Retribution is less of a story of spirit creation and more the story of one man: Richard Lock, the founder and sole worker here at Retribution. Coming from a background of home brewing, So hit the ground running with the knowledge required to start a distillery. Richard started Retribution just at the outbreak of Covid-19, and laid down his first whisky cask in December of 2020. Retribution has garnered a reputation as a one man band hell bent on experimentation and high quality spirits, and I can certainly see where that thought process comes from!
When I turned up, it actually took me a moment to even find where the distillery was! It’s in an unmarked area of Holwell farm in Frome, but when I did find it I was immediately greeted by the farm owner’s dog! How charming!
Entering the distillery, we start in a cluttered stillhouse, not due to disorganisation, but because Richard has somehow crammed five different stills into one tiny space! Two of the stills are column stills, one that is used for Retribution’s limited line of gin, and one that is used for vodka distillation. This vodka is actually a really innovative way of reducing wastage from the whisky and rum distillation, as any leftover heads and tails that are no longer worth re-distilling in the main pot stills are run through this column still to squeeze out the rest of the alcohol as vodka. It’s amazing honestly!
Speaking of the pot stills, there were three of them. One was the old pot still that used to be used as both a wash and spirit still, making a single cask distillation cycle take up to six weeks! Richard remedies this by creating his other two pot stills, and I do mean create. He mocked up the designs and got a local steelworks manufacturer to create both of these stills for him from scratch (though not at the same time, he got the wash still first, then the spirit still a little later).
We were next shown to the mashing area, where I learnt we had interrupted him removing the draff from his mash tun! He explained his view of the importance of both the mashing and fermentation process in the flavour of and alcohol, something that the spirits industry seems to have forgotten for the most part! It makes sense then that the individual with a brewing background would be the one to bring back attention to the elements of distilling that most share commonality to the brewing process. After all he told me, I couldn’t agree with him more.
Moving into the next room we are welcomed into a much larger space, which seems to serve a myriad of functions. On one side it’s full of storage shelves for both parts and stock, on the other it contains a few large fermentation vats. Just to our right when we walk in we are greeted by what will be Retribution’s new vodka still, and at the opposite end of the room is the bottling area. It’s quite the overwhelming sight to behold!
Whilst we were here, we got to taste a few products, and of course by a few I mean nine! We got to sample four different new makes, Retribution’s vodka, a high ester white rum currently being experimented with, a grain spirit that is all but a whisky in age as it’s only been aged for two years, and finally two fully fledged whiskies, one of which came from the first cask Richard ever laid down!
We started with the new makes. The first one we tried was made with saturated yeast and plumage archer barley. It has quite an oily, savoury peat on the nose, with perfume and strong alcohol notes to go alongside it. Taste-wise, it’s very light and floral, primarily lilac and lavender. Quite refreshing overall!
The next new make was made with 10% brown malt. The smell contains rotten cacao and burnt straw, but the palate is a whole different story. Strawberry jam, dark chocolate and sharp jasmine make this a much more intense new make than the first, but a very delicious one. Lots of potential! This was a favourite of my partner, and I can see why!
The following new make was made with entirely 100% Munich malt. Nosing reveals peat, malt and some root vegetable tones. These themes continue into the palate with a sharp parsnip overtone and a smoked wood undertone. We were warned that this was “too much Munich malt” beforehand, and it was indeed very intense, but I adored this one!
The final new make we tried was Retribution’s peated new make. The oily peat notes return on the nose, this time with oak leaf in tow. The palate’s peat is really punchy, with notes of pumpkin and rosehip to give it some more depth. The initial kick on the first sip is quite overwhelming, but each subsequent sip mellows the taste out dramatically. Not my cup of tea flavour-wise, but I always appreciate a dynamic dram!
Now we got to try the high ester white rum, and even got to smell some of the muck Richard used to make it! The nosing has the distinct nail polish and rotten fruit funk I expect of a Jamaican rum, and the palate follows through on that promise of tropical flavour. Tastes of sweet fruit salad, coconut, banana and more of that iconic Jamaican twang carry through the palate. The flavour here really is explosive, and I truly adore it!
At this point we got to sample the vodka Richard makes, the one made from the heads and tails of other spirit productions. There’s no real smell, the taste has the tiniest hint of coconut, but is otherwise completely neutral, and despite being 44% abv it goes down like water. Great vodka and a fantastic use of spent lees.
Now we’re onto the good stuff, the whiskies! Or are we? Like I said earlier, we got to try a sample that is not legally whisky, but otherwise tastes identical, that being a grain spirit aged for 2 years in virgin oak casks. Nosing brings out strong alcohol, compounded by vanilla and burnt honey. The palate is more forgiving however, with gooey caramel, grape and stone fruits turning out to make this a sweet, delectable offering!
Onto the legal whiskies. I got to try the Retribution Signature whisky from batch no. 2, which was aged in ex-bourbon casks. The smell has prominent hickory smoke and latherings of treacle over baked Alaska. The palate is quite fruity, with grape, pear and almonds, with a lick of charred oak. Honestly one of the best ex-bourbon casks whiskies I’ve tried, it’s hard to not want more!
Finally, I tried something quite special. Retribution’s Founder’s Cask whisky, a bottling made exclusively from the very first cask Richard laid down back in Christmas 2020. A very mild bouquet of rose and violets, with a hint of sandalwood. The initial flavour is full of menthol and anise, but quickly evolves into a spicy blend of orchard fruits and figs. Very bizarre honestly, but incredibly good!
After trying these drams we got to see something entirely new to us: Retribution’s on-site kiln! Richard kilns all the malt he gets in on site, in a small metal shed he fashioned with some perforated shelves and a small stove, which he then fills with coal and some optional peat, before leaving it to dry. Just behind us was also where he stored his peat, all English peat from Somerset! He has expressed that, for environmental conservation reasons, he’s looking to move away from peat and towards something more sustainable like apple oak wood, something in rich abundance in Somerset. Richard is aiming to make Retribution net zero as soon as he can, which is an admirable goal for sure, especially for such a small distillery!
Finally we were shown the cask storing warehouses. The first was a smaller building, housing the first four casks Richard laid down, but as I alluded to earlier, they aren’t all the original liquid he made all those years ago. From my understanding the 3rd and 4th casks are still the original filling, but the 2nd and 1st casks are on their second fill, but it’s still very neat to see! There are some small side rooms with more casks, but this is ultimately the smaller of the two storehouses.
The larger of the two is where we went to next, which by my count currently holds sixty nine barrels. It has a large range of barrel expressions, including the very few barrels I could find that bore the Retribution logo on the front! From here we saw a few more small things, such as the boiler, the wastage tanks, and one last whiff of some rather potent muck.
Overall I really admire what Richard is doing here, especially since, in his own words, he just started this in a small farmhouse with only £20,000! Retribution is the embodiment of “Slow and steady wins the race”, as this place has been going for 5 years and, from my understanding, is going really strong financially. I want to thank Richard for being such a gracious host and I truly do wish him all the best! If you’ve never tried anything from Retribution I recommend giving them a try! Tours aren’t currently open to the public, but hopefully once the distillery moves to a more befitting location that will change!
This post’s recommended song is: “Sowing The Seeds Of Love” – Tears For Fears
