Distillery Thursday: The Romantic Tale Behind Cotswolds Distillery's Whisky

Thursday, 02 October 2025 at 15:00

What do a whisky store, Jim Swan, Bruichladdich Distillery, and a man with a financial background have in common? They are the four elements that have made it possible for whisky lovers to now enjoy divine nectar from the Cotswolds Distillery. Welcome to another Distillery Thursday, in which we delve into the history of The Cotswolds Distillery.

About an hour and a half drive from London, nestled in England, you'll find a stunning region called the Cotswolds. This verdant area is an enchanting oasis of tranquillity, boasting picturesque landscapes with romantic cottages, and even a vast nature reserve. Since 2014, it's also home to a distillery, The Cotswolds Distillery.

The Whisky Bug

The saga behind this site of English spirit production starts with an unhappy man. We turn the clock back to the period before the COVID-19 pandemic. Founder Daniel Szor, a New York native, has been working in the financial world for years, but it’s not a job he cherishes. Essentially, Szor sells thin air to his clients, which pays the bills, but he works to survive.

His job sees him travelling around the world, including stops in London and Paris. In the latter city, he stumbles upon a shop called La Maison du Whisky, where he discovers that whisky is far more complex than cognac, and he’s slightly struck by the whisky bug.

Road Trip to Islay

At this point, his fate alters somewhat. Coincidently, a friend of his also catches the whisky bug around the same time — a fortuitous event, as Szor often travels with this friend in search of historical war sites and good wine.

However, this evolves into trips to Scotland, visits to various distilleries, and sampling drams. Their shared love for whisky ultimately leads them to Islay, where they buy a cask from none other than Jim McEwan during a tour of the Bruichladdich distillery. Szor is left £350 lighter and finds himself in possession of a cask of his own spirit, but the prospect of a distillery is still far away.

A Slowly Germinating Seed

In the years following, Szor occasionally visits the distillery to admire his cask. In the meantime, he purchases a holiday cottage in the Cotswolds with his wife. It's in this location that the idea of starting his own distillery first crosses his mind.

As he steps outside the Cotswolds cottage after a few glasses of wine one day, he watches the local farmer's barley swaying in the wind. A seed is planted in his mind, though initially, he pays no regard to the idea of starting his own distillery.

The thought comes and goes, never taken seriously. But then Szor and his whisky companion notice a raft of craft distilleries at Whisky Live in 2013. He doesn't recognize half the names and samples whisky he's never heard of before.

The seed that was planted in his mind all those years ago is suddenly nourished with a healthy dose of (life’s) water and germinates into a serious idea. Should he set up a distillery and start distilling spirit in the Cotswolds?

The American resolves to present the idea to the man who sold him his first cask of whisky: Jim McEwan. If he gives the green light, Szor will press ahead. He vividly recalls the moment when McEwan encouraged him to follow his dream.

The Early Days

At the start of 2014, he establishes the Cotswolds distillery. He buys a two-acre piece of vacant land a stone's throw from his house in the Cotswolds. Two half-finished buildings already stand on the property, and Szor has a clear vision for them. One will become the distillery, and the other the miniature visitor center.

He consults Richard Forsyth about the stills, who eventually supplies a number of them. By June 2014, the entire distillery is ready for operation. In total, seven employees, along with Szor, officially embark on the new adventure on July 1, 2014.

But for the first month, not a drop flows from the stills as the final details must be fine-tuned. Finally, the very first cask of Cotswolds spirit is filled on September 22.

Assistance from a Legend

At this point, Daniel Szor has three young distillers on staff and has been receiving assistance from Harry Coburn, former manager at Bowmore, from day one. However, there's a gap in their knowledge. No one is particularly well-versed in fermentation, yeast, cut points, and so on — all crucial elements in crafting top-notch whisky spirit.

To fill this knowledge gap, the founder of Cotswolds reaches out to a legend in the whisky world: Jim Swan. Swan promises to assist Szor and pay a visit. Eventually, Swan helps perfect the Cotswolds recipe.

He also shares his extensive knowledge with the distillery and introduces Szor's favorite cask: the STR (Shaved, Toasted and Recharred) cask.

Swan has since passed away, to the great regret of all the distilleries he helped, including the Cotswolds Distillery, which owes him a great debt.

The master's knowledge applied every day

Szor and his team learned a great deal from Swan. For instance, Swan shared about the perfect spots for the head and tail cut of the Cotswolds spirit and that it should be tasted thoroughly to determine if the whisky could amount to anything after at least three years. The new make spirit is ultimately the DNA of the whisky.

Another lesson from the whisky legend about the taste of the whisky occurs slightly earlier in the process, Szor shares. The fermentation time greatly determines what eventually comes out of the still. A clear wort results in a fruity spirit and a quality young whisky. Hence, the fermentation at Cotswolds lasts four days to produce a new make that is as fruity as possible.

Szor has an interesting philosophy about people’s tastes, another simple lesson from Swan.

"People love things that are starting to perish. We love cheese and that’s really just milk that's decaying. And wine, someone once mentioned that wine starts with grape juice and ends with vinegar. And you want to stop somewhere in between, to get a little acidity and a bit of sugar. Jim (Swan) made these insights sound even simpler and he had a doctorate in alchemy and 30 years of knowledge."

- Daniel Szor

‘Build it and they will come’

Daniel Szor built the Cotswolds Distillery with the motto, ‘build it and they will come’. And that’s exactly what happened. From initially running just one tour per week, the distillery quickly began offering more. They now host three per day and over 100,000 people come to the whisky maker in England annually.

The visitor center, like the distillery itself, is being significantly expanded. A restaurant, a café, a mezzanine, and an entirely new building with copper stills are being added. This has quadrupled the distillery's capacity to 750,000 liters of spirits annually.

Cotswolds Distillery doesn’t produce that much yet, however. The amount of spirit coming out of the stills varies.

"We reached our maximum distilling capacity in the second half of 2023, when we produced 250,000 liters of spirits."

- Daniel Szor

Cotswolds whisky is for everyone: from enthusiasts to the king

The Cotswolds Distillery has become a prominent name in England and beyond. In addition to a gin, several other beverages have been released, including various whiskies. From the Cotswolds Signature Single Malt Whisky matured in STR casks to the Peated, Sherry, and Founder’s Choice whiskies. You can find them on the official distillery website.

Additionally, Cotswolds even has a whisky made from barley from the estate of King Charles III called the Highgrove Royal Gardens Edition single malt whisky. It's definitely a whisky brand fit for everyone and every occasion.

The distillery in the Cotswolds is open to visitors and, even with the nippy outside weather, it remains a magical place. The lush green surroundings in the spring and summer transform into a snow-covered landscape, no doubt making a distillery tour even more captivating.