On 3rd October, we launch Embarque – our new single malt whisky which honours London’s maritime past and the legacy of the sherry trade. Its name, meaning “to embark” or “to set sail,” evokes the journey of casks from Spanish bodegas to the storied London Docks, and the way those casks shaped both global commerce and the distinctive character of whiskies enjoyed today.
Embarque is a tale of casks, ships, and docks – but to understand why sherry casks are so central to its flavour, we must first step back into the bustling world of London’s historic riverside trade.
In Jerez, sherry is more than a fortified wine – it is a culture rooted in the craft of coopering. The bota or butt (around 500 litres) was never simply a vessel; it was integral to storage, maturation, shipping, and export.
As early as 1483, the cooper’s guild in Jerez regulated how casks were made, which woods were used, and the standards that had to be meet. Whilst casks were initially used to transport the sherry, whisky merchants soon discovered the transformative effects of the time the sherry had spent in contact with the wood – and once emptied, many of these well-travelled vessels went on to find a second life in whisky maturation.
By the mid-19th century, sherry had become a British obsession: sherry and port together accounted for almost 90% of all wine imports into England. And behind every glass stood an entire industry of coopers, bodegas, and trans-Iberian shipping routes into London.
Before 1800, most cargo bound for London was unloaded at the cramped Legal Quays between London Bridge and the Tower. Overcrowded and chaotic, they left valuable cargo exposed to theft, damage, and delay.
Wine, brandy, and tobacco merchants pushed for reform. The result was a series of grand enclosed docks designed to bring order and security to London’s trade. In 1800, the London Dock Company was granted a 21-year monopoly on unloading vessels carrying wine, brandy, tobacco, and rice. By 1805, the London Dock at Wapping opened its gates, ushering in a new era of maritime commerce.
From its first ship – The London Packet from Portugal – the London Dock became synonymous with luxury imports. Its vast warehouse complexes, underground wine vaults, and specialist facilities could handle thousands of casks at once.
Here, sherry casks from Spain were unloaded, inspected, stored, blended, and bottled. Some remained full, others were emptied and repurposed, but all were carefully accounted for in a system that linked Spanish bodegas to London merchants and eventually onto distillers across Britain.
The scale was immense: by the 1850s, exports of sherry from Jerez had risen from 7,000 to more than 30,000 casks a year, demanding ever larger bodegas in Spain and ever extensive warehousing in London.
As ships grew larger and steam power replaced sail, London’s original docks struggled to keep pace. Their narrow locks and shallow basins were ill-suited to the demands of modern shipping.
After World War II, the rise of containerisation and road transport further undermined the old dock system. By 1968, the London Dock had closed, its once-bustling warehouses gradually redeveloped into housing, offices, and event spaces. Today, Tobacco Dock hosts festivals and fairs rather than barrels of sherry.
For whisky makers, sherry casks are prized for the complexity they impart: dried fruits, nuts, spice, sometimes layered with maritime echoes that might be considered to be reflective of their ocean journey (though in reality this is much more to do with their initial development). London’s docks made this possible, serving as both gateway and guardian for these casks before their rebirth in whisky maturation – over generations, playing a key role in the creation of some of the most celebrated whiskies in history.
By naming our new London single malt whisky Embarque, we acknowledge this legacy – a nod to the ships that carried these casks, the warehouses that stored them, and the centuries of global trade made possible by the London docks.
With Embarque, The London Distillery Company continues a story that began centuries ago. The Bodegas Barbadillo sherry casks that we have used to create this whisky are still part of that lineage – shaped in Jerez, seasoned with sherry, shipped across seas and finally filled to mature single malt whisky.
Raise a glass – you are part of a journey that began centuries ago – from Jerez to London, and now, to you.
*Black and white historical images used with kind permission of the London Museum (www.londonmuseum.org.uk)
Sign up to The London Distillery Company to be the first to discover our upcoming whisky releases, exclusive offers and much more!