YORKSHIRE’S first whisky distillery boasts field to bottle traceability with accountability for every grain.

Spirit of Yorkshire is hoping to impress the judges in the New Business of the Year, and Retail, Tourism and Leisure Business of the Year categories.

The Hunmanby-based business distills 600 litres of New Make Spirit every day in huge, bespoke copper stills and has filled more than 1000 casks since we started in April 2016.

Alongside producing whisky the business also runs tours and and operates an accompanying coffee shop.

Director and co-founder David Thompson said: “The tours and visitor centre grew from a desire to fill the gap for a premium quality visitor attraction on the Yorkshire coast and to share the knowledge that we have accrued in building Yorkshire’s first whisky distillery from the ground up.

“We were delighted to welcome mpre than 10,000 visitors in the last year and were one of only 13 Yorkshire attractions to win a VisitEngland Attraction Accolades Welcome award and a VisitEngland award for our distillery tours.

“We are committed to providing exceptional customer service to everyone who experiences the Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery. Whether they’ve come to browse the shop, take a distillery tour, enjoy the tastes of the Pot Still Coffee Shop or listen to live music, everyone is assured of a warm welcome from our team.

“We are helping to create employment and drive tourism to this area of rural deprivation with our tours, our evening events programme and the Pot Still Coffee Shop and our aim is to become one of the leading attractions on the Yorkshire Coast, which will, in turn, benefit the local economy and provide employment for more local people

“We have created employment for 11 people and buy goods and services locally wherever possible. We also promote corporate tourism and encourage visitors to support the RSPB and visit nearby Bempton to witness the spectacle of our mascot, the gannet in its natural habitat.

“Apart from the fact that we are producing Yorkshire’s first whisky, our stills make us unique. We’ve invested in two of the largest Forsyth pot stills operating in the UK outside of Scotland, along with a four-plate copper column that works in tandem with our spirit still. It’s all part of our commitment to combine tradition with new thinking.”