THE LAKES DISTILLERY – A REVIEW

Last week we were invited by The Lakes distillery and Hemil Haria, our Key Account Manager at The Lakes, for a distillery tour and private tasting. 

After receiving a £9 million cash injection and developing the site over 3 years into a meticulously restored 1850’s Victorian farm, the Lakes Distillery finally emerged in December 2014 in beautiful surroundings. The Lakes had a clear mission – to product premium, award winning spirits. The Lakes’ portfolio includes gin, vodka and whisky.

Our day involved a welcome coffee and pastry, a private extended tour, a lunch (with drinks) at their superb bistro restaurant, a look at the whiskymaker’s house, and a private tasting, before finishing up with one last whisky (their new release). 

On the informative and engaging tour, we learnt about the history of the distiller and how the spirits are made using the water from the Derwent river. We saw the whisky making process up front and learnt the process behind how The Lakes whiskymaker selects the right casks. 

After a lovely lunch and some cocktails, we made our way to the whiskymaker’s house. Here we got to see how Sarah Burgess (the whiskymaker) creates the new whiskies for The Lakes. The room she creates the next batch of whisky in is akin more to a science lab; hundreds of vials of whisky were laid out with various whiskies being mixed to the millimetre to find the next release.

After viewing the house it was time for the main event, a private tasting of The Lakes whiskies present and future with Sarah. During the tasting we sampled some of the gins, the new make spirit and whisky from Number 7, Equinox, Reflections, Iris and the yet to be released Galaxia. 

It was fascinating to hear directly from Sarah about how she approached whisky and what goes into making a great whisky in her opinion. She broke this down into 4 areas; having multiple layers of flavour, a rich mouth coat, complexity and creating a whisky that has a need to belong. 

With regards to the whisky, the use of sherry casks was evident throughout, with the percentages ranging from 46.6% (Equinox) to 56% (Iris). 

Personally we felt that the Reflections was the standout whisky of the day. On the nose, rich ripe fruits really stood out, particularly orange zest, dates and cinnamon. On the palate, we were greeted with festive fruits, some hints of summer fruits such as cherry before finishing with orange oils. The Reflections is a truly remarkable whisky and at 54% it packs the perfect amount of punch whilst still remaining quite light and balanced. 

After the tasting we were invited back to the bistro for one last whisky, where we got to try the distillery exclusive Isadora. This is a 900 bottle limited edition whisky that is only available from the distillery. On the nose ginger, baked spiced apples and treacle entice you in, before finishing off with a mouth coating of dark chocolate. 

We have very kindly been given a small allocation of Isadora, which you can purchase here without needing to go all the way to the distillery!

If you haven’t yet had the chance to get to the fabulous Lakes distillery then we highly recommend it. Nestled in the lake district, the distillery is very accessible (Penrith station is 30 minutes away) with gorgeous views, a superb tour, even better whisky and an alpaca farm as well!