THE LAKES DISTILLERY

Today I had the chance to visit the Lake District and of course I just had to pay a visit to the lakes distillery,  it would be extremely rude not to…so I arrived at 1.20 pm and had a little walk round the shop and a quick visit to the Bistro.. This is located in the old dairy farm,  which is beautifully built from local stone and dates back to the 1850s.  The distillery was the vision of founder Paul Currie, who really did battle to get the distillery on board and to open the doors.. As a new enterprise the distillery has offered a club membership called the founders club, initially priced at £595 but now costs £695 due to rising costs , the distillery also offers Gin and vodka as well as two blended whiskys, ” the one ” and ” the one sherry ” ( both reviewed on the blog )  I of course had to partake in the distillery tour which was expertly done by Mike the tour guide ( name not changed to protect the guilty) .

The tour started outside the distillery shop where Mike explained a little of the history and the architecture, the design of the front gates and logo for the distillery. 

We then proceeded into the distillery, a short film was watched before entering the important bit, everything is done to precision, barley is sourced from Bridlington and the water is taken from the river Derwent, which is literally a stones throw away.. 4 wash backs and one mash tun, producing a distillation run of 5.5-6 hours, once the new make spirit is collected  from one of the 2  stills, named Susan and Rachel at a strength of 68-70% is it then put in casks which are currently ex bourbon cask generally from Jim Beam and Jack Daniels, there are some good sherry casks including Pedro Ximenez and  ex oloroso sherry cask, they  have also filled a few red wine casks ( Cabernet Sauvignon) and recently a selection of tawny port casks… Unfortunately for me we could not enter the warehouse as it was cask filling time, all done in the warehouse,

the Warehouse on site is only small and looked dunnage style, we were told there was two other warehouses near by.   As the tour came to an end we returned to the shop where there is a comfortable area for tasting the whisky,

we were given a sample of the blended whisky ” the one ”  before being offered some Gin and vodka made on site.

The whole tour is done in a relaxed fashion, which is the same as the tasting,  the tour guide we had was extremely eager to please and any question put to him was answered fully, or if he was not sure he approached someone who did know the answer ( the distillery manager John Drake )  I did get the chance to quickly try the new make which I found to be extremely floral and fruity, lots of potential in here to suggest the future is extremely rosey…

A few questions I asked were answered like…

When can we expect the first single malt release ?   2018.. As a 3yo malt…

When  will the first founders bottles be released ?   June 2016. This is the first of 10 bottles offered to the members as part of the deal.. As well as 2 x 5cl samples to each release..

What is the main age of the planned release ?   Hopefully it will be a 10 year old single malt…

Will the first official release be bourbon or sherry or a mix ?    Unfortunately this information is not decided yet …

Will there be a more upgraded tour ?   Possibly, it has been mentioned..  Nothing official yet.

So a few prices that might interest..

Tour costs £12.50 this includes a £5 discount voucher and plenty of samples, whisky, Gin and Vodka..

The shop is extremely well stocked and very well presented, the distillery is set in idyllic surroundings and is very clean and tidy,  good local roads and we’ll sign posted…

 

I I did manage to return the next day after an invite to look round the warehouse and spend a little time with John Drake the distillery manager..  Now I have to say a big thank you to John, this man is extremely proud of his position and has so much pride and enthusiasm for his role, this really shows in the distillery and is easy to pick up on within seconds of meeting him.  We spent some time chatting and then a good look round the warehouse, the aroma as you approach and enter the warehouse is heaven to me, I must admit to not wanting to leave but alas I knew I had to let John do some work as I am sure we could both have spent all day chatting.. We spoke about some plans for the future and some ideas and believe me there are some good ideas and possibilities for the future.  Time is on their side and no real plans are set in stone as yet,  there will be some exciting releases  to come,  also watch out for more releases of the blended ” the one” with different finishes..