A NEW distillery in Wiltshire wants to open a visitors centre months after it first starting making spirits.

Witchmark is the distilling arm of the Wiltshire Distilling Company which launched its beer brand Stone Daisy last year.

Incorporated in 2020, the company has a distillery and a brewery on the Fonthill Bishop estate and plans to make the equivalent of 1.8m bottles of whiskey in its first three years.

Alasdair Large, one of the company's three founders, applied for a premises licence at Witchmark Distillery to start "as soon as possible".

This would give Witchmark Distillery the ability to sell alcohol on site.

Salisbury Journal: Founders Alistair Munro, Jon Carson and Eddie Large. Founders Alistair Munro, Jon Carson and Eddie Large. (Image: Wiltshire Distilling Company)

Mr Large's general description of the site to Wiltshire Council was a "spirits distillery and visitor centre producing and selling alcoholic beverages".

So far, the company's only product for sale is its selection of Stone Daisy beers but production of gin, vodka and whiskey is underway.

The Wiltshire Distilling Company raised £2.25m in 2022 by shareholders and would-be investors toured the site last December.

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Chairman James Espey previously told the Journal: "We are a local Wiltshire distillery, using local Wiltshire ingredients and employing local Wiltshire people.

"So, who better to invest in our future and share in our success than our neighbours?

“We’re looking for astute individuals with a vested interest in the future of the county and in creating the ‘Pure English Spirit’ that will be Witchmark Whiskey.”