Why It’s On Our Shelves
A limited-release English single malt whisky from Norfolk, created by marrying just four carefully selected second-fill wine casks.
Produced in Norfolk by English Whisky →
This is the first release in The English Whisky Company's Small Batch range for 2025, produced at St George's Distillery in Norfolk.
The use of four second-fill wine casks is central to its character. Having previously been used for maturation, second-fill casks generally impart a gentler influence than first-fill casks, allowing more of the underlying whisky character to shine through.
Here, the result is a smooth, fruit-led whisky with layers of cocoa, praline, black cherry, citrus peel, apricot and almond on the nose, followed by dried fruit and buttery shortbread on the palate.
The Small Batch series is produced in limited quantities, with individual batches created from selected casks and not intended to be repeated. Once this particular release has sold, it won't simply be reproduced as the next batch.
What does The English Whisky Small Batch 2025 taste like?
This is a smooth, delicate and fruit-forward English whisky, with sweetness balanced by fruit, malt and richer notes from its wine-cask maturation.
Nose: Cocoa, praline, black cherries, citrus peel, apricots and almonds, together with touches of tobacco and soft toffee.
Add a little water and the fruit character becomes more pronounced.
Palate: Dried fruits and buttery shortbread, with gentle maltiness and rounded sweetness.
Finish: Smooth and fruity, with a balanced finish that's neither particularly short nor excessively long.
What casks are used for the Small Batch 2025 release?
This release is a marriage of four second-fill wine casks.
Rather than relying on a single cask, the distillery team has selected and combined four casks to create the finished whisky.
What is a second-fill wine cask?
A second-fill cask has already been used to mature whisky once after previously containing wine.
By the time it's used again, the influence of the original wine and the oak tends to be more restrained than it would be from a first-fill cask.
That isn't necessarily a disadvantage.
A less dominant cask can allow more of the character of the whisky itself to remain apparent while still contributing additional fruit, sweetness and complexity.
That's particularly relevant to this release, where the four second-fill wine casks provide influence without overwhelming the English single malt beneath them.
What does 'Small Batch' whisky mean?
Small Batch generally describes whisky produced by combining a relatively small number of selected casks, rather than creating a large-volume release designed to remain identical year after year.
For this particular English Whisky Company release, the batch consists of whisky from just four wine casks.
That allows each Small Batch release to have its own identity.
Is this a limited-edition English whisky?
Yes.
The English Whisky Company's Small Batch series consists of limited releases that aren't repeated once a particular batch has sold out.
This is the first Small Batch release for 2025 and represents the particular combination of four second-fill wine casks selected for this bottling.
A future Small Batch release may therefore have a different cask composition and flavour profile.
Where is The English Whisky Small Batch made?
It's produced at St George's Distillery in Norfolk, home of The English Whisky Company.
The distillery has played an important role in the revival of whisky distilling in England and produces its single malt whisky here in Norfolk.
For us, that makes bottles such as this particularly interesting: a genuinely limited English whisky produced by a distillery just down the road from us in our own county.
How should you drink The English Whisky Small Batch?
We'd start with it neat to understand the whisky as it was bottled.
Then try adding a small amount of water. The distillery specifically notes that water makes the fruit characteristics on the nose more pronounced.
You can also enjoy it over ice if that's your preference, but this is a whisky we'd particularly recommend taking a little time over rather than automatically adding a mixer.
Why we like it
There's something particularly appealing about the Small Batch idea.
A core-range whisky needs to provide a recognisable and reasonably consistent experience every time you return to it. A release like this can be something different.
In this case, the distillery has brought together just four second-fill wine casks, creating a whisky around what those particular casks have to offer.
And because each Small Batch release is different, you're effectively tasting a particular moment in the development of the whisky maturing at St George's Distillery.
Once it's gone, the next Small Batch won't simply be the same whisky with a different batch number.
Producer: The English Whisky Company
Distillery: St George's Distillery
Origin: Norfolk, England
Style: English Single Malt Whisky
Release: Small Batch 2025 – First Release
Casks: Four second-fill wine casks
Character: Smooth, fruity and gently sweet
Availability: Limited release