From Finance to Fermentation: Dan Szor’s Cotswolds Whisky Story
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ituated amidst picturesque landscapes, grand estates, and historic manor houses adorned with their classic honey-colored limestone facades, The Cotswolds distillery stands amongst those enchanting settings that often inspire the imaginations of novelists. Surrounded by rolling hills and charming villages, this distillery is a hidden gem nestled within a region renowned for its timeless beauty.
Discover more about Daniel Szor in this exclusive interview. Szor shares his personal insights and expertise, from the art of whisky making to his unique approach to crafting some of the world's most beloved whiskies at the renowned Cotswolds Distillery in England.
TWS - Can you briefly introduce yourself for those that don't know you?
DS - I founded the Cotswolds Distillery in 2014 having had a career in currency investment management services in New York, Paris and London. While living in London, my wife and I purchased an old farmhouse in the North Cotswolds and gradually fell in love with this most beautiful corner of Britain.
TWS - What inspired you to start Cotswolds Distillery and how did you transition into the world of spirits production?
DS - It was during my years working in Paris that I was first bitten by the whisky bug. I bought my first cask in 2002 at the newly re-opened Bruichladdich distillery on Islay, and watched the distillery grow under the creative and fearless management of James McEwan.
The Cotswolds Distillery was born from a dream to produce Outstanding Natural Spirits in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. Nestled in the Cotswolds countryside, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Cotswolds Distillery is the first full-scale distillery in the region and focuses on quality and flavour above all else.
Aware of the phenomenal growth of interest in craft spirits in the USA, I decided to combine my love of single malt whisky and the Cotswolds by creating the first-ever full-scale distillery in the region, with a focus on premium small-batch gin and single malt whisky made with local ingredients.
TWS - What challenges did you face when establishing the distillery, and how did you overcome them?
DS - When we first built the distillery, we thankfully had little idea of the enormity of the challenges which lay before us; making a great whisky, scaling production (and finding the finance in order to be able to do so), building a consumer brand from scratch, in an previously unknown category (English whisky). Most of these challenges are not easily, or ever, overcome, but met with hard work and continuous effort from everyone here at the distillery.
Keeping up this hard work is the real challenge, and every award and public recognition helps to reinvigorate and encourage the team.
TWS - What sets Cotswolds Distillery apart from other distilleries, in terms of techniques, ingredients, or ethos?
DS - Whisky legend Jim Swan, known as the ‘Einstein of whisky’, helped set up the Cotswolds Distillery. ‘We asked Jim for his guidance and he was instrumental in helping us optimise our production process and elaborate our wood programme.' Jim developed the ‘STR’ (shaved, toasted and re-charred) cask which the Cotswolds Distillery has embraced as an important element of its signature style. The Cotswolds Distillery is now the largest producer of English Whisky and we have recently commissioned a second distillery at our site in Shipston on Stour. We mature the whisky in first-fill, ex-Bourbon barrels and reconditioned red wine casks.
TWS - How do you approach sourcing ingredients for your spirits, and what role does locality play in your selection process?
DS - We use 100% locally grown, floor-malted barley and each bottle lists the barley variety, harvest year and the local Cotswolds farm on which it was grown.
TWS - Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in the spirits industry. How does Cotswolds Distillery prioritise sustainability in its operations?
DS - Our sustainable practices include our new bio-diverse Wetlands Ecological Treatment System and a series of cells covering nearly two acres naturally process three quarters of the effluent from our whisky making and cut down on tanker trucks and local road traffic, while creating a bio-diverse wetland habitat for local wildlife. The wetlands project involves the planting of nine terraced plant beds on our adjacent land, each of them home to a bio-diverse collective of over 50 different species of plant – all of them working together to break down impurities in the liquid. A large willow coppice is the final element in the system, providing natural drainage for any leftover liquid.
The system has immediately had an impact by cutting the number of road tanker visits to our site by 65%, which means that the project has an extremely short payback time of about one year. The project will also create a wonderful and biodiverse ecosystem on our adjoining lands, home to birds, insects and other animals, and an important element in our visitor attraction – cementing our place not only as a champion of sustainability in industry but also as one of the Cotswolds top places to visit in the Cotswolds.
TWS - Collaboration and partnerships can be valuable for growth. Have you engaged in any notable collaborations with other brands or organisations?
DS - In April 2023, Britain’s oldest wine & spirits merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd purchased a minority stake in The Cotswolds Distillery which has helped fund an increase in production and sales of Cotswolds Single Malt Whisky as well as developing our sustainability programme.
In December 2023, we partnered with Disaronno International UK, the local subsidiary of Illva Saronno Holding. With their sales and marketing organisation of 45 people, including a team of 14 who focus on activation in the on-premise channel, we are building on the excellent work that our sales teams have done to date and creating a very successful partnership, both in the UK and further afield.
TWS - Whisky enthusiasts often value transparency in production methods. How does Cotswolds Distillery communicate its production process and ingredients to consumers?
DS - We are delighted to be fully transparent in our production methods and welcome over 100,000 visitors to the Distillery each year offering them a guided tour and tasting, where they can see how Cotswolds Single Malt is made and taste it for themselves.
TWS - What role does experimentation play in developing new whisky expressions, and can you share any particularly exciting experiments or innovations?
DS - The team works closely with Cotswolds Distillery Manager, Alice Pearson who oversees all distillery liquid supply whilst remaining heavily involved in NPD, blending and production for a range of spirits including whiskies. In addition to our 6 core whisky expressions, we have 3 whisky SKUs – our Hearts & Crafts series, our Harvest series and our single cask series – which are ever changing, and which allow us to focus both on exotic casks and on the art of blending across various cask types. Finally, we are proud of a number of experimental and innovative collaborations, such as making a single malt whisky from heirloom Plummage Archer Barley grown at Highgrove Estate, the private residence of King Charles, and also our upcoming tribute to Jim Swan made with our friends at M&H distillery, and also our soon-to-be released “Traitors Ford Rye” – our first-ever rye whisky, made in collaboration with our neighbours at Hook Norton Brewery.
TWS - What is your vision for the future of Cotswolds Distillery, both in terms of products and expansion?
DS - My vision is for Cotswolds Distillery to continue to be the number one producer of English Whisky and to see our international expansion plans realised with the growing global opportunity in New World Whisky.
