Bimber

The distillery character of the Bimber Single Malt is light and fruity with sweet cereal notes. The first casks were filled in May 2016. Since 2019, the distillery has been bottling Whisky in small batches or from single casks. Among them are mainly Ex-Bourbon and Sherry casks but also fresh Virgin Oak casks. 

Besides Whisky, Bimber also offers two different types of Gin: Da Hong Pao Tea Gin and Kumquat Gin. The former contains the so-called Da Hong Pao, the most expensive tea in the world. The highly oxidised oolong tea has an earthy, floral and sweet flavour profile. In addition to the tea leaves, the Gin contains classic botanicals such as juniper, coriander seeds, angelica root and orris root. These botanicals are first used to make the Gin, while the tea is brewed and strained separately. Then the tea extract is added to the Gin and provides it with its special, intense aroma.

For the Kumquat Gin, Bimber combines other, predominantly fruity ingredients with the classic juniper: In addition to coriander, violets and angelica root, oranges, lemons, grapefruit and, of course, kumquats are used. The mini oranges taste particularly tart and sweet, an aroma that characterises this Gin in a distinctive way. 

At Bimber, Single Malt Whisky production is very much based on the Scottish model.

Bimber sources its barley locally from a farm in nearby Hampshire, as far as is possible from London. The county has a good maritime climate for barley production. The two-row barley varieties chosen for Bimber Whisky are Concerto and Laureate. These barley varieties provide high levels of extract and fermentability, resulting in more complex flavours in the final product.

The barley for Bimber Whisky is malted at Warminster Maltings, the oldest malthouse in the UK, which dedicates an entire malting floor to Bimber. The whole process is carried out within the ambient temperatures of the malting floors, which are regulated by opening and closing the unglazed windows. This natural process allows the individual batches of barley to express themselves optimally. After the barley has been soaked for 72 hours, it is spread out on the malting floor for five days and begins to germinate. The non-peated malt is dried over hot air and brought back to the distillery.

The mashing and fermentation process at Bimber takes a relatively long time. Fermentation takes seven days to create a light and fruity Whisky. The first stage of the process involves adding hot water to the grist in a mash pot to convert the starch in the grist into sugar. A clear 'wort' is preferred as it produces a less intense, grain-like character.

The 'wort' is then cooled and pumped into wooden washbacks. These are made from American oak in Bimber's own cooperage. The long contact with the oak creates a light, complex as well as fruity flavour, which is complemented by the yeast variety developed especially for Bimber. This ferments the sugar and converts it into alcohol. The resulting 'wash' is like a strong beer with an alcohol content of 8-10%.

Bimber's two small pot stills, Doris and Astraeus, were designed according to the distillers' specific instructions to maximise copper contact. This leaves the heavier elements of the distillate behind and produces a lighter Whisky. The stills are traditionally heated directly with fire instead of steam. This allows for a slow but powerful production for a more full-bodied and flavourful spirit. The wash still, called Doris, holds 1,000 litres and produces a slightly fruity, 33% spirit, or 'low wine'. This is then distilled a second time in Astraeus, the smaller, 600 litre spirit still. The distillate is collected in three stages, or 'cuts', called the foreshots, the heart piece and the feints. Only the heart, which has an alcohol content of 72%, is kept for maturation and the foreshots and feints are reused within the next batch. The new make spirit is then reduced to 63.5% before being put into casks.

Bimber uses American oak casks as well as Sherry casks from Europe for the maturation of the Single Malt. Many different casks are used as this allows flexibility and playing with flavours. Sometimes smaller casks are used as this ensures the Whisky to have more contact with the wood and creates a different flavour profile. The distillery has its own on-site cooperage that checks all the casks and repairs and reloads them as needed.

The foundation for today's Bimber Distillery was laid three generations ago in communist Poland, where the grandfather of the founder and master distiller, distilled his own Schnapps. The craft of distilling was passed down through the generations to Bimber founder Darius, who learned the art of distilling from a young age.

Bimber's founders, Darius and Ewelina emigrated from Poland to London in 2003 and set up a successful business in West London. However, Darius' passion for Whisky and distilling was always his priority and when the opportunity arose to start a Whisky distillery in 2015, he took his chance and founded Bimber (= Polish for Moonshine).

In 2019, a new mash tun and three additional washbacks were installed, which had been designed and built at the distillery itself. The production capacity was thus increased to 42,000 litres of alcohol annually, so that from now on a new cask could be filled every day. To create more space in the visitor centre, part of the warehouse was relocated at the same time.

The distillery has a visitor centre and offers various tours of the facility. During the 60-minute 'Distillery Experience' you get a guided tour of the Bimber production area, as well as several tastings of Bimber Vodka, Gin and Rum. The 'Whisky Connoisseur Experience' is a one and a half hour detailed tour of the distillery's Whisky production. You'll be welcomed with a Whisky cocktail, followed by a tasting of the Whisky from various Bourbon, Sherry, Port and Virgin Oak casks.