The research, experimentation & development of Sylva is led by Branson and Jack Wareing, and sees a new approach to making premium dark spirits (<0.5% ABV), with the first experimental release available to pre-order from mid-September.
At Sylva, Branson and Wareing have developed a process to not only extract the full flavour profile of traditional barrel wood and grain varieties, but explore the use of trees from all over the world.
“We don’t have any of the restrictions which traditional spirits have when it comes to distillation and maturation processes, so we have a blank canvas. Barrels were first created for transporting goods, the woods used were based on their ability to hold liquid and durability. But we’re choosing wood based on flavour.”
At Sylva, Branson and Wareing are using techniques such as sonic maturation, vacuum distillation and vacuum kiln roasting to not only speed up the maturation process, but extract flavour not previously possible from traditional spirits barrels, as well as wood never used before in spirits production.
Sylva’s first release, Padauk, uses wood from its namesake tree from West Africa, known for its reddish-orange bark and strong aromas. Red Oak from Sylva’s onsite forest has also been used for its porous qualities as well as American oak staves from Nc’nean distillery in Scotland.
The base distillate for Padauk is rye, which has undergone malted rye extraction, toasted rye vacuum distillation, and gravity percolation to enhance its flavour.
Each release of Sylvia will be small batch and made-to-order depending on the demand, given the experimental nature of the distillation and maturation process.
“We didn’t want to have just one or two varieties because we have so many possibilities when it comes to cereals, wood type and our processes. We’re only just scratching the surface,” added Branson.
Sylva's first release Padauk will be available for pre-order from September 12, 2024, with bottles shipped from November, exclusively at www.sylvalabs.com. Priced at £40 per 500ml bottle.
