The Oxford Artisan Distillery, the English Whisky producer leading the way on sustainable farming in spirits production, has appointed Charlie Echlin as Sales Director. Charlie was one of the first employees at the Distillery and has flourished ever since, building premium distribution for their whiskies in the UK and a growing number of export markets.
Echlin comments: “I have loved the mission at The Oxford Artisan Distillery since day 1. Working with heritage grains, this company is leading the revolution in tackling sustainable farming and producing uniquely delicious whiskies too. With Distill Ventures as partners, we have ambitious and exciting growth plans in place and I am delighted to lead the Sales team.”
The Oxford Artisan Distillery is seeking to revolutionise farming practices in the category. They produce whisky using biodiverse populations of ‘heritage’ grains, cultivated exclusively for them using a technique known as Restorative Continuous Grain Cropping (R-CGC).
This means they don’t use chemicals and grow with just an understory of clover. This approach has a multitude of benefits: sequestering carbon; improving soil and river health; creating life-rafts for biodiversity and restoring eco-systems within arable fields. Also the fact these grains were originally bred for their flavour in the production of beer and bread for example, means they lend themselves to producing uniquely delicious whiskies.
Mark Harvey, Managing Director Sales & Marketing, comments: “I’m delighted to announce this well-deserved promotion of Charlie Echlin to Sales Director. His ability to build strong mutually beneficial commercial relationships is second to none. I am excited to see what he will achieve as we introduce our proposition to a growing audience in the UK and abroad.”