Page 19

Focus Winter 2015

John is awaiting delivery of another ten
such items from his Portuguese
manufacturer. On the day of my visit,
John was distilling rum, which is as true
to type as one can get, and is a major
prize winner.

As he says: “dark rum should smack of
Christmas pud and raisins, and so should
be made from an appropriate mash”.
Accordingly, he imports sugar cane
(entirely) molasses, in 10hL batches (Fig
11), straight from Venezuela. These will
contain 12% sugar and will ferment out
to give a ‘wash’ with a 62% conversion
to ethanol. The wash is triple-distilled to
give a broad range of flavours.

Fig 10

With various projects in the pipeline,
Walters reckons “production will dou-
ble by March 2016”. Total ESD work-
force is now 12, with 8 of those being
employed at Dullingham. A team of 4
looks after distilling; there are 7 en-
gaged in filling and packaging, and one
in ‘admin’. A third distillery will be
opening in Cornwall soon, and there is a
plan afoot to re-locate the Dullingham
operation.

For a business that has operated for a
short period of time ESD have won a
number of industry awards, most spec-
tacularly last year when their 42% ABV
‘Old Salt Rum’ (Fig 12) won a gold medal
at Hong Kong’s prestigious Rum Fest –
leaving in its wake some global brands –
including Bacardi!

1000 litre molasses tub

Fig 12

Apart from rum, other ESD products
with which I’m familiar include:

Fig 13

Fig 14

Fig 15

Fig 16

Great Yeldham Hall

To put things into perspective, six years
ago John was lucky if he was turning
out 150 bottles per week, but now pro-
duction stands at 4,500-5,000 bottles
DAILY, and he exports to 15 countries,
“plus the EU”.

couple of months ago I had the
opportunity to visit John’s second

distillery situated in a barn in the
grounds of the delightful Great Yeld-
ham Hall (Fig 9).

This attractive facility has been in oper-
ation for about a year, and, at present
consists of five 3hL alembics (Fig 10).

Fig 11

Fig 9

Gold medal winning Rum

‘Rose Petal Gin(42.0%), distilled with
rose petals, bay, and cardamom.

‘English Spirit Vodka’(54%), where the
mash comes from East Anglian beet.

‘Old Fashioned English Toffee Vodka
(26.1%), incorporating five caramelised
sugars – a fabulous drink.

‘Dr J’s Gin’(45.0%), as supplied to
Buckingham Palace, and “on the ex-
treme ends of London Gin standards”.
It is distilled with juniper, coriander,
macadamia, and fresh zests, and has
great depth and complexity.

‘Apple Brandy’(42%), juice from East
Anglian apples is fermented and five-
times distilled.

Re-visiting Dullingham recently (Fig 13)
with theFocus editor showed the enor-
mity of the expansion there, with a
well-appointed visitor centre (Fig 14;
Fig 15; Fig 16) and product display.
Visiting groups are welcome by ap-
pointment.

As John says: “There is something for
everyone”.

ESD Site Office

ESD Tasting Bar

The English Spirit Distillery is an
example of a local business that has
been a great success. Its drinks have
won major awards and its gin is now
supplied to Buckingham Palace.

On 21

November it will launch it’s

first whisky.ESD’s first single malt
whisky is distilled five times from a
8.5% ABV mash, and has been ma-
tured in English oak for three years
and one day. Named ‘Expedition
Prime’, if John’s other products are
anything to go by, it will certainly be
a “smasher”.

ESD has a shop and visitors centre:
The Old Salt Depot, Brinkley,
Dullingham CB8 9UW.
To find out more contact them on
Tel: 01638 507 981 or website: