentle peppery spice.
Where is The English 11 Year Old made?
The English 11 Year Old is produced at St George's Distillery in Norfolk, home of The English Whisky Company.
The whisky is matured in the distillery's onsite barrelhouses before selected casks are brought together for the annual 11 Year Old release.
It's another opportunity to taste a genuinely Norfolk-produced English single malt, this time with more than a decade of maturation behind it.
Is each release of The English 11 Year Old exactly the same?
Not necessarily.
The English Whisky Company's 11 Year Old is released in small batches, and individual annual releases can have their own nuances depending upon the particular mature casks selected.
The defining characteristics remain the age statement and ex-Bourbon cask maturation, but small-batch whisky isn't necessarily designed to taste absolutely identical from one release to another.
That's part of what makes successive releases interesting.
How should you drink The English 11 Year Old?
We'd begin neat and at room temperature.
Give the whisky a little time in the glass before tasting it. Then add a few drops of water and return to it – water can help reveal more of the fruit, citrus and herbal characteristics.
If you prefer whisky over ice, a single large cube will cool it while diluting it more slowly than several smaller cubes.
There isn't a correct way to drink it. The useful thing is to taste it neat first so you have a reference point before adding anything.
What food goes with an 11-year-old English whisky?
The combination of fruit, vanilla, oak and gentle spice makes this particularly well suited to after-dinner drinking.
Try it alongside:
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Dark chocolate
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Almond tart
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Apple tart or other apple-based desserts
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Fruit cake
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Mature hard cheese
Or forget the food entirely and give the whisky your full attention.
Why we like it
Age isn't automatically a guarantee that one whisky will be better than another, but it does tell you something important: time.
This whisky has spent at least 11 years maturing in ex-Bourbon casks in Norfolk, giving spirit, oak and environment more than a decade to interact.
The result brings together fruit, herbs, vanilla, oak and spice without losing sight of the whisky underneath.
It's also interesting to see bottles such as this appearing regularly from The English Whisky Company. English whisky is no longer simply about new distilleries and young spirit – there are now mature stocks with more than a decade behind them.
And this one was maturing just down the road from us in Norfolk.
Producer: The English Whisky Company
Distillery: St George's Distillery
Origin: Norfolk, England
Style: English Single Malt Whisky
Age: 11 Years
Casks: Ex-Bourbon
Character: Fruity, oaky, gently herbal and spiced
Release: Annual small-batch release