Witchmark Distillery in Wiltshire is poised for its breakout onto the English whisky scene. Opened in 2024, the distillery has its sights set on a range of spirits that hold provenance paramount, an ethos already visible through its vodka and gin.
With the whiskies set to come of age in 2027, the Witchmark team hosted a tasting in London offering the chance to experience its spirits mid-maturation.
The Witchmark Story
The Wiltshire Distillery Company, which owns Witchmark, was founded in 2020 by Eddie Large, Jon Carson and Alistair Munro. Eddie, who serves as the distillery’s production director, came to whisky via the beer trade. He’d been running a nanobrewery for more than a decade when, amid difficult trading conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic, commercial director Jon and former managing director Alistair approached him about a pivot into spirits.
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“We very quickly realised that the English whisky sector was an exciting opportunity,” he said. They sought out seasoned whisky figures to aid the transition, including ex-Chivas master blender Colin Scott and James Espey, who joined as chairman.
The distillery started production in autumn 2024, filling its 1,000th cask in April this year. Its malt spirits are due to turn three years old in autumn 2027. “We’ll release it when it’s ready, but I’m super confident that what we’ve got already maturing is going to be ready at that three-year point,” Eddie said, explaining the new make had been designed so it wouldn’t need too long “maturing out” in wood. “A new make does need work, but we just don’t create work for the warehouse to achieve.”
English whisky is so far living up to the potential Eddie saw in the category. There are now more than 60 operational distilleries, and the industry, led by the English Whisky Guild, is pushing to secure a geographical indication (although the initial proposals met a fierce rebuttal from the Scotch Whisky Association when released in 2025).
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READ THE STORYDiscovering Witchmark’s Spirits
Terroir will play a key part of Witchmark’s story and spirits. The distillery is based on the Fonthill Estate in south-west Wiltshire, a prime barley-growing region. It has an arrangement with nearby Warminster Maltings, supplying estate-grown Laureate barley to produce malt exclusively for its spirits. (Eddie plans to feature codes on each bottle detailing which field the barley was grown in and when it was harvested.)
Fermentations at Witchmark last for 96–100 hours (a similar length of time to a beer fermentation) and distillation takes place on copper pot stills. New-make spirit is put into casks at 65% ABV, slightly above the Scotch industry average of 63.5%.
The water used in production is hyperlocal, sourced from a borehole on site, and Eddie is even exploring ways to localise the casks, speaking with England’s only dedicated cooperage about building vessels from English oak.
A Taste of Whisky to Come
A recent Witchmark tasting event gave an insight into how its single malt spirit is maturing. It included samples of the distillery’s new make as well as spirits matured in ex-bourbon barrels, new American oak casks, and STR Chardonnay casks, ranging from 12 to 18 months old. Eddie explained these cask types will form the backbone of Witchmark’s whiskies.
The new make was oily and balanced, with creamy cereal notes, lemon citrus, and green-fruit notes of apple, pear and kiwi. The ex-bourbon cask, a first fill, layered sweetness on top of the citrussy spirit alongside notes of honeysuckle, peach and ginger cake. The new American oak sample delivered plenty of activity, adding notes of cinnamon, clove, vanilla and red cherry, while the STR cask retained hints of its Chardonnay fill (lemon and green fruits) that complemented the spirit character.
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