Spirit of Yorkshire was a bit of an odd one to visit on this tour as, after the tour concluded, I felt a strong sense of déjà vu as the experience I had at this distillery mirrored beat for beat the one I just went through at my last stop. However, I feel that despite the similarities in the basic building blocks, Spirit of Yorkshire just nailed the execution and did everything right where the last distillery failed.
Starting off, a small touch I quite like is being greeted immediately by casks when you pull up, feeling like you’ve driven straight into an aging warehouse. It’s a small touch, but is greatly appreciated.
Before my tour I had a small table reserved at the distillery’s café for a quick bite to eat and some coffee. The staff were lovely, of course, and the meal was great! The coffee was rich and the smoked salmon on sourdough with smashed avocado I had was simply to die for. A fantastic pick me up right before my main tour!
Our tour guide was Amy, and she was simply wonderful. Incredibly insightful and full of knowledge about the ins and outs of operations, which I’ll come back to!
First we started off in a small briefing room adorned with the whole array of single malt Filey Bay releases that have been bottled since the launch of the brand. Here we’re quickly told a detailed story of how the Spirit of Yorkshire distillery was founded and some of the basic fundamentals of whisky creation.
We were also shown a video which went more into detail and the aspects of specific choices when it comes to the crafting of Filey Bay, everything from them farming the malt to creating the name and bottle design. It’s honestly fantastic! Once the video is done questions are taken, and we get the chance to smell freshly made wort, something I’ve never had the chance to do on a tour! Absolutely fantastic!
I was unfortunately not allowed to take pictures in the distillery, once again, and while there is a window from the café into the stillhouse, it slipped my mind to grab a picture, so I apologise! You’ll have to visit yourself to see how it looks! In the distillery itself, however, we are given a much deeper look into how the stills operate here to produce Filey Bay, and how the operations here differ from other distilleries, most notably with the use of a hybrid still for half of the year! Amy took the time to show what certain knobs and levers do as well, which I won’t bore you with the details of here, but just know that this is a step above what I’ve seen other similar tours do! We also got some new-make sprayed onto the backs of our hands so we could smell it at full strength, and it was intense!
Once done with the distillation talk, we are led down to the casking area where Amy went into great detail about how aging in different barrels have effects not only on the colour and flavour, but also the amount of alcohol lost to the angel’s share! We also got to smell the difference between an ex-bourbon cask, an ex-amontillado sherry cask and an ex-PX sherry cask, which was a fantastic opportunity!
Finally we came back to the shop, which is where the tasting took place. We got to try three Filey Bay whiskies: Flagship, IPA cask finish, and Yorkshire Day 2025.
The Flagship is their signature whisky, which is on the drier side; intense, spicy and a little fruity.
The IPA cask finish is their Flagship whisky, but aged in one of their sister company’s ex-IPA casks for 8 months. It’s surprisingly light, with a little of that spice still kicking around, but having a more floral, butterscotch tinted edge to it now.
Finally, the Yorkshire Day 2025 is a limited release that’s made each year to celebrate Yorkshire day, and as such is usually a bit more special. This one is simple, but cosy. Giving flavours of dried sultanas and primrose, with spicy peppercorn and clove to round out this palate’s warm veneer.
I like all these whiskies, they’re bold, smooth and innovative. My favourite is likely the IPA cask, not only for the sheer audacity that it exists, but also because it’s genuinely a great sipping whisky when neat. I quite enjoy it.
If any of these appeal to you, then you’re in the right place as after the tasting the tour is over and you’re left in the shop, where you can buy any of the bottles you just tried, as well as various other items like shirts, books, chocolate and even wooden animal heads!
Overall, I really like Spirit of Yorkshire. As mentioned in the last review, my group has a designated driver, so we asked if we could take their samples home. The staff agreed with no hesitation, and we took all three samples back to our room, where our driver enjoyed them thoroughly! This tour felt like how my last tour should have gone, and to that I can’t thank Spirit of Yorkshire enough. They have great spirits, great staff (thanks again to Amy, you legend) and an overall great distillery. Give them a visit if you can!
This post’s recommended song is: “King_sl@yer.fmk” – Bring Me The Horizon, Mondo Loops
