The Big Ride DRAM QUEEN

In the past I’ve enjoyed combining trips with nips on Scotland’s whisky trails

Yorkshire can feel like a country – England’s Scotland, if you like. Same population (5.5 million); outstanding natural beauty; strong sense of identity. OK, unlike Scotland, with its 120 whisky distilleries, we have no ‘national spirit’. But – thanks to some unashamed cultural appropriation – we have the next best thing. After booms in microbreweries and artisan gin, whisky makers are turning up the heat, literally, in England and Wales. Now Yorkshire boasts three distilleries: Spirit of Yorkshire, Whittaker’s and Cooper King. Spirit of Yorkshire released the county’s first whisky, Filey Bay, in 2019. The other two will sell their first bottles in 2024. Meanwhile all are making gin, because that takes weeks rather than years.

In the past I’ve enjoyed combining trips with nips on Scotland’s whisky trails – bike odysseys which visit choice distilleries amid thrilling scenery. No boozy pub-crawl ethos here; this is a different spirit. It’s life richly savoured, at