Spirit Of Birmingham distillery was conceived by 4 friends, whilst sitting at a kitchen table, who why wondered why Birmingham didn’t have a distillery. Now, less than 50m from that kitchen table (& in spite of a global pandemic) Spirit of Birmingham is in production.
The distillery began production in May 2021. It was borne from a love of uncomplicated quality, alongside a desire to create, innovate and give the second city its own grain to glass distillery.
Whilst awaiting the #whisky to mature, & made with the same 5-grain mash bill, @SpiritofBrum also produce vodka and bottle conditioned, unfiltered and unfined dark beer (which is lovely!)
Appearance: Jagged swirl line, medium legs form quite quickly.
Nose: Less berry aromas than other new make we’ve tried. I don’t know what that means but it’s a welcome difference.
There’s also honey and some salinity, almost seaweed element to it as well as a malty & minty side, a bit like a mint club biscuit wrapped in seaweed, sounds weird, but I like it!
There’s definitely a more herbal and malty feel to this. Picking up a yeasty smell now, like freshly proved dough.
Getting banana now and chocolate syrup.
Palate: On the palate, there’s a nice oily delivery, a big hit of alcohol (as is usual for new make), garden mint, icing sugar, the floral notes from the vodka are here too, good consistency.
A nice tingling from the spice element, white pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and maybe even chilli.
The buttery, chocolaty notes from the nose flow through to the palate, not picking up the seaweed as yet, would be a lovely addition if that shows up on the palate. I’m getting the smoke on the nose now, quite an ashy, dying fire aroma. Like the end of scout camp. There’s a funk too.
Finish: Chocolate and spice. Nice heat on the chest too.
Overall: I think it might be the most delicate new make we’ve tried. The least ‘raw’. I like a raw element in this spirit but this is new and refreshing.
