The Lakes Distillery began making spirit in December 2014 in a converted 1850s farm near Bassenthwaite Lake, close to the Lake District National Park.1,2,3 English sparkling wine maker Nyetimber has owned it since 2024.3,4,5
Paul Currie and Nigel Mills set up the company on 12 September 2011.3,6,7 Currie had earlier co-founded Lochranza distillery on the Isle of Arran.3,6,7 In March 2014 work began on a derelict 1850s Victorian model farm, once a dairy farm, five miles north-west of Keswick.
It mashes unpeated malted barley, meaning barley dried without smoke.1,11 Its water comes from the River Derwent.3,12 Fermentation, where sugary water from the mash becomes a beer called wash, lasts up to 96 hours in stainless steel tanks called washbacks.10,11,13 It uses three yeast strains, and says the long time adds complexity and a creamy texture.10,11,13 It distils in a pair of small stills: a wash still and a spirit still.1,9 Distillation is slow and long, which the distillery says gives the vapour as much contact with copper as it can.11 In 2015 each whisky still had both a copper and a stainless steel condenser, which turns vapour back into spirit, and either could be used.1 Paul Currie expected the stainless steel one to give a heavier spirit.1 The distillery describes the new spirit it wants as robust and fruity.11 It says slow mashing with recirculated water gives a clearer wort, and a narrow cut, the part of the run kept as spirit, makes it fruitier and more robust.11
In 2016 Dhavall Gandhi left The Macallan to join as whiskymaker and help define the house style of its single malt.8,14 Under Gandhi it shifted its focus to sherry casks, and today every cask is sampled before it is one year old.9,10,14
In 2020 a new fermentation hall added eight more stainless steel washbacks, which the distillery planned would allow 24-hour distillation.9,13,15 It had said fermentation was its bottleneck at full capacity, and it also planned a new racked warehouse, where casks sit on racks.9,13,15
Sarah Burgess joined from The Macallan as whiskymaker in 2023, after Gandhi left.16,17 In June 2023 James Pennefather, formerly of Diageo and William Grant & Sons, was named chief executive, to take over from co-founder Nigel Mills on 1 July.18,19 In September 2025 Brendan McCarron, who had worked for Diageo and LVMH brands, took over as whiskymaker from Sarah Burgess.9,20
Nyetimber completed its purchase on 18 June 2024, in a deal that valued the business at £71 million.3,4,5 On 24 April 2026 Nyetimber closed the shop and bistro and stopped tours, citing financial pressures; production went on unchanged.5,21
Bottles in Peated distilled at The Lakes Distillery, by release year.
| Year distilled | Bottles |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2021 | 2 |
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2023 | 4 |
| 2024 | 1 |
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