There’s something quietly poetic about London’s relationship with whisky. The city has long been a hub for ideas, craft, and trade – a place where history and innovation overlap, and where the old finds new expression in the hands of those willing to look back before moving forward.
When The London Distillery Company opened its doors, it did so with a sense of mission. For more than a century, whisky making had all but disappeared from the capital. Yet London’s connection to the spirit ran deep – and LDC’s founders sought to reconnect with that lineage, to create whisky that was unmistakably London in both origin and character.
LDC’s original creation was the LV-1767 Edition – a whisky crafted with care and experimentation, embodying both the precision of old methods and the curiosity of modern distilling. Released in 2018, LV-1767 (named after the last distillery to produce whisky in London – Lea Valley) was crafted from Warminster rye and matured in English oak. Few could have imagined that it would become the foundation of something new, years later.
That original whisky is where Yesteryear begins. Alongside LDC’s legacy casks, we inherited the LV-1767 Edition in glass – left unsold and near forgotten, despite it being the first new whisky distilled in London for over 100 years. This landmark release originally languished – left to become little more than a footnote in distilling history and a snapshot of the company’s early ambition and craftsmanship.
Rather than leaving this milestone release as a relic, LDC’s revival team chose to return to it wood and to breathe new life into it. This was more than an act of restoration; it was an act of reimagination.
From our curiosity came a desire to preserve the essence of the original LV-1767 distillate – whilst reimagining it as though it were being crafted anew for 2025. We set out to explore what the first release from London Distillery Company could have been if made today, reshaping the past through the lens of the present.
Returning the liquid in glass to cask – we first utilised 1st fill sherry octaves. These smaller vessels rapidly added layers of sweet richness and additional complexity, both of which united perfectly to the multifaceted rye base that had already been established from the original maturation. In early 2025, these octaves were combined into a refill sherry quarter cask, where the whisky was given time to integrate and develop a unified character. The result is a whisky that feels familiar yet new, timeless yet distinctly modern. Yesteryear balances the deep sweetness of sherry wood with the bright, spice forward rye spirit that defined the original LV-1767 Edition.
For London Distillery Company, Yesteryear represents a full-circle moment. It honours the whisky that started the journey, while signalling what’s still to come. It’s a testament to the idea that craftsmanship is not static – that heritage, when approached with creativity and respect, can become a foundation for innovation.
Yesteryear is a whisky born of our past, that has been shaped by our present, and that confidently points towards our future.
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