In the borderlands of Britain, there’s a rich heritage of subversive whisky distilling. Now a celebrity chef is to revive the spirit with an English whisky produced under the nose of the historic custodians of the art.
Valentine Warner is taking advantage of the light-touch regulation of English whisky by testing the waters with “exciting” varieties that Scottish producers are forbidden to sell.
In the heart of Northumberland national park, the chef and three business partners are preparing the stills, sourcing the barley and taking the fight to the Scots.
“In a way, not being in Scotland gives room to do exciting things,” he said. “You are not tied down. There’s a long history of distilling, going back to the Border Reivers. This area [Northumberland] has been a hotbed of flowing stills.” A few centuries ago many Scots went across the border to set up illegal stills in Northumberland, far away from the clutches of the taxman. The Border Reivers, known for their cross-border cattle raids, had a tasty distilling sideline.
Warner said that the stipulations for Scotch, including a minimum three-year maturation period in oak barrels, were restrictive. “If we want to sell a very, very young whisky, or if we want to mature in another wood, then we can do these things. The interesting thing is that because we do not have to comply with Scotch whisky regulations, we will be able to play around.
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“There will be lots of experimentation going on. It’s very nice to play around. And remember, fermenting grain to make alcohol is not exclusively Scottish.”
Warner, who is an ambassador for this year’s WWF Earth Hour on March 28 when people are encouraged to turn out their lights for an hour, said that the distillery would use local ingredients and ensure no energy was wasted.
He said the Northumberland distillery would “squeeze the soul” out of the ingredients, which would all be grown in the surrounding fields.
Warner and his colleagues are already producing an English gin made from junipers grown where the distillery sits in the Simonside Hills, and flavoured with local aromatics.
He described their distilling philosophy as: “Everything we put in our bottle we tread on as soon as we walk out of the door. There is something magical here; we want this environment in a bottle.
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“We are in a sensitive area but an area that is very generous and can provide the things we need without putting it under strain.”