Can you tour the Cotswolds Distillery?

Yes. Tours and tastings run on most days and are booked in advance, taking about ninety minutes around the working distillery and ending with a tasting. The shop and café are open without booking. Tours are for over-eighteens only.

Where is the Cotswolds Distillery?

At Stourton, near Shipston-on-Stour, on the northern edge of the Cotswolds. It is just over the line into Warwickshire, though firmly part of the Cotswold country.

What does the Cotswolds Distillery make?

An English single malt whisky and a London dry gin, among other spirits. The gin was named the world's best London dry at the 2016 World Gin Awards, and the whisky has won widely since.

Visiting Cotswolds Distillery: Tours, Tastings & How to Visit

The Cotswolds Distillery is the first to make whisky at any scale in these hills, founded in 2014 on the quiet northern edge of the range where Warwickshire begins. Here is how to visit, what they make, and where it sits in the country.

At a glance

How to visit: Open to the public; the shop and café are walk-in, while tours, tastings and masterclasses are booked ahead. Tours are for over-eighteens.
Where: Stourton, near Shipston-on-Stour, on the northern edge of the Cotswolds, just inside Warwickshire.
Best time to visit: Open through the year; tours run on most days but go ahead of time, so book.
How long to spend: An hour and a half or so for a tour and tasting; longer with a masterclass or lunch in the café.
Parking: On-site at the distillery.
Getting there: Nearest station Moreton-in-Marsh, direct from London Paddington in around ninety minutes, then a taxi. By car, off the A3400 near Shipston.
Dog friendly: Best checked ahead; the café and grounds are the place for a dog rather than the working distillery.
Family friendly: The shop and café yes, but the tours are over-eighteens only.

Visiting Cotswolds Distillery: parking, getting there, when to go

The distillery sits at Stourton, on the quiet northern edge of the Cotswolds where the range runs into Warwickshire, near Shipston-on-Stour. The shop and the Still House café are open to anyone; the tours, tastings and the gin, whisky and cocktail masterclasses are booked in advance, and the standard tour takes about ninety minutes around the working stills.

Parking is on-site. The nearest station is Moreton-in-Marsh, with direct trains from London Paddington in around ninety minutes, then a taxi for the last few miles; by road it is off the A3400.

Cotswolds Distillery questions, answered

Can you tour the Cotswolds Distillery?: Yes. Tours and tastings run on most days and are booked in advance, taking about ninety minutes around the working distillery and ending with a tasting. The shop and café are open without booking. Tours are for over-eighteens only.
Where is the Cotswolds Distillery?: At Stourton, near Shipston-on-Stour, on the northern edge of the Cotswolds. It is just over the line into Warwickshire, though firmly part of the Cotswold country.
What does the Cotswolds Distillery make?: An English single malt whisky and a London dry gin, among other spirits. The gin was named the world's best London dry at the 2016 World Gin Awards, and the whisky has won widely since.

What ends up in the bottle is an English single malt that no longer apologises for not being Scottish. It is poured now at tables that know what they are pouring, and set down without a word, which is close to the highest thing that can be said of a drink in this country.

A fine whisky and a quiet county suit each other. One is made slowly, in the dark, and is the better for the years no one watched it. The other has always worked the same way.

The story moves through this world. Begin Chapter One →