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9th December 2022

Copper Rivet Distillery

Situated in Chatham’s Historic Dockyard, The Copper Rivet Distillery first fired up its stills back in 2017 – and produced its first whisky in 2020.

Inspired by the area’s strong tradition of invention and craftmanship, the team create small batches of incomparable whiskies, in custom-made stills, with the same passion and skill that local craftsmen once fashioned world-class ships.

In addition to making its own revered vodka and gin, Copper Rivet Distillery is one of England’s most ambitious whisky distillers and, in many ways, the most unusual in its approach. While almost every other whisky distillery makes the same whisky distillate and then experiments with different styles of maturations and casks (be it sherry or port etc..) to create differentiation amongst its range of whiskies, Masthouse do things ‘upside down’.

They create different whisky distillates by placing emphasis on both the provenance and variety of the grains and specific brewing, fermentation and distillation techniques. They then age them in the same ex-bourbon casks (ideally Heaven Hill casks treated by Kelvin Cooperage).

This isn’t cheap and it isn’t easy but by doing everything very slowly and at low temperatures, they create an easy-drinking ‘house style’ that is light, fruity and floral – a core character that encompasses each and every one of the batch distilled whiskies.

This ‘Cost be damned’ approach stretches from grain to glass. As part of a very close relationship with local farmers, Masthouse carefully monitors how the grain grows in the nearby Kent countryside (a dangerous thing to try and say after you’ve had a couple of whiskies!) and then selects the best early harvest wheat, barley and rye to create its small-batch spirit.

By ensuring that their grain is grown in fields within 50 miles of the distillery, Copper Rivet keeps its ‘food miles’ low – reducing theirr impact on the environment whilst also supporting the local farming communities – it also helps them control the quality and consistency of every drop of spirit they produce.

The ‘terroir’ is maintained during the maturation process – that Kent has the warmest summers in the UK means that the whisky ages a lot faster than in Speyside, a region with one of the coldest average temperatures.

The whisky is made in Pot Stills and Column stills. The Single Malt column still is the first to be made this way in England and is designed to deftly dovetail smoothness and flavour. Each and every whisky they distil is done so in accordance with its own Invicta Whisky Charter – which governs in a transparent way how the whisky is made for the consumer.

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