First British blended whisky goes global

The first British blended whisky created by a UK distillery has gone global after securing distribution deals in The Netherlands, France, Belgium and the UAE.

The One, the first British blended whisky produced by The Lakes Distillery, has secured global distribution deals

The Lakes Distillery, the first distillery to be built in the Lake District in more than 100 years, initially launched The One in the UK last autumn, and is the brainchild of former Isle of Arran Distillers co-founder, Paul Currie, and former Dewars master distiller, Chris Anderson.

Talks are already taking place to cement distribution deals in Spain and Poland, as well as other part of Europe and Asia.

“To create The One we searched far and wide to bring together a range of very special whiskies from the British Isles,” said Currie, managing director of The Lakes Distillery. “These have been blended with great care and passion to create a perfectly balanced whisky and, as we hoped, exports have taken off in a big way already.

“The One is an important brand for us in the growing premium whisky sector and it has received an outstanding response both with its smooth taste and innovative packaging.

“We all know the global success story of Scotch and now England is seeing a real whisky boom with several new distilleries planned to open this year.”

The Lakes Distillery is a £5 million investment and will be the largest distillery in England when it opens later this year.

Construction is well underway and production of whisky, gin and vodka is due to start this summer after the stills arrive in June, with the bistro, tours and shop to open to the public by December 2014.

“We will start production of The Lakes Malt in the summer, and we also plan for that to be a global brand,” explained Currie. “Our experienced team, who all have decades of distillery experience, are now very excited about creating a new quality malt from scratch.”

The Lakes Distillery has also launched a Connoisseurs Club, offering the chance for 60 whisky enthusiasts from all around the world to fill their own sherry cask and attend annual tastings to see how their whisky is maturing.

Additionally, the first 100 casks of malt whisky will be produced exclusively for the members of The Lakes Distillery’s Founders’ Club who will receive a 700ml bottle and two tasting bottles, every year for 10 years, creating a collectible set of the distillery’s first ever production.