Visit the Wonderful World of English Whisky This Summer

THE LAKES DISTILLERY is a dream of one man who wanted to create the perfect English whisky and is now the finest craft distillery in England, and the ideal day out this summer.

Just six miles from Keswick in the North of the Lake District, Paul Currie, co-founder of the award winning Isle of Arran Distillers discovered his ideal location for England's finest craft distillery. After £7m of investment and over three years of searching, Paul realised his dream by renovating an 1850s Victorian model farm into The Lakes Distillery which now produces four world-class spirits.

The charming destination, which gives visitors a unique insight into craft distilling, has an ideal water source in the River Derwent just 150m from the Distillery, and the Cumbrian Fells as a stunning backdrop to indoor and outdoor dining.

The distillery opened in December 2014 when it started production of its Lakes Single Malt which is now maturing in casks in the warehouse and will be bottled for the first time in April 2018. The Lakes Gin and the Lakes Vodka are produced at The Distillery in handmade copper pot stills. The distillery uses local ingredients where possible – The Lakes Gin is created with wild Cumbrian juniper, heather and meadowsweet all foraged nearby.

The ONE, the first blend of whiskies from around the British Isles ever to be produced, launched a year before the distillery opened and has been classified as one of the best blended whiskies in the world, having been awarded a silver medal at the prestigious International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC).

Bordering the tranquil Bassenthwaite Lake it's easy to see why Paul chose this spot for the distillery. He wanted to make his distillery open to everyone, so families, friends, able and disabled people of all ages along with outdoor enthusiasts come off the fells to enjoy a tour or dine at the award-winning Bistro at The Distillery.

The Bistro at The Distillery is an all-day dining facility which offers breakfast, coffee and cake, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner in the evening or a selection of cocktails at the end of the day, the menu changes weekly with locally inspired dishes and seasonal ingredients.

Visitors who go on the distillery tour witness the four essential components which make up Paul's world renowned spirits. First they start at the water source (the most influential ingredient) watching the water's 25 mile journey from Sprinkling Tarn high on Scafell Pike along the River Derwent and onto the Irish Sea on a high definition, cinematic film taken from a helicopter.

An expert guide then invites guests to watch the stillmen at work, as they see how the spirits are produced, distilled in unique traditional artisan copper pot stills.

Visitors then get to see the maturing barrels of The Lakes Single Malt in the warehouse and the different types of woods used. Certain flavours are achieved using particular wood types which sets The Lakes Distillery apart from those north of the border - Scottish distilleries are restricted on wood choice.

The tour ends in the beautiful tasting room where visitors can raise a glass and taste the spirits they've learnt about that day.

Paul Currie said: "It's amazing looking at how far we've come. Craft distilling is one of fastest growing areas of the drinks industry across the world and our exports are growing all the time.

"It's also wonderful that we've managed to find so many of our talented team in the local area too."

To come and live Paul's dream and experience his journey, The Lakes Distillery is open seven days a week from 11am to 6pm for tours. Tours last approximately 45 to 60 minutes and are priced at £12.50 for adults, £5.00 for 13 to 17 yrs (accompanied by an adult) and free for children 12 and under. Every ticket for the tour has a voucher worth £5 which can be redeemed on any 70cl bottle purchased in the shop that day.

The Bistro at The Lakes Distillery is open from 11am to 9pm with lunch from 12 noon till 3pm and evening meals 17.30 till 9pm. There is a fixed price menu available for both of these services which changes daily with 2 courses for £15.95 and 3 courses for £8.95.

For more information, please visit www.LakesDistillery.com

** For a selection of high resolution images available for download, please visit bit.ly/TheLakesDistilleryTravelPressPackImages

** Please also feel free to view or share our video available athttps://youtu.be/Knsq4e3TRLk orwww.YouTube.com/TheLakesDistillery

Media Contacts – Caroline Cockburn, Kayleigh Hepburn or Emma Campbell at O PR Caroline@opr.co.uk / Kayleigh@opr.co.uk / Emma@opr.co.uk / 0191 232 5690

For more information on The Lakes Distillery, please visitwww.lakesdistillery.com

For further details on The Bistro at The Lakes Distillery, please visithttp://www.bistroatthedistillery.com/

• The Lakes Distillery, England's newest craft distillery, opened to the public in December 2014. The Lakes Single Malt began production on 16th December 2014 and will be available late 2018, and its blended whisky from the British Isles, called The ONE, the Lakes Gin and the Lakes Vodka are available to buy now.

• Six miles from Keswick along the A66 or a similar distance from Cockermouth The Lakes Distillery is next to Bassenthwaite Lake, in an area of unimaginable beauty encircled by Cumbrian fells

• The experienced team behind the Lakes Distillery includes managing director Paul Currie who co-founded the Arran Distillery, Master Distiller Chris Anderson with over 30 years' experience and Alan Rutherford a former Production Director of Diageo who renovated the historic buildings of an old Victorian Model Farm next to the famous river Derwent and are producing a new world-class blended whisky, single malt, gin and vodka. The Lakes Distiller has John Drake, from Cumbria, as their Distillery Manager. Tour and Retail Manager Brian Hill has worked in the Scotch whisky tourism industry for many years

• The water from the famous River Derwent, with its source high up in the fells, a team steeped in experience of producing spirits, and perfect conditions for distilling create a very special range of spirits

• National retailers Harvey Nichols and Majestic now stock The ONE and The Lakes