Circumstance Distillery Organic Single Grain Wheat Whisky, 70cl
Most English whisky is made from malted barley. Circumstance Distillery in Bristol builds this one around wheat instead: a mash bill of 70% organic malted wheat and 30% organic malted barley, fermented for a full 14 days on a Bavarian wheat beer yeast. That long fermentation is where much of the character starts, giving the spirit a soft, bready sweetness before it reaches a cask.
It was distilled through a copper whisky hood and a four-plate column, then matured for 44 months across three cask types. Ex-bourbon American oak brings vanilla and keeps the wheat's sweetness to the fore; new Andean oak adds a drier, spicier edge; and ex red vermouth casks, new to this release, sit behind the apricot that now joins the familiar bakery notes.
In the glass, expect freshly baked brioche and Madeira cake, then apricot, ginger and cracked black pepper, with a soft, rounded texture from the high wheat content. At 47.8% Alc., it works neat, and a drop of water is entirely optional.
We think this is the clearest example in the Circumstance range of how much the choice of grain and yeast changes a whisky. If you mostly drink single malts, it is well worth trying alongside one. Bottling 4:10:1:37:45, a release of around 400 bottles.
Circumstance Distillery is an organic whisky distillery in Bristol, run by Liam Hirt and Head Distiller Andrew Osborne. Their approach puts flavour first: multi-grain mash bills, brewing yeasts and long fermentations, with the casks adding the final layer. They choose not to make single malts, and this whisky makes a good case for that decision.
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