SUSTAINABILTY
Our commitment to a sustainable future
We do what we do for the generations to come, from the traditional way we makeour spirits to the sustainable practices embedded in our process. No investors. No financiers. No one stopping us from doing things the right way.
The rich soils and pure waters that provide us with everything we need to make world-class spirits must be preserved and protected. We have instituted processes that protect our pristine water source, minimise waste, and reduce carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels.
At the end of the day, it’s our job to take care of the land. It’s not just the right thing to do. It’s good whisky-making and good business.
Barley
Our locally-grown barley is malted for us by Crisp's Maltings of Fakenham. This means minimal food miles and ongoing support for the local farming community. A percentage of the barley we use also comes from our family farms.
Protecting our pristine water source
Our water is drawn by borehole from the Breckland Aquifer, England's largest underground source of fresh water, which runs underneath the distillery. All of our cooling water is pumped from our aquifer at a stable 10 degrees and kept in a closed seal loop and returned to the ground after use. This reduces the use of ground water by around 94% and protects the source. This water is a key ingredient in our whiskies– another reason to keep it safe and pure!
Reducing carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels
As a relatively new and modern distillery, we were able to build in modern, efficient heat exchangers. Where liquid needs to be cooled on its journey, the heat is transferred from the liquid to other liquid that needs heating. The use of these modern heat exchangers radically reduces our need to burn gas.
A bank of solar panels are situated onsite, producing 48% of the energy required to power the distillery since 2009.
Note: We are currently exploring the use of hydrogen to further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. This is part of our long-term vision to innovate in service of the environment and to inspire others to follow suit.
Minimising waste
Byproducts of distilling are spent grains and spent lees. In the early days of distilling, these byproducts were returned to the local agricultural cycle. It’s just common sense, but unfortunately it’s not all that common today. We aim to change that.
100% of our spent grains (barley that has been washed of its sugar) are collected by the neighbouring farmer and fed to his cattle. By sending it to a local dairy, we also reduce the farm’s feed-related transport emissions.
Spent lees (the liquids left over from the distilling process, including water, old yeast, and waste carbohydrates) are lab-tested to check micronutrient levels and are then certified as fertiliser that can be used on the surrounding crops, minimising the need for carbon-based fertiliser and reducing the farm’s carbon footprint.
