realthog

The sweet smell of ground grist wafts over the surrounding peat marshland as a one-tonne copper still boils and distils mash into the unmistakable dark liquid that will eventually become whisky.

The first run of single malt, meanwhile, lies maturing in hundreds of specially imported Bourbon barrels from the United States watched over by Molly, Bert, Oscar and Zeb, the distillery's four Labrador dogs.

At first glance nothing in this particular distillery looks out of the ordinary. But to the factory's founders and whisky connoisseurs worldwide what lies in those casks is not just whisky; it is history in the making.

For this is not just another new distillery to add to Scotland or Ireland's already thriving industries. This is the English Whisky Company, the latest attempt to try and cash in on the unprecedented clamour for fine whisky worldwide and, also, the first company to produce an English malt whisky in more than 100 years.

To traditionalists the idea of asking barman for "an English" in the same way that millions of tipplers request "a Scotch" might sound preposterous, but if a retired Norfolk grain farmer and water engineer gets his way, that is precisely what Britain's discerning whisky lovers will be demanding by the end of next year.

The Indy has the full nightmarish story at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/whisky-galore-an-english-malt-please-793677.html.

All the usual jokes aside, many years ago, for reasons I now no longer remember, I tried some Welsh whisky -- we Scots can be snooty about whisky, so I must have been interested solely in the potential novelty value of Swansea Glen (or whatever it was called). It turned out to be a perfectly decent blend -- not distinguished, but by no means lousy. I looked out for it after that, but sadly never saw it on sale again.