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Innovative
English whisky producer, the Oxford
Artisan Distillery, announces investment
by Diageo through Distill Ventures.
The Oxford Artisan Distillery, an
ultra-premium English rye whisky
producer seeking to revolutionise
farming practices in the category, has
announced that Diageo has made a
minority investment in the company
through Distill Ventures, the
independent drinks accelerator devoted
to building and scaling the drinks
brands of the future.
Founded in 2016, The Oxford Artisan
Distillery produces whisky using
biodiverse populations of 'heritage'
grains grown through an approach to
grain farming known as Restorative
Continuous Grain Cropping (R-CGC). These
heritage grains and farming techniques
have been developed in partnership with
John Letts, a farmer and archaeobotanist
with over 25 years’ experience, and an
innovator in this field. The Oxford
Artisan Distillery is the only
distillery in the world with a license
to use John’s grains, a proprietary mix
of 30 to 100 different varieties grown
exclusively for flavour and not yield.
The distillery’s first English rye
whisky was released in April 2021, with
a second batch available shortly after.
To date, The Oxford Artisan Distillery
has released a further nine batches of
whisky and its distillery tour, just
outside of Oxford, is rated one of the
top things to do in the city on
Tripadvisor. With ultra-premium whisky
growing at 11% in the United Kingdom
over the last five years[1], the brand’s
vision is to grow a modern and scalable
whisky brand centred on restorative
agriculture, driven by their
forward-thinking approach to sustainable
farming.
The investment will support the next
stage of the company’s growth by
enabling the upgrade and expansion of
its production sites, and the continued
development of The Oxford Artisan
Distillery brand and its consumer
experiences.
Dave Smith, CEO of The Oxford Artisan
Distillery, said: “Over the last few
years we have seen the industry take
major steps towards addressing the
climate crisis, but we have a
responsibility to do more in tackling
sustainable farming and grain
production. With Diageo and Distill
Ventures’ support, we believe we can use
whisky to further a revolution in the
field. We have been blown away by the
team’s belief in our mission and could
not be happier to be entering the next
stage of our journey with them
alongside.”
Frank Lampen, Founder and CEO of Distill
Ventures, said: "Grain is becoming an
important part of how whisky producers
are continuing to innovate and develop
new styles and flavours, and the
heritage grains used by Oxford Artisan
Distillery together with their
ground-breaking approach to farming in a
sustainable way make this one of the
most exciting distilleries in the
English whisky scene, and we're
delighted to be able to support them in
their development."
Eugene Khabensky, Vice President of
Global Ventures at Diageo, said: "We’re
thrilled to welcome The Oxford Artisan
Distillery into the Distill Ventures
portfolio. Its ultra-premium positioning
coupled with its commitment to put
regenerative agriculture at the heart of
what it does, fits perfectly with our
strategy to support premium and
environmentally responsible brands."
As with all brands within the Distill
Ventures portfolio, the founding Oxford
Artisan Distillery team will retain
majority ownership and control of the
business.
You will find the new Glenallachie
core whisky range available from
specialist online whisky retailers such
as
The Whisky Exchange,
The Whisky Shop,
Hard To Find Whisky
and
Master of
Malt
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