This year, the Cotswolds distillery has reached quite the milestone: the end of its first decade. Under the direction of founder Daniel Szor, the first whisky to be made within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty has gone from strength to strength.
The Cotswold Signature is the distillery’s main release and, as its name suggests, shows off their signature profile, and sits alongside their “Reserve” expression within their “Classics Collection”.
This whisky has built up from their early Odyssey Barley expressions in 2017 and is now a readily available English single malt whisky. Using only barley from nearby farms, the spirit has matured for just over 3 years across a combination of first fill ex-bourbon barrels (30%) and shaved, toasted, and recharred red wine barriques (70%).
The production protocols follow a 92-hour fermentation, with high cut points on the spirit still to get a lighter, fruity spirit. After distillation the result is a light, colourless, new make spirit which is diluted and put into casks to mature for just over three years. This whisky is then aged at our distillery in the Cotswolds.
The final spirit is bottled at 46% ABV as-is, ie no chill filtration and no additional colouring. At the time of writing, full-size bottles retail around £45-50 at full price.
Nose
Malt and grains arrive at first followed by a honey sweetness, an oak spice, and a fruity 1-2 combo of orange zest and strawberry juiciness. Baking spices and an almond nuttiness round things out.
Taste
A soft and sweet arrival that then puts malt and wood front and centre. These profiles are then melded with vanilla, toffee, chocolate, orange, and red berries. There’s a marmalade note too. It has a decent body and alcohol level that builds up oak and spice but it then soon relents and there’s a soft vanilla custard note.
Finish
A slightly drying oaky finish with little flickers of citrusy zest and clove spice. Almost a rye bread combo of spice.
Verdict
I think this is a well made whisky – it’s got a real journey of flavours from a soft and sweet start to a fruity punch to a spicy and nutty flare before tapering off back to sweet and endearing.
There are numerous aspects that appeal to the regular whisky drinker here too: big ticks for the booze level (46%), not being chill filtered, and being bottled at its natural colour. The “highly active” STR red wine casks are doing some heavy lifting too in terms of fruit, oak, and colour.
Long after, when I yawned I could taste the exact same flavours as a festive night on port – which makes sense with it being fortified red wine housed in oak.
The packaging needs a shout out here too, as every element seems to have been well considered with a focus on quality. The thick, tapered glass bottle, the quality of the box and its foiled pattern, even the little tag around the bottle. It all leans towards a luxury product and feel without it necessarily carrying the luxury price tags that you could see. It fits that decadent “Heart of England” village vibe that the Cotswolds are known for.
It may be a little bit thin on the body, but considering its age, you are still getting plenty of bang for your buck (or British pounds quid) and you need to remember that this is the entry point whisky for a still relatively new distillery.
And it’s in the supermarkets in the UK. Sainsbury’s seem to stock it regularly, at least. With that, they’ll keep getting the circulation and recognition, as well as the bottle being picked up as a good looking gift. They often drop it to £30 or so too. At that price, you can’t complain.
M
Dram Disclosure: This is my own bottle. All notes are intended as an honest, fair, and independent review of the whisky, and not as a promotion. Please drink responsibly. Please drink wisely.
whisky unplugged 
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