UPDATE JUNE 2024: Richard shares his thoughts on our Cooper King cask from a sample taken this month at two years old. Watch the video below to hear his thoughts on this exciting and rare liquid – or drop down below the video to read about his visit to the distillery back in 2023:
Blog below first posted December 2023
As Cooper King launch their inaugural whisky we reflect back on a visit to the distillery, get an update from the team and look forward to sampling their sustainable, small-batch whisky at the festival this November.
“Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, from the products we source, the craftsmanship and our distillery that’s powered by 100% renewable energy.”
Chris Jaume, Co-Founder
YORKSHIRE BOUND
About 30 minutes from York in the North Yorkshire region, Cooper King distillery has a fascinating origin story. Theirs is an amazing purpose-driven spirits concept that sees them punch far above their weight on themes around sustainability, heritage grains and innovation.
A TRIP OF A LIFETIME
Founded by Abbie Neilson and Chris Jaume in 2016 the distillery was inspired by a trip down under that saw the pair working learning their craft from iconic Tasmanian distilleries such as Sullivan’s Cove and Lark. Writing for Master of Malt to fund their travels, the pair became obsessed with craft whisky and even more determined to replicate what they’d experienced when they got home.
Purchasing a Tasmanian built still, the Abbie and Chris set about building their distillery (mostly themselves with the help of friends and family) in this pretty area on the outskirts of York. From the outset, their mission was to be as sustainable as possible so many decisions were taken to ensure the operation was as efficient as possible from the outset.
First came their multi-award-winning gin which is now carbon negative, and which is made using cold distillation, a technique pioneered by ex-scientist Abbie. Sourcing local ingredients has always been part of the distillery mission, and this was no different when it came to whisky, with locally grown Maris Otter barley (a heritage grain with more flavour, but a lower yield than traditional distillers barley). This is traditionally floor malted at Warminster , before being carefully mashed on site, fermented for 5-7 days to draw out additional flavour – and finally distilled using that unique Tasmanian still.
This spirit then goes into small casks for faster maturation, some of which are English oak from Jensen’s Cooperage just up the road in Ripon. Others are carefully sourced from craft Bourbon distilleries & France for Cognac, Armangac and red wine, some of which undergoes the NEOC process of shaving and lightly toasting the cask to renew and invigorate the wood and lose some of the harsher tannic qualities left by the wine.
FIRST RELEASE
This October 23rd sees the release of two inaugural whiskies, the No.1 Inaugural release for Founder members only, and the First Edition – a fruity & spicy 48.1% beauty limited to just 589 bottles!
You can sample these liquids at the English whisky Festival, but they will be extremely limited so book the Cooper King Masterclass if you want to guarantee a taste of this extraordinary whisky from Yorkshire, via Tasmania to your glass.
PRE-LAUNCH INTERVIEW
Richard Foster: You’re on the verge of releasing your first Whisky to the world. How are you feeling right now and are you more nervous or excited for the launch?
Chris Jaume: Very excited! It has almost been 10 years to the day since Abbie and I quit our jobs, travelled to Australia and discovered their flourishing whisky scene. It was there amongst the inspiring Tasmanian distillers that the idea for Cooper King distillery was born. It has been an incredible journey from that point to now: we have crowdfunded, self-built, and distilled beautiful spirit, with the ever-growing support and enthusiasm from our customers and dedicated team.
Our mission is simple: to produce sustainable spirits, distilled with craftsmanship, honesty and adventure.
Abbie Nielson and Chris Jaume of Cooper King Distillery stood next to barrels in a field, surrounded by trees
RF: Can you describe the whisky to us (if not maybe tell us a bit about what’s gone into this first release – is it a single cask, blend of casks etc. – how did you decide on the final blend if so)?
CJ: The First Edition is the starting point for the Expedition Series of releases; a journey of discovery through the finest casks in our warehouse. This release of only 589 bottles is from a vatting of 6 small oak casks from our early distillations and is the first publicly available whisky to be launched from the distillery.
“A backdrop of vanilla and oak from the bourbon casks allows the delightfully fresh and fruity character of our new-make spirit to take centre stage. We then layered up with fruit and spice from ex-sherry and ex-red wine casks, before bringing in the cognac cask to dial up the notes of honey, sweet malt and soft oak.” – Abbie, Head Distiller
RF: If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice when you first started your distillery, what would it be (and would the previous ‘you’ actually take heed of your advice?!)?
CJ: Great question! The whole team are incredibly proud of what we have achieved here. The whisky we’re soon to share with the world has been born out of the myriad of decisions we have made to get us to this point. If we were to go back and change part of the story, to alter our path, we may well have ended up with a different spirit on our hands.
What we have is an authentic whisky influenced by the people and landscapes from our journey, for you to enjoy on yours.
One piece of advice we were given which we took heed of, was to speak to others: build relationships, seek advice, share knowledge. We’ve produced and shared the English Whisky Map, spoken at distilling expos about our sustainable ethos, and are founding members of the English Whisky Guild. A rising tide of English whisky lifts all boats.
Visit Cooper King Distillery to buy their inaugural whisky (whilst stocks last) here
You can also buy a share in OUR CASK of Cooper King Whisky here
First Edition Tasting Notes
Nose Citrus, apple, vanilla and chamomile.
Taste Custard cream, ginger cake, golden syrup and lemon peel.
Finish Sweet malt and warming ginger.
Cask Profile 44% ex-bourbon casks22% refill sherry casks19% ex-red wine cask15% ex-cognac
Wood Profile 56% European oak44% American oak
Cask size 50L to 110L
Casks filled December 2019 to August 2020
Maturation 3 years to 3 years 8 months
Maturation Location Cooper King Distillery
Grain 100% floor-malted English Maris Otter barley
Yeast Distillers’ yeast
Fermentation 6-7 days
Distillation Double distilled on a 900L copper pot (‘Neilson’)
All the above details will be published on our website next week under the ‘Spirit Specifics’. We value transparency and the benefits it brings to the drinker, in understanding the spirit in their glass.
