Long before the idea for a whisky distillery took shape, Tom Mellor and David Thompson had already struck up a friendship in the 1980s when a young David first visited Hunmanby Grange to talk about barley seed. Decades later, over a pint in 2011, the two friends realised how far they’d come: “We’ve got barley on the farm, our own water, and we already make great beer,” they said. Whisky was the next logical step.
The farm has been in the Mellor family since 1945, with the fifth generation growing up there now. An arable farm on the Yorkshire Wolds, with great land for growing malting barley and their own water supply, the Mellor family diversified first into brewing in 2003, creating the Wold Top Brewery. Then in 2012, Tom and David joined together to move into whisky production, supported by the late, great Dr Jim Swan, and joined by Joe Clark as Whisky Director in 2016. After a lot of due diligence, planning and preparation, they ran the stills and filled the first casks in early summer 2016. Filey Bay First Release was ready in autumn 2019. Filey Bay Yorkshire Single Malt Whisky is now enjoyed all around the UK, as well as internationally in 12 markets, including China, Japan, the USA and Europe.
For the team, what they enjoy most is everything, from field to bottle. Being out on the farm, to being in the still house, carefully watching the spirit safe. The incredible smell of the warehouse, to developing and designing how the world will see and enjoy their whisky. And nothing is better than sitting down with friends and enjoying a bottle of Filey Bay all together.
What makes Filey Bay unique is that it’s the first single malt whisky made in, and of, Yorkshire. Fully field-to-bottle whisky with 100% homegrown, regeneratively farmed barley and farm-sourced chalk-filtered water. Their way of farming, using cover crops and direct drilling, is crucial to the future of Filey Bay Whisky. By protecting the structure of the soil and keeping carbon beneath the ground, they’re ensuring that their land and their barley are the best they can be. They’ve invested in two of the largest Forsyth pot stills operating in the UK outside of Scotland, and added a four-plate copper column into their process that works in tandem with their spirit still, creating two styles of distillate which they cask and mature separately. The result is a distinct and delicious light, fruity and welcoming distillery character.
