22/06/2024
Chapter 37
A chat with...Georgie Bell (The Heart Cut) - #33
This time we focus on a new independent bottler called The Heart Cut, a single-cask and small-batch spirits company, releasing one-off bottlings from distilleries across the world.
Founded by Georgie Bell and Fabrizio Leoni, a wife and husband duo with a shared passion for whisky cocktails and travel, which is also reflected by their careers in the drinks industry. The brand explores new distilleries, which are presented with its bottlings. This concept is clearly represented by the blog featured on the company’s website where they share stories from some of their distillery visits are told.
At present they have bottled whiskies from seven distilleries and countries, namely: Stauning Distillery (Denmark), East London Liquor Co. (England), Kyrö Distillery (Finland), M&h Distillery , Few Spirits (USA), Cotswolds Distillery (England), Westward Distillery (USA).
I have recently approached Georgie to know more about the brand and their present and future plans for this project.
Let’s see what she told us…
Hi Georgie, thank you for taking the time to chat with us. Please introduce yourself, and tell us a little bit about your whisky journey so far.
Hi Leo – thanks for the chat! I’m Georgie Bell, co-founder of The Heart Cut, an Independent Bottler spotlighting new-world whisky distilleries; I’m also a spirits consultant and independent whisky educator.
I’ve been working in the whisky industry for the last 14 years, from working as a Global Brand Ambassador at The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Diageo and Bacardi, before recently being global head of advocacy for all the craft brands at Bacardi. And together with my husband, I’ve poured all this experience, combined with our passion for whisky in general, into The Heart Cut.
When and how did you join this growing industry?
In 2010 I started working behind the bar at The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (see mention) and as Society ambassador, hosting tastings in house and across Scotland.
I loved whisky before then (I wrote my BScHons dissertation on whisky and regional identity), and it was at the SMWS that I realised, through some hard work, I could grow my passion into a career. Shortly after joining there I became their Global Ambassador, and completed my Diploma in Distilling with the Institute of Brewing and Distilling.
That was 14 years ago, and I haven’t looked back since.
Now tell us a bit more about The Heart Cut what is it that makes it stand out in the whisky industry?
The Heart Cut is an Independent Bottler spotlighting new-world whisky distilleries. Founded by my husband and myself, we’ve released 6 single cask bottles to date from distilleries we admire across the world, and were recently named the 2024 Global ‘Independent Bottler of the Year’ in the Icons of Whisky // Whisky Magazine awards (see mention).
The Heart Cut stems from our love of whisky and how we’ve seen the industry evolve from a drinker and geographical standpoint over the years. We love discovering new distilleries, and with The Heart Cut we’re bringing this sense of whisky exploration to others.
We hand-pick each cask in collaboration with our partner distilleries, and each one tells a story of their people, their provenance and unique quirks in production. With engaging, appealing tasting notes such as honey-dipped granola bars, juicy passion fruit, peach tarte tatin and beach bbq, we’re getting rid of whisky jargon and making it accessible to all whisky drinkers, not just a specific few.
And, as you know, the joy of a single cask is that once it’s gone, it’s gone – our whiskies range from 350 – 450 bottles per release, depending on the size of the cask.
Can you tell us what your target audience is?
With a curated range of single casks from a broad spectrum of distilleries, The Heart Cut is for anyone who likes whisky and is excited to explore new flavours and new distilleries.
We’re here to guide that discovery!
Can you tell us how you select your casks, and anticipate anything about what we can expect to see next?
We pick each cask in collaboration with our partner distilleries, and we’re often looking for a cask that, honestly, we find delicious. We want a cask that stands out, and also one that isn’t too far removed from what that distillery usually bottles; for example, we wouldn’t want someone who likes our Kyrö bottling to then not like their usual expressions – there needs to be a gold thread of flavour that runs between them. For the most part we’ll travel to the distillery to pick the cask with its founder and master distiller, and we’ll then bring the cask sample(s) home to try them again when we’re in different moods, different times of day, different situations to truly decide whether it’s made the cut.
Oh we have so many exciting and delicious bottles lined up! Our next release is coming out in May – and you can expect a new ‘style’ of whiskey from a known whiskey country (the e shortens the list of where it’s coming from!), and one full of juicy passion fruit notes. *
*Leo’s note: this was at the time of the interview in April 2024.
What advice would you give to a beginner that is approaching this world and perhaps starting his/her own collection?
Honestly, just buy whisky that you find tasty and that you want to drink at home. Bottles that you’re excited to have behind your home bar!
Rather than a collection, see it as a range of whiskies to suit different moods, occasions and ways of drinking. For instance, we have a few bottles of American Whiskey that we only seem to drink in Manhattans at home, a few that my husband and I like to sip on a Friday night once we’ve put the kids to bed, and then one or two others we like to drink at specific occasions – such as a sunny weekend BBQ whisky or a Sunday roast whisky.
Lastly, what is, generally speaking, your favourite whisky style (cask type, ageing, peated/unpeated etc.)? What’s your dram of choice at the moment and/or your go to drams on a Friday evening?
At the moment I’m loving our new single cask, single malt release from the Cotswolds Distllery – it’s all juicy fruit, banana bread and candied pecans to taste!
And then as the weather’s got a little better and we’ve started BBQ-ing again I’ll tend in these occasions to go for our single cask from Stauning, a heather smoked single malt finished in a madeira cask that’s big on those sticky toffee pudding and sweet BBQ sauce notes with an aromatic smokey finish.
Official website: https://theheartcut.com/
Drams
and more...
Today's drams
- #1 Stauning Distillery (371 bottles) – 52%
- #2 East London Liquor Co. (344 bottles) – 49.9%
- #3 Kyrö Distillery (361 bottles) – 52%
- #4 M&h Distillery (398 bottles) – 57%
- #5 FEW Spirits (441 bottles) – 50%
- #6 Cotswolds Distillery (362 bottles) – 54.3%
- #7 Westward Distillery (396 bottles) – 50%
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Founded in Edinburgh by Phillip “Pip” Hills and a group of friends in 1983; The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) is a membership organisation that bottles and sells single cask and single malt whisky.
The idea was to present undiluted whisky drawn straight from the cask, in its purest form; as a response to the whisky industry that at the time believed there was no demand by the public for such a spirit.
Today they still purchase individual casks from more than 170 malt whisky distilleries in Scotland and around the world, bottle them and retail directly to the members.
SMWS runs four private members’ rooms in the UK and a few more in international locations.
Website: https://smws.com/
Icons of Whisky awards
Annual competition that celebrates the best brands, people and places in the world of whisky.
The event grants regional awards in five locations, (Scotland, Ireland, America, India and Rest of World). It celebrates passion and dedication invested in each bottle of whisky, which are offered by the professionals involved in their craftsmanship (e.g.: distillers, brand ambassadors, visitor centre managers, etc.).