THE OXFORD ARTISAN DISTILLERY’S CRAFTY LITTLE LOTTERY

Oxford, 27^th April, 2022 – The Oxford Artisan Distillery’s latest whisky release, Crafty Little Rye, will be exclusively made available from the distillery’s on-site shop and through an online ballot from the 29^th April.

Batch #6 of Oxford Rye Whisky uses the house mash bill of 90% maslin (a mix of 70% rye and 20% wheat from populations grown together in the same field) and 10% heritage malted barley, the grain is flattened and the resulting course flakes are made up in to a thick porridge. Fermentation for this batch took place over six days in the distillery’s bespoke 5000L Hungarian Oak vats, using their own in-house fermenting culture.

The resulting new make was matured in Cask #42, a lightly charred new American Oak cask, for two years and one month, which gave the new make its classic house profile. The whisky was then transferred and finished in a Vintage Port cask, #271, for one year and two months. Having spent many years in production the Port cask brings the very best characteristics of Portugal’s Douro wine valley to the Thames valley, and the character of Oxford’s only Rye Whisky.

Master Distiller, Francisco Rosa, who is forever experimenting and tinkering in his lab, is driven by creating experiences. Rosa says: “Flavour is one of the best ways to take us into a story of time and place told with the help of our memories, and whisky is one of the best ways to do this.”

When evaluating Cask #271, Rosa felt this parcel of whisky was at its prime and should be bottled in its own right. Rosa comments: “The Port cask came from a top producer in the Douro valley, used in champagne for ten years before being used for Vintage Port for another 15 years, so this is a classic French barrique which was freshly emptied straight before coming to us in Oxford.” 

“Using virgin American Oak and an extremely good quality vintage Port cask, we have preserved both the structure and balance of our Oxford rye house character and the nuanced influence of Portugal’s famed fortified wine.”

Crafty Little Rye opens with a bright fruity aroma of berries and banana. Nutty and chocolate-y with leather and tobacco deep in its roots with a touch of spearmint and smoke. Then, cherry clafoutis with Ferrero Rocher. Finishing with refreshing peppermint and warming peppercorn, wrapped up in strawberry yogurt.

Priced at £25.00 and presented in a 20cl glass flask to improve the accessibility of The Oxford Artisan Distillery’s more premium expressions, Crafty Little Rye is bottled at 45.2% ABV. 100 bottles will be made available via an online ballot from 10am on 29^th April through the distillery’s website: www.theoxfordartisandistillery.com/craftylittlelottery . The remaining bottles will be on sale from the distillery’s on-site shop in Oxford.

The Oxford Artisan Distillery:

The distillery opened for business at its purpose-built site in Oxford on 27th July 2017.

It is Oxford’s first ever distillery and produces a range of spirits, including gin, absinthe, vodka and whisky, all with total provenance from grain to glass. The Oxford Artisan Distillery is rare amongst UK distilleries in producing its own spirit, rather than purchasing Grain Neutral Spirit (GNS) from other sources.

The distillery has a licence to produce spirits for the University of Oxford and has a notable partnership with the University of Oxford’s Botanic Garden.

About Heritage Grain:

The Oxford Artisan Distillery is the only distillery to use genetically diverse populations of heritage grains – revived from historical sources by a leading archaeo-botanist and grown sustainably on over 350 acres, known as land races, both close to Oxford and on prestigious estates such as Highgrove and Sandringham. The distillery’s grain contributes to biodiversity and soil health in the English countryside. The grains are the result of John Lett’s lifelong research on heritage grains: John has spent a large part of his life sourcing and growing heritage grains together, as polycultures. John takes 30-100 varieties of grain, mixes them up, and grows them together in the same field, at the same time. These sustainable fields are similar to what you would have seen in medieval times – the grains are grown specifically for the distillery, making The Oxford Artisan Distillery the only distillery in the world with a license to use John’s grains, grown exclusively for flavour and not yield.