Lakes Distillery celebrates Sherry with new range

Cumbria’s The Lakes Distillery is showcasing its “Sherry-led” house style with the launch of a new range of limited edition single malts.

The Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.1 is the first release in the new collection, created by whiskymaker Dhavall Gandhi. The whisky, of which 5,922 bottles have been released at a cask strength of 60.6% ABV, has been matured in a combination of Pedro Ximénez (PX) and red wine casks, comprising American, Spanish and French oak. “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, who joined Lakes from The Macallan in 2016. “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. “We don't believe in taking the easy option if there’s another way to add a new dimension of flavour. For The Lakes, that means not only creating flavour in the new make spirit but also opening up more flavour possibilities throughout the journey through the entire whisky-making process.” As such, Lakes experiments with all different stages of the whisky-making process to maximise flavour. In addition to using 500-litre Sherry butts made from European oak seasoned with oloroso, the distillery matures its single malt in PX, cream and fino Sherry casks, including 500-litre butts and 205-litre hogsheads made from different types of oak. “The idea of distilling being distinct individual elements is not how we look at the art,” said Nigel Mills, co-founder of The Lakes Distillery. “We see whisky-making as part of a continuum, a net of possibilities where everything is interlinked. Change one element and the effect will change everything else.” The Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.1 has an RRP of £65 (US$80). Further bottlings in the range will showcase Lakes’ “increasing Sherry cask influence”. The distillery’s inaugural single malt range – the Quatrefoil Collection – was unveiled in May 2018. Its first single malt bottling fetched £7,900 (US$10,500) at auction last year.