The rise of English whisky hasn’t gone unnoticed — nor has it gone unchallenged. The recent application for Geographical Indication (GI) for English whisky earned a sharp response from the Scotch Whisky Association, which questioned whether the category’s production standards were stringent enough. But amidst the debate, what’s clear is that English whisky is evolving on its own terms — with distilleries embracing both tradition and experimentation in equal measure.
Prior to the final global results announcement on March 26th, the World Whiskies Awards Rest of World (ROW) provide the perfect opportunity to focus not on the politics, but on the product. The Gold medal-winning English single malts this year are proof that innovation and quality aren’t mutually exclusive — and that the best of English whisky is already more than earning its place on the global stage. So, here are the Gold medal and Category Winning English single malts from this year’s competition.
Bankhall Cigar Malt
Award: Category Winner Gold
Category: Single Malt
Age: 12 Years & Under
Tasting Notes: Vanilla, clove, cinnamon, spicy wood tannins, caramel, oak
BUY NOW: $41
Bankhall, owned by Halewood Artisanal Spirits, is a Blackpool-based brand that, curiously, markets its single malts as ‘British’ rather than ‘English’. This is because Halewood manages distilleries in England, Scotland, and Wales, bottling whisky from each under the Bankhall brand.
Bankhill Cigar Malt, as the name would suggest, is designed to be enjoyed with a cigar. With notes of vanilla, clove, cinnamon, and wood spice, the whisky holds up against the intense tobacco of a cigar. Aged exclusively in virgin American oak casks, a novelty in the industry, the resulting British single malt is complex and layered, bottled at 43% ABV.
Although this whisky is categorized as ‘12 Years & Under’ there is no age statement on the bottle, nor is it displayed on Halewood’s website.
Cotswolds Sherry Cask Single Malt Whisky
Award: Category Winner Gold
Category: Single Cask Single Malt
Age: 12 Years & Under
Tasting Notes: Dried fruits, chocolate, a touch of spice
BUY NOW: $68
The Cotswolds Distillery is nestled in the picturesque Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Warwickshire. Founded in 2014 by New Yorker, Daniel Szor, Cotswold Distillery produces whisky, gin, and liqueurs. The distillery is known for its use of local ingredients, reflecting the terroir and beauty of the surrounding area.
Cotswolds Sherry Cask is a marriage of specially selected and blended sherry casks, both American and Spanish oak. These casks have been seasoned with either Oloroso or Pedro Ximénez. As such, the batches vary year on year, and each batch is fully matured in sherry casks, allowing the whisky to develop a richer, more complex flavor. The expression that won a Gold medal at the World Whiskies Awards was bottled at 57.4% ABV.
The World Whiskies Awards categorizes this as a ‘Single Cask Single Malt ‘ whisky. However, there is no reference to this being a single cask bottling on the Cotswolds Distillery website. It a marriage of selected casks. In fact, the latest batch produced 9,900 bottles, which is pretty much impossible to produce from a single cask.
Wire Works Single Malt English Whisky Madeira Finish
Award: Category Winner Gold
Category: Single Malt
Age: No Age Statement
Tasting Notes: Fresh orange peel, treacle tart, peppermint, eucalyptus, marzipan, pecan nuts, cacao nibs, nectarine, vanilla fudge, orange marmalade, cardamon, star anise, milk chocolate, nutmeg
BUY NOW: $87
White Peak Distillery is located just outside the village of Ambergate in Derbyshire. The first full-scale distillery in Derbyshire, White Peak is renowned for its Wire Works range of whiskies, which showcases numerous cask finishes. This Madeira-finished whisky is a great example of how White Peak experiments with maturation.
After initial maturation in traditional oak casks, the whisky undergoes a finishing period in some very special Madeira wine casks. Madeira wine comes from the Portuguese island of the same name and is made from grapes like Malvasia and Sercial. After fermentation in oak, the wine is heated and cooled repeatedly—a process called ‘estufagem’—which mimics the conditions of old sea voyages through tropical climates. This technique intensifies the wine’s character, producing a rich, sweet, and nutty profile with layers of citrus and dried fruit. When used to finish whisky, these casks impart deep, complex flavors that differ from usual wine influences.
Bottled at 53.6% ABV, only 671 bottles of this special cask finish were created, making it a small batch release.
Wire Works Single Malt English Whisky Rum Cask Finish
Award: Category Winner Gold
Category: Small Batch Single Malt
Age: No Age Statement
Tasting Notes: Crème Anglaise, guava, papaya, ripe banana, delicate peat smoke, shortbread, lemon curd, fennel, rhubarb and custard, candied ginger, orange marmalade, peppermint creams
BUY NOW: $87
Continuing our exploration of Wire Works whisky, we have the Wire Works Single Malt English Whisky Rum Cask Finish.
To create this expression, White Peak Distillery matured its lightly peated spirit in first-fill ex-bourbon casks before finishing it in rum casks for two years on-site. The resulting expression is bursting with tropical fruits, supported by a wisp of the distillery’s signature smoke. Only 801 bottles were produced at 56.2% ABV.
Wire Works Single Malt English Whisky Islay Peat Finish
Award: Category Winner Gold
Category: Single Cask Single Malt
Age: No Age Statement
Tasting Notes: Jelly baby sweets, banana bread, fresh mango and papaya, peaches and cream, peppermint, macadamia nuts, fennel, lavender, malted milk biscuits, sage, soft lingering peat.
BUY NOW: Distillery Exclusive
Among the more limited releases from White Peak Distillery, Wire Works Peated Quarter Cask — originally entered into the World Whiskies Awards under the working name Wire Works Islay Peat Finish, according to an email exchange from the distillery — showcases the distillery’s thoughtful approach to flavor layering.
The naming discrepancy stems from the fact that the whisky was submitted before the final label had been confirmed, but the liquid remains the same: a bold yet refined expression of Wire Works’ lightly peated house style, finished with a distinctive Islay twist.
Just 204 bottles were produced from this dual-matured release, which began life in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels from Heaven Hill before being finished in a characterful Islay quarter cask. While the distillate itself is made using White Peak’s own gentle peat influence, the finishing cask introduces a different, unmistakably maritime style of smoke — adding extra depth and fruit-tinged complexity.
