The evolution collection

English whisky is having a renaissance. It’s growing fast, and now you can be part of its history. Our exclusive Evolution Collection follows the journey of our Yorkshire New Make spirit through to single malt; a coming of age culminating in the First Release of our debut carbon neutral English whisky.

Secure a bottle of our first release single malt English whisky. A limited-edition run of only 500 sets, each Evolution Collection features our ageing New Make spirit bottled at 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months, at every stage of its flavour development. The set is complete with an individually numbered bottle of our first release single malt whisky, accompanied with a collector’s gift box and certificate of authenticity.

Every collection also comes with a complimentary annual distillery tour for four at Ellers Farm Distillery, to learn how we’re guiding flavour through every step of our single malt’s journey – from handcrafted Italian stills to creating a Distiller’s Beer with Yorkshire’s world-renowned Theakston Brewery.

First releases are highly sought-after by passionate collectors. This is a rare opportunity to be a part of our history, and the wider English whisky renaissance from the beginning.

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Inside the collection

Every Evolution Collection comes with the following:

An individually numbered first release bottle of our lovingly created single malt English whisky (expected late 2025), a release that will be limited to just 1,000 bottles.
A collector’s gift box and certificate of authenticity. The collector’s box is currently under development and any images of this packaging may differ from the actual product.
A set of five 50cl bottles from our exclusive ‘The Bairn’ new make spirit collection, each representing a different age at 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. One bottle will arrive every six months, starting with our award-winning 0 Month New Make Spirit and 6 Month Aged New Make.
An annual distillery tour for you and three guests at Ellers Farm for the insider’s take on our custom distillery and a 10% discount in our Ellers Farm Distillery shops (online and on the Farm) up to the release of our single malt English whisky.

The bairn

We call our New Make spirit ‘The Bairn’, the Northern English for ‘child’. It’ll take a minimum of three years in first-fill bourbon barrels before we can officially call it a whisky.

Beginning life in the pearl barley fields of East Yorkshire, The Bairn is made using our Distiller’s Beer – a porter-style beer (minus the hops) packed with notes of cherry, ripe bananas and toasted malt, with a sweet and creamy richness. In collaboration with Theakston Brewery, with nearly 200 years of brewing heritage, we set out to give our single malt maximum flavour from the start. Traditional whisky distilleries spend a fraction of the time creating a rudimentary whisky beer (or ‘wash’ as the industry calls it) that you’d prefer not to drink on its own. You could drink ours with your Sunday roast!

Gently distilled using handcrafted Italian equipment – including a steam-heated 20-plate column still and 2,500 litre copper pot still – our distillery team patiently guides the flavour of our Distiller’s Beer through to the New Make spirit. At every stage, The Bairn’s flavour develops; first rising as vapour through the plates of our column still and then over and over from inside the pot still, before intensifying on its journey out of our precisely angled lyne arm. It then matures within first-fill bourbon barrels from Heaven Hill Distillery in Kentucky, United States.

The Evolution Collection features five exclusive 50cl bottles of the New Make spirit, bottled at every stage of its flavour evolution. Our 0 Month New Make is already multi-award-winning, and collectors will be taken on an insider’s journey to experience how this unaged New Make spirit develops every six months, up to 24 months. There will only ever be 500 collections released, with no more once they’re gone.

the bairn
tasting profiles

0 month new make spirit

Aroma: Malted barley, ripe bananas, hints of cherry and spice.

Palate: Beautifully smooth. Pear drops meet ripe bananas, subtle chocolate sweetness toasted oats and barley.

Finish: A sweet banana finish. Hints of dried fig and spice.

Barley Variety: Winter pearl

Roast: Dark chocolate malt, pale malt and crystal malt

Yeast: Theakston bespoke

ABV: 46%

Calories: 252 kcal per 100ml

6 month Aged new make

Aroma: Rich malted barley, pear drops and ripe banana.

Palate: Warming spice gives way to dark chocolate and a hint of cask oak with a sweet guava finish.

Finish: Toasted malt, with sweet vanilla and a hint of black pepper.

Barley Variety: Winter pearl

Roast: Dark chocolate malt, pale malt and crystal malt

Yeast: Theakston bespoke

Wood: First fill ex-bourbon oak barrel, Heaven Hill Distillery (USA)

ABV: 46%

Calories: 252 kcal per 100ml

12 month aged new make

Awaiting release

18 month aged new make

Awaiting release

24 month aged new make

Awaiting release

Award winning

Multiple award wins for The Bairn 0-Month New Make Spirit, including:

Gold at the Global World Whisky Masters 2023
Silver at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2023
Bronze at the World Whiskies Awards 2023

The First Release Single Malt Whisky

Once The Bairn has come of age at the end of its maturation evolution, collectors will be given one of just 1,000 bottles of our single malt first release English whisky. Patiently aged in an American oak cask, we’ve only used first-fill bourbon barrels from Heaven Hill Distillery in Kentucky, USA, as with The Bairn.

These barrels have been charred for approximately 40 seconds, caramelising the sugars on the inside of the oak cask, which delivers a delicate sweetness to the spirit as it ages. During maturation, the wood will pass on layers of flavour, ranging from rich vanilla and sweet banana to subtle hints of spice and cherry. The New Make’s sharper edges will soften over time, as its flavours marry through the passage of time. The result is set to be a luxurious single malt packed with flavour that celebrates its proud Yorkshire origins.

“The first release of a distillery’s whisky only ever happens once and, as a result, they’re incredibly rare and sought-after by collectors and whisky aficionados. Our Evolution Collection is the first chance for people to secure a bottle of our first release single malt whisky, but you also get to come along on this exciting but patient journey, as we taste the transformation of what we know will be an exceptional whisky.”
~ Chris Fraser, Founder, Ellers Farm Distillery

OUR FLAVOUR PHILOSOPHY

At every stage of our single malt’s journey, its flavour is our priority. Using patience and care, we believe that giving our whisky everything it needs to develop gracefully – the best ingredients, the best equipment, passion and, most importantly, time – will produce a carbon neutral whisky the world can be proud of.

Our Bairn marries the dark, rich flavours of our porter-style Distiller's Beer, brewed by the legendary Theakston Brewery, with the technical capability of our state-of-the-art, custom distillery. Our distillery team meticulously oversees every step of its column and pot distillation processes, prioritising quality and flavour. Each distillation yields a mere seven casks as a result. This ‘small batch cask-filling’ approach gives us greater control than larger whisky producers over distillation and ageing, so we can create a single malt that delivers a complex yet delicate flavour profile to remember.

The Evolution Collection was born out of an idea to bring collectors on this flavour journey with us. Whilst planning the maturation of our New Make spirit and keeping a close watch on the ageing liquid’s transformation every six months, our distillery team conjured an idea. They wanted to bring collectors along on the single malt’s flavour evolution with us, with an exclusive opportunity to taste the new make spirit every six months as they do. The Evolution Collection takes you behind-the-scenes and into the distillery room, filled with intrigue, excitement and discovery. Drawn from single casks by our distillery team, The Evolution Collection is a rare and limited chance to watch a single malt grow from humble beginnings.

“At Ellers Farm, innovation in the pursuit of the best possible liquids is in our DNA and our whisky is no different. Our collaboration with Theakston Brewery is an example of this, and something traditional whisky distilleries don’t typically invest as much time in. Rather than creating a typical ‘wash’, we partnered with Yorkshire’s most renowned family brewer – a brewer with almost 200 years of brewing expertise behind it – to co-create our ‘Distiller's Beer’ using Yorkshire grown and malted barley as the start of our whisky. This beer is so good you could happily sit down and enjoy a pint with your Sunday lunch. We then carefully distil that beer through our state-of-the-art distillery, to produce a high-quality liquid aged in first-fill bourbon casks. It will make, what we believe, will be a truly remarkable English whisky.”
~ Chris Fraser, Founder, Ellers Farm Distillery

Road to first release

FOUNDER AT ELLERS FARM DISTILLERY

Chris Fraser

“You could call us biased, but we’re all really excited at Ellers Farm by what we’ve tasted already as our special liquid ages. Our Evolution Collection has been created to give a small group of whisky lovers a chance to become part of history, and to be a part of our exciting whisky journey with us.”