James and Barbara Nelstrop, originally from Lincolnshire, have pushed out the boundaries throughout their farming lives. In Australia they developed irrigation systems for dry land. When they returned to England they bought one of the lightest land farms in Norfolk and used their antipodean experience to install a series of centre pivot irrigators - the first in the UK. Then James won a Nuffield Scholarship to study Russian farming and later established a farming enterprise at Kaliningrad on the Polish border. Back in Britain they decided to set up an organic farm and also a building business to be run by their son Andrew. Their latest, and some might say maddest, venture is a whisky distillery just off the A11 near Thetford in Norfolk.
Named the St George's Distillery, it was designed and built (by Andrew) in 2005. Investment so far is in the region of £2m and as each day passes and more barrels of spirit (its not allowed to call it whisky until it has matured for at least three years) move into the bonded store beside the distillery that investment grows a little more. James concedes that it will be 2012 before they can hope to see a return on their money but that year theirs will be the only English whisky on the market as visitors come here for the Olympics and he has high hopes than many of them will want to drink and or take home a memento of their visit.
Meanwhile he and his four distillery employees are processing a tonne of best Norfolk malting barley each day into three 220 litre barrels. The barrels have all been used before, for sherry, or bourbon or some other liquor, which adds taste and assists in maturing the spirit. But if the spirit is of poor quality to start with there's not much that can be done to make it into best whisky.
So, how can the Nelstrop's hope to compete with producers in Scotland who have the benefit of burn water to germinate their barley and soak their mash? I asked. Water that has picked up peaty flavours and colour as it has run down the hill towards the distilleries. At least that is what I have always understood is their secret.
A smile fickered across James Nelstrop's face. You're quite right about the water, he replied. It is crucial to the quality of the whisky. But the stuff we are pumping out of the limestone under St George's is about as good as it gets. And with that he passed me a glass of the spirit he had produced that day. Dip your finger in that and then lick it, he said, and tell me what you think.It was smooth and delicious and tasted almost as if it was already mature. To my unpracticed palate it seemed likely make very high quality whisky in a few years time.
Meanwhile, and to help cashflow until that spirit is ready to bottle, the Nelstrop's are running daily tours of the distillery. It is, after all, something of a novelty in the area. At the end of each tour visitors are invited to purchase speciality whisky's not usually seen south of the Scottish border. The emphasis is on quality and James can tell you the history and quality of every malt on the shelves.
And as a first step towards retailing their own product the Nelstrop's have invented Norfolk Nog liqueur - a blend of their own spirit with cream and honey. I can vouch that It is delicious and bottles of it are flying off the shelves.
I should, I suppose, declare an interest. Not a financial one, you understand. But the Nelstrop's have been friends for many years and I hope very much their brave venture succeeds. I also rather hope to be invited back to sample some of the end product when it comes out of those barrels. Cheers!