The English Whisky Festival 2022 Comes To Birmingham

On The Table Read, “the best creativity magazine in the UK“, in person for the first time ever, the English Whisky Festival is a celebration of the rapidly growing craft English whisky scene.

Exploring English Whisky presents the third annual English Whisky Festival.

Saturday 19 November 2022

Digbeth, Birmingham 

12:30PM – 18:00PM

SPONSORED BY BEVVY 

English Whisky Festival

In the year that modern English whisky turns 15 years old, the first physical English Whisky Festival will be taking place on Saturday 19 November in Birmingham’s trendy Digbeth district.

Featuring over 25 English distilleries and bottlers, this will be the largest gathering of English whiskies under one roof ever and a chance to sample the oldest, newest and rarest liquids from this exciting and rapidly expanding craft whisky movement.

For just £40 per person (£35 early bird / £30 for members of Exploring English Whisky) attendees can sample hundreds of English whiskies and spirits, as well as meet the makers to hear first-hand what goes into these delicious, small-batch, craft whiskies. Many of the brands will be sharing new products, festival exclusives and some money-can’t-buy samples from their warehouses, alongside core releases.

There will also be a bar (run by Birmingham’s own Grain & Glass), on-site whisky shop from Whiskyside (selling most of the products on show, including festival exclusive releases) and a food market to sate your appetite throughout the day with delicious, freshly prepared delicacies.

Bevvy

The festival is sponsored by Bevvy, a new free-to-use whisky discovery app. Bevvy lets you scan any whisky  bottle to learn more about it, including tasting notes, price history, user ratings and more. Download and use the the app before the festival to receive exclusive treats from the bevvy team at their stand on the day.

Throughout the day a series of masterclasses will also be run, delving deeper into the techniques, ingredients and approaches some of these distilleries are taking to produce their innovative and often multi award-winning drinks (masterclasses TBC and additional ticket required on top of festival admission).

Richard Foster

Founder of Exploring English Whisky and the festival’s organiser Richard Foster says of the event: “It is an absolute honour to be able to bring so many English distilleries together for the very first time.

“This is not only the most exciting category in world whisky right now, but also one of the fastest growing, with new distilleries opening at a phenomenal pace – so in a few years time expect a festival double the size of year one!”.

Spirit Of Birmingham Distillery

Local distiller Anthony Dillon of Spirit of Birmingham distillery added: “It means the world to us to have the first English Whisky Festival being held in our beloved home city. Birmingham has always been a melting pot of businesses and cultures, so what better place for the growing community of English distilleries to come together and showcase the category’s success. It will be a great opportunity to share what we’ve been up to over the last few years. We look forward to welcoming everyone to experience a little Spirit of Birmingham.”

Distilleries and brands confirmed to date (more to be announced in due course) include:

Ad Gefrin (Northumberland)

Bankhall (Blackpool)

Bimber (London)

Circumstance (Bristol)

Cooper King (Yorkshire)

Copper Rivet (Kent)

Cotswolds (Warwickshire)

East London (London)

English Whisky Co. (Norfolk)

Henstone (Shropshire)

The Lakes (Cumbria)

Ludlow (Shropshire)

Mercia (Staffordshire)

Retribution (Somerset)

Spirit of, Birmingham (Birmingham)

The Oxford Artisan Distillery (Oxford)

Weetwood (Cheshire)

Wharf (Northamptonshire)

White Peak (Derbyshire)

Whittakers (Yorkshire)

Wiltshire (Wiltshire)

As well as independent bottlers of English Whisky Samuel Gulliver & Co. and Sacred Spirits.

English Whisky

Even with 40 distilleries now on ‘the map’ English Whisky is far smaller than its older sibling North of the border, but age and size are not the important factors here.

Small-batch, craft spirits – English whiskies are designed to be packed full of flavour from the outset, using techniques, ingredients and equipment designed to ramp up flavour at a much younger age. There are also far fewer restrictions on what English distilleries can do than Scotland’s distilleries must adhere to.

So, whether it is a newly three-year-old White Peak whisky, or the English Whisky Co.’s first 15 year old release, you can expect bucketfuls of flavour and quality from every English distillery – all under one roof for the very first time. 

Find more from The English Whisky Festival

Exploring English Whisky

Website: https://www.exploringenglishwhisky.co.uk/english-whisky-festival-birmingham-2022/

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