The English Distillery was founded in 2006 by father and son team James and Andrew Nelstrop at Roudham in Norfolk. Originally known as St. George’s Distillery, it was the first new legal whisky distillery built in England in over a century. The first releases from St. George’s distillery were work-in-progress spirits that were given a progressive Chapter numbering system; in 2009, the distillery released Chapter 5, England’s first new single malt whisky in living memory.

St. George’s distillery was renamed simply as The English Distillery in 2023, by which time the Chapter system of official releases had been retired in favour of a settled core range of the distillery's peated and unpeated whiskies alongside a prolific schedule of single cask and small batch releases. The English Distillery’s whiskies have been winning awards for many years, and the distillery’s finest moment so far came in 2024 when their Sherry Cask Matured whisky scooped Best Single Malt Whisky at the World Whisky Awards.