England’s The Lakes Distillery Adds Another Single Malt To Its Mix

The Lakes Distillery, for those unfamiliar with it, is on the shore of BassenthwaiteLake, near Keswick, in The English Lake District UNESCO World Heritage Site. Said to attract over 100,000 visitors a year, it already offers up a number of single malt whiskies for the curious. Joining those now is yet another new line up of expressions kicked off by one that defines “a sherry-led house style.”

The new The Lakes The Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.1, according to those behind it, is a non-age statement bottling that’s been aged in “meticulously sourced PX and red wine casks, comprising American, Spanish and French oak.” This is being done by distillery whisky maker Dhavall Gandhi as an exploration of finding the previously mentioned house style of the new whisky making operation.

“Creating a new whisky requires a framework of sorts, but there must be room within it to play, to follow gut feeling and instinct,” said Gandhi in a prepared statement. “At The Lakes, we respect the conventions of Scotch whisky heritage but are open to a world of other influences, interpreting what we believe is right to make The Lakes Single Malt one of the finest whiskies in the world.”

As it stands now plans call for whisky to be bottled at a cask strength of 60.6% ABV and to be both non-chill filtered and of natural color. Only 5,922 bottles are being made available, each pricing at £65 (around $80 USD). More will follow in this series, it is said, and limited official tasting notes for No. 1 suggest “the nose is rich and vibrant with vanilla, chocolate and wood spice, layers of dry fruits, ginger and orange on the palate and a long, warming finish.”