PURPOSE

"To create a single malt distillery in the
Wylye Valley which becomes a home for
whisky drinkers around the world.''

Sam Barber

Owner & Distiller

Haybarn Daytime Doors Open

PLACE

VEILED IN THE
VALLEY

Wylye Hilltop Artwork

The Wylye Valley lends itself as an area for a malt distillery. It offers the opportunity to make the most of the local land, with its water filtered by a chalk aquifer, a belt of fertile soil with rolling fields of barley and a nearby traditional floor maltings.

Haybarn Doors Hilltpop Stables

I envisaged the distillery being anchored in these surroundings and on a site where I could brew, distil, mature and bottle in a single place.

That place is Windmill Farm, a repurposed collection of old farm buildings with its own water source, tucked away in the ancient village of Wylye. Here I can focus solely on producing unpeated single malt.

Wylye is a lifetime commitment to a small, independent distillery. My connection with this place has created a sense of duty to distil single malt worthy of its landscape that can be shared with generations to come.

Stables Haybarn Dairy Hilltop

The pathway
to production

Wylye Valley Manor Farm Harvest

WYLYE VALLEY

Wylye Distillery sits in an area rich in agricultural and malting history. Barley grown at Manor Farm makes the short trip to Warminster Maltings. Here it is isolated and malted before leaving for Windmill Farm where whisky production begins.

Wylye Valley Map

Wylye Valley Map

Harvesting Laureate, Manor Farm 2024

MANOR FARM

Farmed by Henry Collins and established in 1913 by his grandfather. The Wylye Valley’s reliably benign maritime climate combined with shallow soil over chalk and “old arable black puff” provide the perfect growing conditions for plump and ripe barley. Each spring, under the curious eye of suckler cows and their calves, fields are lightly cultivated and sown with Laureate.

WARMINSTER MALTINGS

Traditional floor maltster. Built in 1855 and remains Britain’s oldest working maltings. Located just ten miles from Wylye, the town of Warminster was formerly a malting powerhouse with 36 malthouses present in 1720. Following brief periods of trials, including the heritage variety of Maris Otter, all Wylye’s barley is now sourced from Manor Farm and malted at Warminster Maltings.

Wylye Valley Map

Malt mower, Warminster Maltings 2025

Wylye Valley Map

WINDMILL FARM

An old farmyard comprising four buildings – Haybarn, Cowsheds, Stables and Dairy – each serving a distinct purpose. Home to Wylye Distillery.

PROCESS

Piecing it all together

Windmill Farm Artwork

Haybarn Night Door Open

HAYBARN

from grist to
new make

Two traditional hand hammered copper pot stills stand alongside a half tonne semi-lauter mash tun and five jacketed washbacks.

Haybarn Washbacks Distiller

The distillery produces wort with a slight cloud which is gradually run-off and pitched with distiller’s yeast for a long temperature-controlled fermentation. Weak wort is collected with the rakes gently rotating through the grain bed and used as first water in the next mash.

Wylye operates a balanced double distillation. Low wines and feints are charged to the spirit still and steam is regulated for a slow distillation, promoting copper contact. After vapours have risen through a long swan neck, upward sloping lye pipe and shell and tube condenser, a malty spirit with notes of orchard fruit trickles into the safe.

Haybarn Pallet Trolley

Haybarn Production Distiller

Production commenced in July 2023 and each year around 45,000 litres of pure alcohol cross the farmyard to be matured in the Cowsheds.

Haybarn Spirit Safe and Still

DISTILLATION APPROACH

Haybarn Distillers Notebook

To understand how my spirit evolves in the warehouse, I start with a consistent new make. With so many variables affecting its flavour profile, I maintain strict brewing and distillation parameters because once a bung snugs tightly into a cask, it is out of the distiller’s hands and the mystery of maturation begins.

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Cowsheds Distiller Casks at Night

COWSHEDS

COLLECTING MORE
THAN DUST

This old tin roof pole barn embraces the Wylye Valley’s seasonal swings of below freezing temperatures in winter up to high thirties in summer.

Cowsheds Casks Bay Close Up

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Split into four bays, the 6,000 square foot L shaped building has subtle climatic variations. With casks facing south feeling the sun on their backs, others are stored in colder spots with differing air circulation and humidity. Assembled in a dunnage style, some casks are already laid down for 15 and 21 year old releases.

Cowsheds Casks Trolley

Wood is sourced from three cooperages. This includes ex-bourbon and virgin oak from Kelvin Cooperage in Kentucky and tawny port, Douro red wine and other speciality casks from J. Dias in Porto. Wylye has a seasoning program with Casknolia and wineries Robles in Montilla-Moriles and Xeranthia in Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, who fill casks with various styles of fortified wines – from Pedro Ximénez to Palo Cortado – in American, Spanish and French oak.

Cowsheds Open Door

MATURATION
POLICY

Cowsheds Casks Whisky Tray

Instead of finishing, I have chosen to fill all Wylye’s spirit into a variety of casks for full-term maturation, showcasing the influence of wood. But to reveal the character of Wylye’s new make in its most expressive form, ex-bourbon is the bedrock of the Cowsheds.

STABLES

In late July 2026, Wylye’s first casks will reach three years’ old. The Stables, which are currently used to store malt, will at some stage be converted into a bottling plant.

DAIRY

The distillery’s blending, tasting and dining rooms with a bespoke bar, log burner, cosy interiors and growing collection of books on wine, beer and spirits. Please note that as I run the distillery alone, visits are by appointment only. All enquiries to info@wylyedistillery.com

NIght Time Valley Dairy Stables

Dairy Lounge Library

Dairy Lounge Bar

Deckchairs Outside Dairy

UPDATES

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