{"product_id":"the-english-single-malt-whisky-small-batch-release-for-the-whisky-club","title":"The English Single Malt Small Batch Release","description":"\u003cp\u003eFirst a word about size. Despite being the largest distillery in England, this is a tiny operation and very comparable to our own industry. At 50,000 lals\/annum (litres at 100%ABV\/annum) St. George’s produces a similar amount of whisky to Sullivans Cove and Lark and as a result the whisky is truly made by hand in every sense of the word… and every last drop counts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eProduction is led by chief whisky maker David Fitt. A brewer by trade, he joined St. George’s to work under Iain Henderson’s wing, learning all he could about the art of whisky from one of Laphroaig’s and indeed Scotch whisky’s most revered names, until the beckoning of retirement became too much for Iain. The student in turn has become master, and David was named Icons of Whisky 2017 Distillery Manager of the Year in recognition of his passion which shines through in the quality of his whiskies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDavid prefers a very short cut of spirit, which gives a clean and crisp texture to the new make spirit. He’s given a free run at the distillery, letting his creative juices flow, and with the casks stored on site, he can keep a watchful eye – and nose – on their development. To date, near 3,000 casks have been laid down, in both peated (the Laphroaig influence lives on) and unpeated expressions. By far the majority of casks are ex-Jim Beam casks, shipped from America as whole casks – not a cheap way of doing it by any means, but one they firmly believe to be money well spent. A smattering of sherry and wine casks have also been used, David keen to experiment with different casks in a rolling program of cask trials.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe whisky is batch made by hand, the old fashioned way, with no help from computers by the way of automation as is common in larger operations and is bottled by hand too. Needless to say, chill filtering and artificial colours are dirty words at St George’s Distillery. This is the pointy end of craft whisky folks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe’ve teamed up with David to showcase his best work to Australia’s biggest community of whisky lovers – and it’s spectacular. David selected ten ex-Jim Beam casks, all filled in March 2011, to marry together and bottle exclusively for The Whisky Club in this very special release. The result is the scrummiest single malt we ever did meet; (dangerously) irresistible, bursting with tangy tropical fruits and layers of vanilla ice-cream and milk chocolate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUn-chillfiltered, natural in colour, and 100% flavour, this is as good as craft whisky gets.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ciframe allowfullscreen=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sRdG3_3caB0\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e","brand":"St George's Distillery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46489906905167,"sku":"WC0088","price":115.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0722\/1185\/7487\/files\/the_english_single_malt_whisky_small_batch.png?v=1787700952","url":"https:\/\/thewhiskyclub.com.au\/products\/the-english-single-malt-whisky-small-batch-release-for-the-whisky-club","provider":"The Whisky Club AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}