Ad Gefrin marks visit from the Worshipful Company of Distillers as it launches a new distillery tour and Tácnbora Special Edition
Ad Gefrin, England's most northerly whisky distillery, today welcomed the Worshipful Company of Distillers for a ceremonial inspection.
The Master, Daniel Szor, led the inspection with the Wardens, Clerk and Beadle of the livery all arriving in livery gowns and regalia to exercise their right to inspect the distillery.
Guided by the Ad Gefrin team, the inspectors examined the premises, reviewed the distillery's production practices and tested samples of the spirit. They then presented the Ad Gefrin team with a formal certificate confirming that the distillery operates in accordance with the Company's standards.
The ‘current’ inspection powers derive from the Company’s second Royal Charter - granted in 1687 by King James II - which gave the London livery company the power to regulate the distilling trade, search the premises of spirit makers and destroy unwholesome wares. That jurisdiction traditionally covered the Cities of London and Westminster but is exercised across the UK when the occasion calls for it, including Wooler, which sits some 300 miles to the north of the square mile. Today the inspection is ceremonial rather than regulatory, but it still means a distillery's work has been assessed and approved by one of the oldest institutions in the spirits trade.
It's one thing to be a member of the Livery, and quite another to have the Master and Wardens walk through your stillhouse and taste your spirit. Our ambition at Ad Gefrin is to distil the land around us, so having the Livery taste that spirit in the stillhouse where it's made was a real privilege.
We’ve stretched our historic inspection radius from the City of London just a little this year, visiting Norfolk and Northumbria to celebrate English whisky’s pioneers and its newest arrivals. Ad Gefrin embodies the ambition of this remarkable category: a magnificent distillery and visitor centre, with Anglo-Saxon history at its heart. As its own whisky prepares to make its debut, we wish the team every success in sharing the very best of Northumbrian spirit—in every sense—with the world
Any type of cask used for finishing a whisky can bring a huge amount to the profile but can also take away, the key is understanding that balance and knowing when to stop. We wanted the casks for this finish to offer more depth and richness while keeping Tácnbora recognisably itself.
The final moment of the day was the unveiling of Whisky In Depth, a new 90-minute tour, priced at £40, and offering the most detailed visit yet of Ad Gefrin’s distillery.
Ad Gefrin is a distillery opening its doors to tradition, innovation and hospitality in equal measure. A Royal Charter brought the trade's oldest institution to Wooler to judge the spirit. A new Tácnbora puts more of the distillery's work in the glass. And the new tour gives visitors greater access to the distillation of Northumbrian spirit. Behind all of it are the people who make Ad Gefrin what it is: the distilling team, the farming families who grow its barley, and the visitors and Corenkyn members who keep coming back.
The Inspection Party of the Distillers' Company was hosted by the following members of the Ad Gefrin team: Ben Murphy (Director of Distilling), Alan and Eileen Ferguson (Co-Founders) and Andy Ross (Managing Director).
