Filey Bay STR Red Wine Cask: Innovative Yorkshire Whisky with Balanced Red Fruit Character
STR cask innovation | 100% Yorkshire-grown barley | Solera-style maturation | 47.3% ABV | Soft red fruit notes
Key Product Information
- Distillery: Spirit of Yorkshire, Hunmanby
- Region: Yorkshire, England
- Type: English Single Malt Whisky
- ABV: 47.3% (94.6 proof)
- Volume: 70cl (700ml)
- Cask: STR (Shaved, Toasted, Re-charred) Red Wine Casks
- Barley: 100% Yorkshire-grown
- Production: Solera-style fractional blending
- Filtration: Non-chill filtered
- Natural colour: Yes
Tasting Notes
Nose
Malty sweetness with gentle red fruit influence. Fresh biscuit, almond marzipan, and soft berry notes. Light oak spice and subtle wine character create an inviting aroma.
Palate
Soft and malty foundation showcasing Yorkshire barley character. Digestive biscuit, sweet marzipan, and boiled sweets. Red fruit emerges with cherry, raspberry, and subtle cranberry. Balanced oak integration without overwhelming the delicate spirit.
Finish
Medium length with lingering malt sweetness. Red fruit fades gracefully into gentle warming spice and creamy texture. Clean and satisfying conclusion.
What Makes Filey Bay STR Red Wine Special
- STR Innovation: Shaved, Toasted, and Re-charred casks create unique flavour profiles by rejuvenating used wine barrels, representing cutting-edge cooperage techniques
- Perfectly Balanced: STR process brings red fruit character without overwhelming the light, creamy Yorkshire house style, achieving harmony between wood and spirit
- Solera Consistency: Fractional blending maintains consistent flavour profile across batches while continuously building complexity and depth
- Sustainable Oak: Re-working existing casks reduces demand for new wood, making this an environmentally responsible choice compared to single-use barrel programmes
- Field to Bottle Philosophy: Complete control from barley growing through bottling ensures exceptional quality and full traceability
- Versatile Profile: Approachable enough for newcomers to wine-finished whisky, yet complex enough to satisfy experienced enthusiasts
Understanding STR Cask Treatment
STR stands for Shaved, Toasted, and Re-charred. This innovative cooperage process rejuvenates used wine casks to create unique maturation environments that offer distinct advantages over both fresh and tired barrels.
The Three-Stage Process:
Shaving: The interior of the cask is mechanically shaved to remove the top layer of wood that has become saturated with wine and previous spirit fills. This exposes fresh oak beneath the surface, ready to impart new flavours.
Toasting: The exposed wood is carefully toasted using controlled heat. This process caramelizes the natural sugars in the oak, creating new flavour compounds including vanilla, caramel, and baking spices. The toasting level can be adjusted to achieve desired characteristics.
Re-charring: A final char layer is applied to the barrel interior. This carbonized layer helps integrate flavours during maturation and provides some natural filtration of the maturing spirit, removing unwanted compounds while allowing desirable flavours to develop.
This treatment creates a middle ground between intensely wine-forward first-fill casks (which can dominate delicate spirits) and exhausted casks (which contribute minimal character). The result is balanced red fruit notes that complement rather than overpower the spirit, making STR casks particularly well-suited to lighter English whiskies.
Perfect For
Whisky Enthusiasts Who Enjoy:
- Wine-influenced whiskies
- Red fruit flavour profiles
- Approachable, balanced malts
- English whisky innovation
- Versatile drinking whiskies
- Sustainable spirits production
Occasions:
- Evening relaxation and unwinding
- Introduction to wine cask whisky
- Pairing with food
- Gifts for red wine drinkers exploring whisky
- Year-round sipping
- Casual entertaining
How to Enjoy Filey Bay STR Red Wine
Neat
Serve at room temperature to appreciate the balance between malt sweetness and red fruit character. A Glencairn glass concentrates the gentle aromatics.
With Water
A few drops of spring water enhance the fruit notes and soften the 47.3% ABV without losing the whisky's complexity and character.
Food Pairing
Excellent with red meat (particularly lamb or beef), game birds, dark chocolate raspberry desserts, or aged cheddar cheese. The red fruit complements savoury dishes beautifully.
The Solera-Style Approach
Every time Filey Bay STR Red Wine Cask is bottled, the casks holding the whisky are incrementally topped up with older casks carefully selected from the warehouse. This fractional blending method, inspired by traditional Spanish solera systems used for sherry and brandy production, achieves two critical objectives.
First, it ensures consistent flavour profile across batches. Each release delivers the characteristic soft, malty, red fruit profile that defines this expression, giving customers confidence in what they're purchasing.
Second, it allows the whisky to continuously gain age and complexity. As older liquid is gradually incorporated into each batch, the average age increases over time while maintaining the core character. This creates a dynamic maturation process where each batch builds upon previous ones, developing additional depth and sophistication.
About Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery
Founded in 2016 in the coastal village of Hunmanby, Spirit of Yorkshire brought whisky production to the Yorkshire coast. The distillery became the first in Yorkshire to sell single malt whisky when they released their inaugural expression in 2019.
As farmers, brewers, and distillers, the team controls every stage of production from seed to bottle. This vertical integration ensures quality at every step while supporting the local Yorkshire agricultural economy.
Their sustainable farming approach uses cover crops and direct drilling techniques to protect soil structure and sequester carbon underground, ensuring land quality for future generations. The distillery overlooks Filey Bay, where the North Sea coastal environment contributes to the whisky's unique character through temperature fluctuations and maritime air influence.
English Whisky and Wine Cask Innovation
English whisky distilleries have embraced wine cask maturation with particular creativity, often experimenting with innovative cask treatments that push traditional boundaries. STR (Shaved, Toasted, Re-charred) cask treatment represents this forward-thinking approach to whisky maturation.
The lighter, fruitier spirit profile produced by many English distilleries makes them ideal candidates for wine cask influence. Unlike heavier, more robust spirits that might overpower delicate wine notes, English whiskies achieve balance, allowing both the base spirit and wine character to shine.
STR casks represent sustainable innovation in an industry increasingly focused on environmental responsibility. By extending the useful life of expensive wine casks through rejuvenation rather than replacement, distilleries reduce demand for new cooperage while creating distinctive flavours. This approach reflects English whisky's willingness to experiment while maintaining quality standards and environmental stewardship.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does STR mean and how does it work?
A: STR stands for Shaved, Toasted, and Re-charred. This three-stage cask treatment rejuvenates used wine barrels by shaving the interior to expose fresh wood, toasting to create new flavour compounds, and re-charring to integrate flavours and filter the spirit.
Q: How does STR differ from regular wine cask whisky?
A: STR treatment provides more subtle, integrated wine character compared to intensely wine-forward first-fill casks. This creates better balance with the spirit, allowing both the base whisky and wine influence to complement each other rather than competing.
Q: What type of red wine casks are used?
A: While specific cooperage details vary by batch, the STR process works with various red wine cask types to create the characteristic red fruit profile featuring cherry, raspberry, and subtle cranberry notes.
Q: How does this compare to Filey Bay Flagship?
A: The Flagship showcases bourbon cask maturation with vanilla, honey, and peachy fruit. STR Red Wine adds malty biscuit sweetness and red fruit complexity while maintaining the light, creamy Yorkshire character. Both express the house style through different cask influences.
Q: Is this suitable for wine drinkers new to whisky?
A: Yes! The familiar red fruit notes provide an accessible bridge for red wine drinkers exploring whisky. The balanced profile won't overwhelm newcomers while offering enough complexity for experienced drinkers.
Q: Why is STR more sustainable?
A: STR treatment extends the productive life of wine casks that would otherwise be retired. This reduces demand for new barrel production, conserving oak forests and reducing the carbon footprint associated with new cooperage.
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