The Oxford Rye THE GRADUATE Whisky Batch No. 4 is a characterful English rye whisky from The Oxford Artisan Distillery, which focuses on the combination of regional grain cultivation and artisanal whisky production. The grain for this edition was grown in 2017 on sandy soils just around seven miles from the distillery. Historic grain varieties are used, which are specifically cultivated with flavour and biodiversity in mind. Following fermentation in Hungarian oak vats, distillation takes place in the bespoke ‘Nautilus’ and ‘Nemo’ stills. THE GRADUATE builds on the previous Oxford Rye Batches and presents the distillery’s style in a bolder, more complex form.

For Batch No. 4, a total of six American oak casks – numbered 25, 27, 28, 31, 33 and 36 – were blended together. The American oak casks used come from different cooperages and vary in terms of origin, toasting and cask size, with both 130-litre and 225-litre casks being utilised. This deliberate combination of different casks contributes significantly to the whisky’s complexity. THE GRADUATE was bottled at a robust 51.3 per cent in a 0.7-litre bottle, with the edition limited to just 1,428 bottles. This Oxford Rye Whisky from England thus combines a regionally influenced approach to raw materials with an unusual selection of casks and a comparatively high alcohol content.