The Bairn

The Bairn is a collection of carbon-neutral New Make spirits, produced by Ellers Farm Distillery in partnership with the historic Yorkshire brewery, T&R Theakston.

Forming the ‘Evolution Collection’, The Bairn is a set of five New Make spirits, with a limited edition to only 500 releases. The Collection follows the spirit’s ageing, bottled at every stage of its flavour evolution; 0, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months; a coming of age that culminates in an individually numbered bottle of a First Release single malt English whisky, delivered in a collector’s gift box along with a certificate of authenticity – and one of only 1,000. First releases are highly sought-after by passionate collectors.

Working closely with the distillery founder, we created a New Make brand that feels premium whilst accessible. Oversized copper foiled lettering bleeds off the edge of the label giving an imperfect, cask stamp-esque, work-in-progress vibe set against crisp recipe notes. As the liquid colour gets richer over time, the copper foil, along with the colour palette used for indexing each release, will really sing.

The liquid is distilled using an elegant porter-style beer that has been specifically developed between Theakston’s Master Brewer and Ellers Farm’s Master Distiller. The result will be a carbon-neutral New World Whisky, created in the heart of North Yorkshire during a time of unprecedented growth of English Whisky as an emerging market and cask investment at their height of interest.

The Bairn is an Aged New Make, matured in first-fill bourbon, American oak casks from Heaven Hill Distillery in Kentucky, USA. A medium char caramelises the oak’s sugars and releases layers of flavour over time, ranging from rich vanilla with subtle hints of spice and cherry, giving the spirit a beautifully rich colour as it ages.

The Bairn’s initial release won its third award of 2023, a gold medal, in the New Make (Europe) category of The World Whisky Masters.