Filey Bay Second Edition followed the distillery's debut release and arrived as a marker of how Spirit of Yorkshire's house style was developing. Matured in a combination of first-fill bourbon casks, it captures the youthful clarity of Yorkshire single malt without pushing too hard on the wood — the barley is allowed to sing, and the casks play a supporting role rather than dictating the tune.
Spirit of Yorkshire opened its doors at Hunmanby Grange in 2016, the brainchild of farmer Tom Mellor and his business partner David Thompson. Barley grown on the surrounding fields is malted off-site, then distilled on Forsyths copper stills and matured within sight of Filey Bay itself. Limited Editions like this one serve as waypoints — snapshots of a distillery still finding its voice, and markers for collectors who want to chart the project's evolution year by year.
At 46%, non-chill-filtered and natural colour, Second Edition is an honest drink. It's not trying to impress with complexity beyond its years; it's showing you what good barley, clean distillation, and well-chosen bourbon wood can do together when they're given time and left alone. For anyone following the story of English whisky, these early bottlings are worth seeking out while they're still around. The Yorkshire coast rarely used to make it into whisky conversations, but releases like this are steadily changing that — and the confidence of the spirit here suggests the distillery is well aware of what it has.
