The English Distillery Releases Cask 001 – The Birth Of English Whisky’s Revival

The English Distillery Releases Cask 001, Aged for 18 years – The Birth of English Whisky’s Revival

Published Date: 2nd September 2025

The English Distillery Releases Cask 001, Aged for 18 years – The Birth of English Whisky’s Revival

‘Historic’ distillery offers a once-in-a-generation release of the whisky that began a national revival…
… & the perfect toast to the visionary who made it possible
Aged for 18 years, Cask 001 will be the oldest single malt English whisky to ever be released for sale
Alongside this historic release, The English Distillery will additionally honour the memory of its visionary founder, James Nelstrop, with the limited edition release of Founders’ Private Cellar 18 Year Old, the oldest edition of the family’s annual Private Cellar collection to date

The English Distillery today reveals the long-awaited release of Cask 001 – a whisky of rare provenance and deep historical significance.

Distilled in 2006, the cask was the inaugural filling by England’s first registered whisky distillery in more than 100 years, making it the defining foundation of England’s modern whisky renaissance.

Created by legendary master distiller Iain Henderson, this historic spirit was hand casked at The English Distillery in Norfolk, which at the time was a bold, untested venture driven by the singular vision of the distillery’s founder, James Nelstrop. For 18 years, the cask has rested low in the cool stone walls of the distillery’s Bond 1 warehouse, gently shaped by time, climate, and stillness.

Just 60 bottles (RRP: £3,000, 70cl) will be released, each one a quiet monument to the return of whisky distilling on English soil.

“There’s whisky, and then there’s Cask 001,” says Andrew Nelstrop, Chairman of The English Distillery and James Nelstrop’s son. “This isn’t just a remarkable spirit, it’s a historical artefact. My father built this distillery from a dream, and this cask is where it all began.” James Nelstrop, a Norfolk farmer with deep agricultural roots, founded the distillery not for accolades but for legacy — determined that England could produce whisky as fine as any in the world. With no investors and no roadmap, he created the country’s first operational whisky distillery since 1901, declaring it would make nothing but the finest single malt, no matter how long it took.

That quiet perseverance bore exceptional fruit last year, when The English Sherry Cask won World’s Best Single Malt at the 2024 World Whiskies Awards - beating revered distilleries from Scotland, Japan, and beyond. The award cemented the distillery’s – and England’s – place on the global whisky map, and fulfilled James Nelstrop’s founding ambition.

“Cask 001 is the whisky that lit the spark,” says Andrew. “It slept through the years as we built our range, earned the respect of the whisky world, and finally brought the title of World’s Best home to Norfolk.”

To honour the unique provenance of Cask 001, The English Distillery partnered with Langham Glass – master glassblowers from Norfolk – to craft hand-blown decanters that reflect the craftsmanship and purity of the spirit they hold. Each bottle is a collector’s piece, a work of art forged by local hands, just like the whisky itself. Unpeated, bottled at natural cask strength, and untouched by chill-filtration or added colour, Cask 001 offers a profoundly pure experience – its depth and complexity shaped by 18 silent years, Norfolk’s air, and a founding promise to do things the right way.

Founders’ Private Cellar 18 Year Old: A Toast to the Man Behind the Mission

To continue the 18th anniversary celebrations, The English Distillery today also unveils the rarest and oldest edition to date of its annual Private Cellar range, offering whisky lovers another limited opportunity to explore the pinnacle of world-class whisky-making at this seminal moment.

The Private Cellar collection features the oldest and rarest whiskies in the distillery’s stocks and delivers the kind of depth, nuance and richness that cannot be replicated or reproduced. Each year the family selects a handful of unique and interesting casks to be placed into their private collection. When ready for drinking, these casks are returned to the distillery for bottling under the Private Cellar range.

“As with Cask 001, this is also a deeply personal release for our family as we celebrate 18 years of whisky making,” adds Andrew Nelstrop. “Founders’ Private Cellar 18 Year Old is composed of the oldest and most characterful casks in our collection, and offers a full-bodied, contemplative single malt that is perfect for sharing, remembering, and raising a glass to my father, the man who made it all possible.”

The English Distillery: Product Information:
Cask 001

Distilled: 2006
ABV: 54.2%
Casks: Over the last 18 years this whisky has remained at the distillery, being disturbed just twice – once to be transferred into a single sherry cask, before being returned to its original American Standard Barrel (ASB) where 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. It has matured in silence, shaped by patience, place, and purpose.
Tasting notes: What a whisky... on the nose there are initially aromas of vanilla, red fruit and sandalwood, leave it a while and this changes to crème brûlée & fresh strawberries. A little taste reveals a rich caramel with plenty of oak & stewed apples. This is a full bodied whisky and hence has a lovely long finish; a whisky to be savoured over a long quiet evening.
Packaging: Hand-blown decanter by Langham Glass, Norfolk
Availability: 60 bottles globally from 25th September
Price: £3,000/bottle

Founders’ Private Cellar 18 Year Old

ABV: 55.4%
Casks: Rum Cask
Tasting Notes: Full bodied with warming notes of cinnamon and clove underpinned by smooth vanilla, raisins and boiled tropical sweets. Final notes of chocolate and liquorish are finished with a sweet linger of tropical fruit and slight oak smoke.
Availability: 174 bottles globally from 11th September
Price: £395/bottle