The English Distillery That Rivals The World's Best
An English distillery just beat Scotland at its own game, and we've just brought it on board. In 2022, The Lakes became the first English distillery ever to win World's Best Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards. Previous recipients of that title include Bowmore, Hakushu, Teeling, Ardbeg and Yamazaki, some of the most respected names in the industry. The Lakes beat all of them, from a distillery that's barely a decade old. Proof English whisky rivals the world's best. Now it's on The Bottle Club, whisky, vodka and all.
A Decade in the Making
The Lakes Distillery was founded in 2011, in a derelict 160 year old Victorian dairy on the edge of Bassenthwaite Lake. The team restored it brick by brick. Three years later, Princess Anne opened it officially, and while the first whisky matured, they kept busy distilling gin and vodka.
In 2018, their first single malt, Genesis, set a record no one saw coming, the most expensive whisky ever sold from a new distillery, reaching £7,900 at auction for the very first bottle.
Then came the big one. In 2022, The Whiskymaker's Reserve No.4 won World's Best Single Malt, and English whisky officially had a seat at the table.
In 2024, Eric Heerema, owner and CEO of the Nyetimber Group, took over The Lakes Distillery with one goal: craft the finest English single malts to rival the very best in the world. A year later, after a decade of flavour exploration and having only released limited editions until then, The Lakes released Signature, their first permanent single malt.
That's the bottle we're introducing you to. Their vodka's coming along for the ride too.
The Vodka That Keeps It Simple, On Purpose
While the whisky got all the headlines, The Lakes was quietly perfecting its vodka in the background, distilling it since the very early days of the distillery. Finest British wheat, one single distillation, no repeat runs to strip out every trace of character. It's run through a handmade copper pot still using the same pure Lake District water that goes into everything else they make.
Most vodka gets distilled over and over until there's nothing left to taste. The Lakes stops at one pass, so you still get somewhere the spirit came from. Exquisitely clean and neutral on the nose, it's silky smooth and well rounded on the palate, with a delicate natural sweetness from the wheat and a gentle white pepper warmth. The finish is refreshingly clean and crisp.
It's been in the family since day one. Now it's finally landed at The Bottle Club too.
The Whisky That Refuses to Sit Still
Most whisky rests. The Lakes' doesn't.
At the heart of their process is something they call élevage: the active, deliberate movement of spirit between different casks throughout maturation. Rather than letting time alone define the whisky, whiskymaker Brendan McCarron and his team guide it, building layer upon layer of flavour instead of waiting for it to arrive on its own.
Brendan has nearly two decades of whisky experience behind him, having worked with some of the world's most respected distilleries before joining The Lakes to oversee both its permanent and limited edition releases. Under his direction, élevage has become the throughline across the entire portfolio, the reason critics keep describing The Lakes' whisky as complex, layered and distinct from anything else on the shelf.
The result is a single malt with more depth, more complexity, and honestly, more nerve than most whisky twice its age.
You'll Love This Whisky If...
You appreciate whisky built on precision and patience, not just age on a label.
You're drawn to a dram with a genuine point of view, something distinct from the usual Highland or Speyside pour.
You're choosing this for someone who already knows their way around a good whisky, and still expects to be surprised.
Signature Single Malt is the culmination of that decade of flavour exploration, matured through élevage in the finest Oloroso and PX sherry casks. On the nose, rich polished oak meets dried fruit, soft leather, pecan and dark chocolate, with a subtle touch of orange zest. On the palate, warm baking spice and sweet raisin unfold into succulent fig and stewed orchard fruit, finished with a burst of bright citrus. The finish lingers, rich and indulgent, on dried fruit alone.
Esther Coombes at Esquire called it "rich and creamy honeyed fruits and a hint of dark chocolate meld with fragrant notes of warming spice for the perfect nightcap."
Born in the Lake District, Straight From the Source
Built on the edge of Bassenthwaite Lake, in a UNESCO World Heritage Site, The Lakes isn't playing by the old rules. It draws its water straight from the River Derwent, cold, pure, and essential to everything they distil. The Lakes Distillery Water Fund, run in partnership with the Lake District Foundation, goes a step further, supporting projects that protect the region's water and back climate action locally.
No imported casks of reputation, no borrowed prestige. Just proper English terrain doing the work. About as local as spirits get.
We don't add distilleries to our shelves lightly. The Lakes earned it.
