I had never heard of Wylye Distillery until they cropped up on the annual Cooper King English Whisky map this year. As such, I assumed they were another small start-up distillery – yet to even produce whisky, let alone have any ageing stock. On a recent visit to meet Sam Barber (the man behind this Wiltshire distillery) all my assumptions were firmly shattered and this ‘roadrunner’ ran straight into the painted wall of presumption with a firm wallop. This coyote has a lot more tricks up its sleeves than we first expected.
Sam lives in London – at least, he does at the weekends – Monday to Friday he’s on site in Wylye doing what he loves (and probably does best*), making whisky. And boy, does Sam make whisky. With Forsyth stills (no expense spared here) and a set-up most craft distilleries would sell their grandma for, Sam churns out spirit for maturation. That’s not to undermine the quality of the liquid he’s producing, but it’s a fair summation of his activity.
Having settled on his approach after an intense R&D phase, Sam literally spends 5 days a week making & laying down whisky. No marketing, no sales (amazingly he’s not taken a penny of anyone else’s money to date) and no tours (except plucky English Whisky aficionados who ask nicely!). He’s single minded, but not without doubt – even though he’s settled on a path forward, he knows that until people buy and try his whisky in the future, success is far from assured. However, from our short time with him, exploration of this set-up and approach, and sampling maturing spirits in his warehouse, we don’t think he’s really got anything to worry about.
Sam is a bit of an enigma. He told me he sold his house to finance the distillery, but, owning land and distillery outright, I wonder if he either owned a castle, or there’s more to this likeable London lad than meets the eyes. Either way, what he’s built is impressive and will – one day – be a firm tourist destination for Wiltshire locals and visitors alike (It just so happens to be located in a beautiful part of the country to boot).
Whatever Sam’s built to date, it’s enshrined in the location it calls home. Based at Windmill Farm, the grain for Sam’s whisky comes from over the hill at Manor Farm and is floor malted down the road at Warminster Maltings. With such a small footprint, Wylye will be one of only a handful of English distilleries who can lay claim to making whisky where every possible ingredient comes from within a 12 mile radius.
Using only unpeated, floor-malted barley, Sam uses a long slow ferment to generate flavour before distilling with very specific cut points. He runs a balanced double distillation with low wines collected in the same tank as foreshots and feints (aka heads and tails). This is all charged to the spirit still the next day and this recycling of foreshots and feints builds distillery character. The new make is filled into a range of cask types, but all the wood here is of the highest quality from respected cooperages across the world. There is nothing quirky here in terms of the final product, but the fact Sam’s ambition is to fill his warehouse before selling a drop of it to anyone, is a rarity in craft whisky production. In fact it’s unheard of in English whisky, where often brands have had to sell other spirits like gin and rum whilst waiting for their first whisky to come of age.
Obviously, time and whisky will tell if Sam’s gambit pays off, but I have no hesitation in calling it now that he’ll achieve his goal of producing a consistent, quality product that competes with Scotch and firmly places Wylye not just on the map, but in the hearts and minds of whisky drinkers at home and abroad for years to come. A brilliant addition to the English Whisky scene – and one we can’t wait to try the first whisky from with baited breath.
*Being this driven and talented there are surely other talents Sam holds that he may well excel at – but having not played him at golf or read his poetry, we’ll stick with distilling as his super power for the time being !
