Scarborough man wins first ever bottle of Yorkshire single malt whisky
An agricultural contractor from Staxton, near Scarborough is celebrating after winning the prize draw for the first ever bottle of Filey Bay, Yorkshire's first single malt whisky.
John Napthine received his prize, complete with a certificate and a bespoke wooden case that was made from the staves of a whisky barrel, at a presentation at the distillery.
Managing Director and Co-Founder, David Thompson explained the rationale for the prize draw: "Bottle Number One from any distillery is always very special. Some distilleries auction them off and some keep hold of them, but we wanted our loyal fans to be in with a chance of winning this iconic bottle - that's more important to us than selling to the highest bidder.
"We sold limited edition nosing glasses and each one contained a unique code that was entered into the prize draw. In mid-November we used a random number generator to draw the winning name from the hundreds of entries and recently we welcomed John, his partner and his daughter to the distillery to collect the money can't buy prize."
A delighted Mr Napthine said: "I bought some limited edition nosing glasses for my family after enjoying a distillery tour at the Hunmanby Distillery, but never believed that I would win the first ever bottle of Filey Bay!"
Mr Napthine won bottle number one of Filey Bay First Release that was limited to 6,000 bottles. All of these have now sold out and Filey Bay Second Release was launched before Christmas. Following the presentation, he has kindly loaned the bottle, case and certificate back to Spirit of Yorkshire and they are now on display in the distillery shop.
The bespoke case was made by Peter Green, who is a cask owner and is a friend of the distillery.
Filey Bay Second Release has been created by marrying a selection of bourbon casks together with one sherry cask. The result is a light and fruity spirit with flavours of citrus, vanilla ice cream, caramel, biscuit and honey.
Filey Bay Second Release is available from the distillery shop, online at www.spiritofyorkshire.com, in all Booths stores, Harvey Nichols and from selected premium retailers throughout the UK.
Spirit of Yorkshire was launched in 2016 and is a collaboration between farmer and brewer, Tom Mellor from Wold Top Brewery and business partner, David Thompson. The distillery is a true field to bottle setup, with barley and water sourced from the distillery farm, and boasts some of the most impressive distilling equipment in the country, including two of the largest Forsyth pot stills operating in the UK outside of Scotland.
Hour long tours of the distillery take place at 11am, 1pm and 3pm Monday to Saturday and 11am and 1pm on Sunday. They cost £12.50 and include three tasters (or a ‘Drivers' Drams' pack to take away) and a branded nosing glass.
Ends
Photograph caption: Left to right, David Thompson, John Napthine and Tom Mellor
For more information or to arrange an interview with David Thompson or John Napthine please contact Tracey Baty at three60 marketing on
Direct line:01430 871360
Mobile: 07971 961574
E mail: traceybaty@three60marketing.co.uk
Notes to editors
- For more information about Spirit of Yorkshire, please visit https://www.spiritofyorkshire.com/
2.The Distillery and Pot Still Coffee Shop are open 7 days a week; 9.30am-5pm, Monday-Saturday and 10am-3pm on a Sunday.