Where Can I Buy Award-Winning Yorkshire Whisky And Why Is It Getting Global Attention?

If you're the kind of person who enjoys a good dram or even just likes supporting local legends, this is something to raise your glass to. A small Yorkshire distillery has gone and done what few thought possible—beating global whisky giants to take home a gold medal in a worldwide competition. And it's not from Scotland or Japan or even Ireland. It's from a seaside village in East Yorkshire.

A proper Yorkshire win

So here's the big news. The Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery, based in Hunmanby, has snagged a gold medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (or SFWSC if you’re into your abbreviations). It's not just any award either—this is one of the biggest and oldest spirits competitions on the planet. Kind of like the Oscars for booze.

Their winning whisky? Filey Bay Peated Finish #3. It picked up a seriously impressive score of 93 out of 100 in the “Other Single Malt Whisk(e)y” category. Out of all the gold medalists, this was the only English whisky to make the cut. That’s huge.

What makes it so special?

Let’s break it down. This whisky isn’t your typical supermarket bottle. Filey Bay Peated Finish #3 is made the old-school way—from scratch, right there in Yorkshire. They grow their own barley (yes, actually grow it themselves), farm it using regenerative methods, and use water from their own land. It’s about as local as it gets.

And the flavour? Well, imagine the sweet smoke you get from a beach bonfire, then throw in a bit of citrus and caramel, and you've got the idea. It’s got the kind of subtle complexity that makes you go back for another sip, not just knock it back on a Friday night.

What exactly is ‘peated’ whisky?

If you’re new to the world of whisky (or just fake-nodding through conversations at the pub), here’s a quick one. ‘Peated’ just means the barley has been dried using peat smoke—a natural fuel dug from the earth, especially common in Scotland. It gives the drink that smokey smell and flavour people either love or… politely tolerate.

But here’s where Spirit of Yorkshire gets clever. They're bringing that West Coast of Scotland vibe (famous for smoky drams) over to the East Coast of England. It’s a neat twist—and clearly, the judges in San Francisco loved it.

Not your average distillery

Here are a few reasons Spirit of Yorkshire stands out:

• They’re one of the only distilleries anywhere that grows all their own barley.
• Their whisky goes from field to bottle in the same area—kind of like a farm shop, but for whisky.
• They're still fairly new but have already pulled off something that takes some distilleries decades.

Plus, let’s be honest—having “Filey Bay” on the label just feels right, doesn’t it?

Want to try it?

You can buy Filey Bay Peated Finish #3 for £65. It’s available:

• At the distillery’s shop in Hunmanby
• Online at spiritofyorkshire.com
• From select whisky shops across the UK

With a 46% ABV, it’s not for the faint-hearted—but definitely for the curious, the connoisseurs, and anyone who fancies a bit of Yorkshire in a glass.

From the people behind the bottle

David Thompson, co-founder and MD of Spirit of Yorkshire, summed it up like this:

“The San Francisco World Spirits Competition is the oldest and largest competition of its kind and sets the industry standard for excellence. Medal winners range from globally renowned distilleries to rising small-batch producers like Spirit of Yorkshire. We’re delighted and proud to be the only English whisky of the 14 gold medalists.”

And honestly? They’ve got every reason to be proud.

Whether you're a seasoned whisky drinker or just love a good underdog story, this one's worth celebrating. Yorkshire’s doing more than brewing tea and baking puddings now—it’s making gold-medal whisky too.