STR stands for Shaved, Toasted and Re-charred — a cask preparation technique popularised by the late Dr Jim Swan, in which ex-red-wine barrels are stripped back, re-toasted and re-charred to draw out fresh oak character and vivid fruit. At Spirit of Yorkshire, it gives Filey Bay a wonderfully bright, berry-lifted profile.
The distillery sits on the Mellor family farm at Hunmanby, where the barley is grown in the surrounding Yorkshire fields and the stills — unusually, split between a site at the farm and a separate still house — produce a fruit-forward new make that takes well to active wood. The STR expression leans into that affinity: the reinvigorated oak throws out raspberry, cherry and cinnamon-toast notes, with a gentle smoky char underneath from the re-firing of the staves.
On the nose it is all red fruit and warm bakery — raspberry coulis, cherry skin, a pod of vanilla. The palate follows suit with strawberry jam, cinnamon toast and a soft lick of char, the Yorkshire malt keeping the sweetness anchored. The finish is medium and clean, drying through oak spice and cocoa nib, leaving a pleasant berry hum on the tongue.
Bottled at 46% and non-chill-filtered, it is an excellent showcase of both the distillery's farm-to-glass philosophy and the Swan-inspired cask craft now thriving in England. Drinkable, expressive and young in the best sense.
