The English Distillery appears suddenly out of the meandering mass of stunning tree-lined roads and fields that make up much of the village of Moulton in Norfolk.
Turn off the main road and into the distillery and everything in sight maintains this beauty. So far, so Norfolk you might think. But so much about The English Distillery can take you by surprise. Its history, for example.
The English Distillery is in the heart of Norfolk
Unlike many other English drinks concerns, be they distilleries, breweries or wineries, which were founded through the zeal of youth and enterprise, this Norfolk business could initially have been described as a retirement project. Founder James Nelstrop took the first steps to register the business and gain planning permission to build the distillery back in 2005, when he was 60, and set on retiring from his life’s work in farming.
Fast forward to present day, and it is anything but that, with the English Distillery producing award-winning whiskies on a regular basis. Back in June it won two golds at the IWSC Awards, for its Chapter 18 (scoring 96 points, the highest in the competition) and The Norfolk Popcorn. And, most significantly, last year its Sherry Cask Single Malt took home the highly prestigious World’s Best Single Malt Whisky at the 2024 World Whiskies Awards – beating some serious contenders from Scotland, such as Ardbeg, Glen Moray and Arran, into the bargain.
This was certainly a moment that Andrew Nelstrop, now managing director and owner, celebrated with some relish, with the memory of his late father clearly in mind: “While one hopes to win an award, winning the big one is the realisation of our founder's sole goal,” he said.
A farmer set on a life’s ambition
The Nelstrop family started out in farming in Lincolnshire, but in the early 1970s headed out to New South Wales, as his father had realised, in Nelstrop’s words, “that he could farm a lot more acres if they emigrated to Australia”.
Three years later, however, they were back in the UK, settling in Norfolk.
Keeping it in the family with Andrew and Katy Nelstrop
Talking to Nelstrop, it appears that his father was a man who possessed a restless mind, always looking to do more. For example, in 1992 he set up and ran the Russia Nuffield Trust, a charity that sought to support farmers in Russia.
But his ultimate passion always lay in whisky. “The recurring theme throughout his life,” he says, “brought up at every ‘family AGM’ over coffee in the kitchen, was going into whisky production.”
By the time Nelstrop decided, in 2005, to act upon his life’s ambition and build his own whisky distillery, it was apparent that he would be filling a significant void in the marketplace. In 1901 the last recorded whisky distillery in England swapped from whisky to gin production. This saw the end of whisky distilling in England.
Therefore, Nelstrop’s enterprise would see the construction of England’s first whisky distillery in over 100 years.
However, after submitting their planning application, they got wind that a new distillery was also in the planning process stage up in the Lake District. So keen were they to be the first – as both father and son felt there was “no place in being England’s second working distillery” – they proceeded at breakneck speed, doing test runs at the distillery before any windows or doors had been installed (meaning they took turns sleeping in the gateway to protect the equipment from burglars).
“It was only about a month after we started distilling that we actually bothered to see how our competitor was getting on, only to discover that the delivery of their equipment had never happened,” he says.
Indeed, the project in the Lakes was put on hold for several years. But as many know, The Lakes Distillery instead successfully opened in 2014, adding further depth and richness to the English whisky scene, which now contains over 60 distilleries.
Coming of age
Time to celebrate its 18th birthday at The English Distillery
The English Distillery is now celebrating 18 years of production and is marking it with the launch this year of three special whiskies, including the release of its first 18-year-old expression (SEE BOX).
It is firmly established as England’s oldest whisky distillery – and one that is now enjoying growing sales success. But it took time for sales to become a focus. The early years were purely focused on whisky production and laying it down for the future, working in tandem with their first head distiller, the legendary Iain Henderson, formerly long-time head distiller at Laphroaig. In that first year, Henderson and the team distilled 29 casks of whisky – many of which are still maturing in the warehouse.
“It [production] was the only thing of interest for my father. Things like making product to fulfil a sales or marketing need just wasn’t on his remit,” says Nelstrop.
However, it was clear that as the business moved to the back end of the 2010s, something needed to change, or at least a change in focus was needed. Enter Mark Fisher, who joined the business in 2017, from the distillery’s distributor Gordon & McPhail.
The distributor had prior to this move been selling small parcels of product to specialists and a small bit of export. It was clear that a more substantial sales strategy was needed.
“My job when I came in was to join up the sales operation up. We focus on independent retail, which means wine shops and whisky specialists,” says Fisher.
The company also has a distribution agreement with Mangrove Drinks, selling into local premium on-trade. “We sell into The Chestnut Inns Group in Norfolk – they have got about 20 sites. And then we do Anglia Country Inns, and a few other little groups around and about as well,” says Fisher.
“We also do have some success in what I'd call non-traditional retail – so that’s farm shops and garden centres. That is more with our non-whisky seasonal products. So, at Christmas time for example, we do great volumes of our Norfolk Nog (a cream liqueur) and Norfolk PX (a sherry style liqueur). They just absolutely fly.”
However, he doesn’t feel the company’s immediate future lies in securing supermarket listings: “We don't do supermarkets. It's something that we've dipped our toe in with. But you tend to find when it comes to prices it becomes a race to the bottom.
More than just production
The English Distillery is now a successful tourist destination
However, as you tour the site, you realise this is as much a tourist destination as it is a working distillery.
“There are now four arms to our business,” says Nelstrop. “The first three are: distilling, storage (for ourselves and third-party) and contract distilling. In the early days my father’s only real interest was making whisky. Often whisky distilleries will start off making vodka or gin as well, so they can have something to sell straight away. We just made whisky, which meant we would have to wait several years for it to mature to be able to sell it.
"So we needed something else – which is the fourth arm, and that is tourism. We have had that since the beginning and it was a godsend – having paying visitors on our site, eating, drinking, buying items in the shop. It gave us turnover almost from day one.”
The Kitchen at The English Distillery
And this tourism operation has been developed over the last 18 years. Approximately 80,000 visitors come to the site each year. There is a restaurant on-site, The Kitchen, which does approximately 1,000 covers per week, the team does 5,000 distillery tours per year (which can include tastings), conference rooms have been added, and there is an on-site shop, which sells a range of product and merchandise.
And it is clear from walking around the site that if the business was keen to expand and build on its third-party warehousing capability, space would be no issue.
James Nelstrop’s mantra on setting up The English Distillery was to make world class single malt whisky that he could share with his friends. Well thanks to the efforts of him, his family and the team they have built over time, The English Distillery now has an awful lot of friends.
To celebrate its 18th anniversary of whisky production The English Distillery has released three limited edition whiskies:
“The English Chapter 18” – 46%ABV; RRP £75.
Created to kick off the distillery’s 18th Anniversary celebrations, Chapter 18has been blended from virgin oak, Pedro Jiminez and Bourbon casks Only 7,500 bottles produced. Launched on June 7.
Founders’ Private Cellar 18 Year Old – 55.4% ABV; RRP: £395.
The first 18 Year Old release from the rarest and oldest casks in the distillery’s stocks.
Aged in rum casks; 174 bottles available. Launching on September 11 2025.
Cask 001 – 54% ABV; RRP: £3,000
Over the last 18 years this whisky has been disturbed just twice – once to be transferred into a single sherry cask,before being returned to its original American Standard Barrel (ASB).
All the while it has lain quietly, low down in Bond 1, and where the air is cool, the walls thick with history and where time moves slowly.
Only 60 bottles available. Launching September 25 2025.
