25-02-2025
Spanish influence in new Yorkshire whisky
Hunmanby-based Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery has announced the launch of a limited edition Filey Bay Orange Wine Barrique.
Unusually bottled at a maturation strength of 46.2%, the seven-year-old whisky is characterised as soft and fruity with flavours of orange cake, honeycomb, ripe citrus and stone fruits.
The whisky was matured in ex-Bourbon casks for three years and three months before being re-racked into orange wine casks for a further three years and 10 months.
Spirit of Yorkshire whisky director Joe Clark said: 'Over the last few years, deep within our warehouse, four ex-orange wine barriques have been happily maturing for this deliciously different special release. But this isn't the skin-contact orange wine you'd expect to find on the list of your local artisan wine bar.
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'Vino Naranja del Condado de Huelva' comes from a very specific part of Spain, taking in the sunshine and oranges that the south is famous for. Made in a similar way to other fortified wines but with a key difference: the grape spirit used to fortify the base wine has been aromatised with orange peel before being matured.'
Joe added: 'The natural reduction of strength over many years in the orange wine casks is a big part of what makes this whisky so smooth and delicious. In this very rare example, the strength in the bottle of 46.2% is the strength that the whisky reached in the cask all on its own with no final reduction before bottling. It's a process that requires constant checking of the casks to make sure the whisky is bottled at precisely the right time.'
Limited to just 1,100 bottles, Filey Bay Orange Wine Barrique costs £85. For details go to
