Work progresses on England’s largest distillery

A new whisky, vodka and gin distillery claiming to be the largest in England is soon to begin production with the delivery of three handmade copper stills.

The Lakes Distillery – said to be the largest distillery in England – is soon to begin production

The Lakes Distillery, the first distillery to be built in the Lake District in more than 100 years, initially launched British blended whisky 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.

The distillery received the wash, spirit and gin stills from specialist manufacturer McMillan, which is based near Edinburgh. With a capacity of 5,500 litres each, these stills will enable the £5 million distillery to produce one million bottles of single malt whisky each year, in addition to gin and vodka.

The distillery, based on the banks of Bassenthwaite Lake, sources its water directly from the nearby River Derwent and is the only distillery in Cumbria to both produce and distill its spirits on site.

“We will now start commissioning the stills and from September 2014 will begin production of The Lakes Single Malt, our lightly peated liquid gold which we expect to be more akin to highland whiskies,” said Currie.

“We have paid great attention to the plant installed in the distillery to ensure the very highest quality of our spirits. We have also introduced a number of innovations to the process which are at the cutting edge of distilling and will be the first distillery to use both copper and stainless steel in our distilling process which we believe will develop a malt with a greater character.”

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.

The distillery is joining a number of others in the emerging English whisky sector, including Adnams, The English Whisky Company, and the new Cotswolds Distillery.

It was revealed in November last year that retailer Marks and Spencer would be stocking its own brand of English whisky – the liquid for which was sourced from The English Whisky Company.