How The English Distillery won World's Best Single Malt twice
Twice in three years, a whisky from The English Distillery was named the world's best single malt — at the World Whiskies Awards, one of the most important international whisky competitions. For a distillery that only started running its first stills in 2006, on land where whisky had never been made before, that is no fluke.
In short
| Price | World's Best Single Malt, World Whiskey Awards |
| 2024 | Won with The English Sherry Cask |
| 2026 | World's Best Single Malt (Small Batch) with The English Gently Smoked Sherry Hogshead |
| Other recognition | Three stars at the Great Taste Awards 2025, gold at the IWSC Awards 2025 |
| Time span | Two world titles in three years |
2024: The English Sherry Cask wins the first world title
At the World Whiskies Awards 2024, The English Sherry Cask was named World's Best Single Malt — the highest honor the competition has to award. For an English distillery that had opened its doors barely two decades earlier, the first in over a hundred years, that was a statement: English whisky could not only compete with Scotland, but simply beat the competition.
2026: a second world title, this time for small batch
Less than three years later, history repeated itself. The English Gently Smoked Sherry Hogshead was voted World's Best Single Malt in the small batch category at the 2026 World Whiskies Awards. While the Sherry Cask represents the full, classic Norfolk style, the Gently Smoked edition demonstrates that the distillery is able to achieve the same quality in small batches.
Not a flash in the pan
The two world titles do not stand alone. In 2025, The English Distillery also took home three stars at the Great Taste Awards and gold at the IWSC Awards — two respected independent taste competitions in the drinks industry. For a brand that claims to be building on "nearly two decades of distilling excellence," this series of recognitions is precisely proof that the approach works: distilling, aging, and bottling everything in-house at a single location in Norfolk, without scaling up production at the expense of quality.
What does this mean for you as an enthusiast?
For the connoisseur, this translates into whiskies that can rightfully hold their own against the Scottish classics, but with their own, recognizable Norfolk character: matured on a single site, above the same water source used to start production in 2006, in a mild, dry microclimate that, according to the distillery itself, is ideal for cask aging. The two world titles are thus less of a marketing claim than a confirmation of an approach that has remained the same for twenty years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which whiskey won World's Best Single Malt 2024?
The English Sherry Cask, awarded at the World Whiskies Awards 2024.
Which whisky won the title in 2026?
The English Gently Smoked Sherry Hogshead, named World's Best Single Malt (Small Batch) at the World Whiskies Awards 2026.
What is the difference between the two award-winning whiskies?
The Sherry Cask is the brand's full-bodied, classic sherry cask style; the Gently Smoked Sherry Hogshead combines that same sherry cask maturation with a soft smoky note, bottled in small batches.
What other awards did The English Distillery win recently?
Three stars at the Great Taste Awards 2025 and gold at the IWSC Awards 2025, alongside the two world titles at the World Whiskies Awards.
Why is this special for an English distillery?
England does not have a centuries-old whisky tradition like Scotland — The English Distillery was in fact the first registered whisky distillery in the country in over a hundred years, in 2006. Two world titles within twenty years are therefore an exceptional achievement.
