The story of The Oxford Artisan Distillery begins in 2017 when Tom Nicolson and Tagore Ramoutar set out to become the first “grain-to-glass” organically certified spirit producer in the United Kingdom. Their small facility is located in an old depot previously owned by Oxford City Council. Master Distiller Cory Mason oversees the Devon Railway Engineering built 2,400 and 500-litre stills which are affectionally named Nautilus and Nemo from Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The company has a range of different spirits and can stake claim to being the first ever legal distillery in Oxford’s history. 

Titled The Graduate, this release has seen a complex maturation process as stated in the official tasting notes: 

Made with a variety of American Oak casks from multiple cooperages, this whisky is a result of casks with different origins, toasts, sizes (both 130L and 225L) and maturation in different micro-climates. This release is a blend of 6 casks in total - cask numbers 25, 27, 28, 31, 33 and 36.

Produced from the 2017 harvest and bottled in 2021, this release resulted in 1,428 bottles.

•

TASTING NOTES

NOSE: Floral and herbal, banana smoothie, stone fruits, marzipan and a hint of smoke. Dive in more and get: apple, pear, liquorice, raisins, cream, smoked moss.

PALATE: Gummy bears, banana gum, honey, apricot, melon, white chocolate, nutmeg and oriental BBQ.

FINISH: Butterscotch, tea tree, mint, muscovado sugar and smoke.

OVERALL: Candied and spicy, fresh rye vibes with stone fruits, fruity gums and vanilla ice cream.