Ad Gefrin celebrates Lammas with launch of limited release casks

A “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun”1 or – with any luck – an ‘Indian summer’, whichever way it falls, the month of September is one of the most beautiful in Northumberland.

The landscape, sweeping from the coastline up to the Cheviot Hills, is regularly bathed in a low golden light under a big sky – just as it has been for centuries.

In Anglo-Saxon times, some 1400 years ago, this was the heart of the season of Lammas, which ran from late July to early November.

Coinciding with the start of the harvest, it is named after the festival hlafmæsse (Lammas) from the Old English word hlaf (loaf or bread), and mæsse (mass or festival) – so, literally, the loaf or bread festival.

Lammas was therefore named for the first fruits of the harvest, the staples of Anglo-Saxon farming; wheat, barley and rye.

The first breads made from these new harvests would be blessed, and then celebrated in a great feast.

For those who know The Lord of the Rings, written by J.R.R. Tolkien – who was a scholar of Old English – you may recognise he used this blessed bread as the basis for the Lembas bread eaten by the elves and given to the hobbits.

One can only imagine the carousing and feasting that would have taken place in the original Great Hall of the royal summer palace discovered at the foot of Yeavering Bell, which is the inspiration behind Ad Gefrin.

Large plates of breads and the first bounty of the land would have been served, alongside plentiful beers and meads, and thanks given for the harvests to come over the months ahead.

As with all feasts in the hall, the stage would be set for hospitality and gift giving, alongside celebrations, storytelling and debate.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and it is the barley harvest that is celebrated most at Ad Gefrin Anglo-Saxon Museum and Distillery.

Some of the finest malting barley in Europe is grown in Northumberland and the Tweed Valley, and with its own special crop coming from five local farmers who grow exclusively for the attraction, Ad Gefrin’s barley is then taken to another family-run business – Simpsons Malt, in Berwick-upon-Tweed – to be malted.

Simpsons is the largest maltsters in the UK, renowned for supplying exceptional malted grain to the beer and whisky industry around the world.

Add in pure Cheviot water, and Ad Gefrin’s first Northumbrian English Single Malt whisky couldn’t have a better provenance when it becomes ready from 2026 onwards.

To mark the occasion of the harvest, and following on from the success of 2023, Ad Gefrin launched the season of Lammas with its second release of exclusive casks for sale and a party for its Corenkyn founding membership.

Only Ad Gefrin’s Corenkyn are eligible to buy casks, but they were keen to bring along friends to share in the celebrations.

Alongside additional ex-oloroso sherry and ex-bourbon casks, which proved so popular last year, a limited number of ex-cognac and exarmagnac casks have been made available.

The ex-cognac casks are 225l barriques, which have been used to hold cognac for a minimum of two years, and will provide dry sweet and spicy notes and a light golden hue to the spirit.

The ex-armagnac casks are 200l American standard barrels, from which you can expect a lovely colour with notes of vanilla, caramel and stone fruits with peppery and spicy tones.

Little wonder these exclusive cask sales are proving very attractive, and many were snapped up on the first night of launch at the Lammas event.

Corenkyn comes from the Old English for ‘chosen’ and ‘family’, and members certainly feel they have been welcomed into the heart of everything that Ad Gefrin creates and does.

However, as with all founding membership schemes, it must close sometime, and Ad Gefrin is closing Corenkyn to new members at the end of this year.

There are a wide range of benefits, many of them lifelong, but for whisky lovers, investors, passionate Northumbrians and those celebrating major milestones, buying their own cask has become a highlight.

With the membership closing soon, the exclusive access to casks has added a certain urgency for any still considering signing up.

www.adgefrin.co.uk/memberships

Email: [email protected]

Reference 1: Keats, John (1820) To Autumn