Sylva HAZEL

Distilled & Aged

Limited Edition.

50cl - <0.5% ABV

“I wanted to capture native British trees’ transition from the dormancy of Winter to Spring’s awakening using wood from our forest” Ben.

Sylva HAZEL is a vibrant aged non-alcoholic spirit capturing our forest’s transition from Winter to Spring. Made using Hazel, Silver Birch and Oak from our forest, HAZEL is bright and light with notes of fresh-cut green wood and fruity esters balanced with our distillery’s signature warmth and complexity.

Sylva is a celebration of trees and exploration into the unique diversity of flavour found in wood to make spirits to sit down, sip and slow down with.

£40.00
Pre-Order
Free UK Delivery & Gift Box - Ships late April

THE PROCESS

We turn grain & wood into delicious sipping spirits.

As Bonafide Nature nerds, we go to extreme lengths foraging, selecting & preparing the most flavourful cereals & woods from nature. We have created a pioneering production & maturation process to make the best possible dark non-alcoholic liquids we can; Liquids you can sit down with, take a moment & sip.

“Trees are the lungs of the world; we want to show people they’re also the most incredible & underestimated larder.”
- Ben

RELEASE STORY

Witnessing our trees’ dormancy through the winter through to Spring’s gentle awakening has made our second release Sylva HAZEL very special.

Our aim was to actively work with three of our native broadleaf species typically found growing together, to compose a liquid with brightness and bounce to embody the freshness of fragrant green cut wood and soft leaf buds balanced with our distillery’s signature character of warmth, character and complexity.

We coppiced overgrown Hazel just before Christmas, gently slow roasting it to release floral and soft macadamia nut type characters and patiently waited for Hazel Catkins and leaf buds to appear to compose beautifully fragrant distillates. Thinning a stand of Silver Birch gave us the chance to work with this stunning wood bringing through delicate green and citrus notes and selectively trimming one of our veteran English Oak trees gave us woody, dry and light vanilla tones.

Capturing our forest waking up has given me a new lens on British forests and Springtime. I hope you enjoy it.

Ben

"The liquid has far more balance and complexity than any other non-alc dark spirit I’ve tasted. The inclusion of woody notes other than oak is also intriguing."

ALICE LASCELLES, THE FINANCIAL TIMES

"The Seedlip founder is seeking to create something new in dark NA spirits by bringing innovative techniques and technology to the alcohol-free category with Sylva Labs."

BEVNET

"Sylva has a commitment to explore the full flavour potential of traditional barrel wood and grain varieties, as well as trees not used before in spirits. Methods utilised include sonic maturation, vacuum distillation and vacuum kiln roasting."

WHISKY MAGAZINE

INGREDIENTS NOTES

UNMALTED DISTILLED RYE
Latin SECALLE CEREALE
Origin GERMANY
COPPICED ROASTED HAZEL
Latin CORYLUS AVELLANA
Origin UK – From our forest
SILVER BIRCH
Latin BETULA PENDULA
Origin UK – From our forest
VETERAN ENGLISH OAK
Latin QUERCUS ROBUR
Origin UK – From our forest
HAZEL CATKIN & HAZEL LEAF BUD DISTILLATE
Latin CORYLUS AVELLANA
Origin UK – From our forest

TASTING NOTES

With notes of fresh cut green wood, soft stone fruit and dry citrus, Sylva HAZEL is bright, floral and woody with Sylva's signature distillery character of warmth, depth and complexity.

RYE

Fresh hay and warm apple tart.

HAZEL

Crisp green wood with soft nuttiness.

SILVER BIRCH

Light apricot, sweet sap and peppermint.

OAK

Coconut, vanilla and dry leaves.

INDEX

WOOD BILL

As American Whiskey has their ‘mash bill’ which details what grains and at what percentage are in their mash, we have a ‘Wood Bill’ as a bit of a nod and a wink. Each release will have a set Wood Bill that will be unique for that batch. Think of it as a receipt with details of what went in. Over time we will build up a library of bills that we can call on to make a new batch, if we want to resurrect a release.

HAZEL

A British Native, Hazel has a reputation as a magical tree. It is one of the most useful trees for its bendy stems and as a conservation saviour. Its nuts are loved by people, squirrels and hazel dormice.

HAZEL CATKINS

Resembling lamb’s tales, catkins are the male flower of the Hazel tree and they produce copious amounts of powdery yellow pollen. Each catkin actually consists of 240 individual flowers arranged on a dangling stem and they are still used today to make a tea or eaten to stop a cold.

ENGLISH OAK

The English oak holds a special place in our culture, history, and hearts. It supports more life than any other native tree species in the UK and can live to 1000 years old. It is often claimed that England has more ancient oaks than the rest of Europe combined.

SILVER BIRCH

With their papery white bark silver birch trees are one of the more recognisable trees across the British countryside. The silver birch has been growing across the UK since the end of the last ice age over 11,000 years ago. Birch trees are perfect to “tap” in the Spring to collect birch water.

RYE/RYE DISTILLATE

More commonly found in American whiskies, it has a characteristic spiciness, homeliness and a warmth which we wanted to build upon for our first release as the spiciness of the Padauk marries with the grain nicely. Traditional rye whiskies are usually bolder, more impactful than their barley or corn counterparts. Our rye distillate carries the essence of the grain with grassy, meadowy flavours with a malty, almost biscuity finish.

SONIC AGEING/ULTRASONIC MATURATION

These terms can be used interchangeably, but the premise is the same. Using powerful ultrasound-emitting generators (kind of like speakers) placed opposing each other, the ultrasound waves crash into each other tens of thousands of times per second. Where the ultrasound waves meet, there are very small but very powerful bursts of energy called ‘cavitations’. We utilise these cavitations to push to-be-matured liquid into and out of our chosen wood blend, exposing flavour, colour, and character with every cavitation. What this means is that we can extract incredible flavours at astounding speed.

COPPICING

Coppicing is an ancient method of woodland management of cutting down a tree to a stump, in many species like Hazel this encourages new shoots to grow from the stump or roots, regrowing the tree. Hazel for example should be coppiced every 3-5 years.