Wondering if The Lakes Distillery is worth the visit? Love all things whisky? Read on to find out more!
The Lakes Distillery, located in the North of the Lake District, is just a short ride out from Keswick. Its next to Bassenthwaite Lake and surrounded by picturesque views of the Lake District. The beautiful surroundings and wonderfully restored farmhouse (dating back to the 1850s) building make it more than worth the effort to get there.
Whilst the Lakes Distillery is only a few years old, the team is steeped with experience. The founder, Paul Currie, also started the award-winning Arran distillery in Lochranza, Scotland. Production is overseen by Whisky experts Alan Rutherford, council member of the Scotch Whisky Association.
The Tour at The Lakes Distillery
The tour includes a walk around the distillery, starting off with a video before being taken through every stage of the process by a guide. Whilst the focus is on Whisky, the tour also focuses on Gin and vodka production as well. Whichever is your favourite tipple they’ve got you covered.
Along the way you’ll get chance to check out the history of the building and about the process of spirit-making including the mash house and still house. You will also get to try the whisky at various stages of production.
Once the tour was out the way, we got a small tasting session to sample the Lakes Distillery produce. This included The One (a blended whisky in available whilst the single malt is still being produced), The Lakes Gin and The Lakes Vodka.
The single malt whiskey produced at The Lakes Distillery isn’t quite ready yet to try (it take just over three years to produce!), but both the vodka and gin are good to go.
The one gripe I did have about the day was that photography was not allowed for large parts of the tour. Understandable, but still quite annoying when you want to write about the day!
Afternoon Tea at the Lakes Distillery
After the tour we went for afternoon tea – what a treat! The afternoon tea was served with an assortment of finger sandwiches, fruit scones, pastries and teas. It was, without doubt, one of the best afternoon teas I’ve had in a long time. A trip to the Lakes Distillery wouldn’t be complete without it!
Overall, if you love your Whiskey, Gin or Vodka the Lakes Distillery is a great day out. Be sure to visit!
Setmurthy, Cockermouth CA13 9SJ
11 am to 5 pm Monday to Saturday
Leave a Reply