Lakes Distillery to start production in September

A DISTILLERY in the Lakes is a step closer to producing whisky, vodka and gin after taking delivery of three stills.

Once it is up and running The Lakes Distillery will be the largest whisky distillery in England, producing around a million bottles of single malt a year.

The business, based at Bassenthwaite Lake, near Cockermouth, is led by managing director Paul Currie who is investing around £5m.

He said: “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.

“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.”