Cockermouth CA13 9SJ, UK
The Lakes Gin Fine Gently Distilled
The Lakes Gin
Classic English Gin
Regular price £36.50
The Lakes Gin is our classic English gin with vibrant notes of juniper, cracked black pepper and orange peel.
Inspired by the majestic Lake District National Park, our classic English gin is a showcase of exquisite taste, discerning sourcing and an exacting process of elimination. With a long, slow and gentle distillation in our traditional copper pot still, it is an exceptionally smooth London dry style gin, designed to stand the test of time.
For more help and frequently asked questions, please refer to our customer care page. If you have any further questions, please contact us through email info@lakesdistillery.com or call 017687 88850.
Simply beautiful gin.
We source only the best ingredients, always ensuring consistency of flavour and year-round freshness. The same botanicals are the preferred choice of perfumers and chefs seeking to create the perfect aroma and taste experiences.
We infuse our unique botanical blend in the finest British wheat spirit and the purest water drawn from our Lake District National Park home in a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Juniper, coriander and angelica provide our gin’s flavour cornerstones. Orris root, cassia bark and liquorice offer complementary flavours with orange and lemon peel enhancing our gin’s citrus notes.
By steeping the botanicals overnight like loose-leaf tea, they interact freely with the warm spirit to encourage the essential oils to release more slowly, protecting their delicate nature. The traditional copper pot still then runs slow and long to extract the maximum amount of flavour.
SHOP THE LAKES GIN COLLECTIONExplore Flavour Notes Perfect Serve
Using only a select few botanicals, we achieve flavour precision, ensuring every nuance is pitch perfect and crystal clear on the palate. Less is more.
| Aroma | Orange zest with fragrant notes of Earl Grey tea and juniper |
| On the palate | Refreshing citrus with vibrant overtones of juniper and black pepper |
| Finishing notes | Long, zesty and peppery |
| ABV % | 46.6% |
| Colour | Natural in colour |
Aura
This is a beautiful coral-coloured summery cocktail for those who want to upgrade their G&T. The zest and spicy notes of the gin are combined with orange juice, tonic water and Tabasco, with a final touch of pomegranate syrup for colour and sweetness.
“This elegantly packaged, award-winning gin is inspired by the beautiful Lake District National Park. It’s incredibly smooth and harmonious to taste.”
“This is one of the best gins to be made in recent years. The range is impressive and the spirits even more so. It is very English and very, very good.”
The Lakes Pink Grapefruit Gin
The Lakes Gin Collection
Regular price £36.50
Volume70cl
Distinctively zesty pink grapefruit vigour meets the resounding juniper notes of The Lakes Gin. Bursting with uplifting citrus notes and refreshingly tangy pink grapefruit flavour.
Distilled in our traditional copper pot still and only drawing the purest water from our Lake District National Park home in a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Gently distilled with the luxury of time for exceptional smoothness.
Simply beautiful gin.
We source only the best ingredients, always ensuring consistency of flavour and year-round freshness. The same botanicals are the preferred choice of perfumers and chefs seeking to create the perfect aroma and taste experiences.
We infuse our unique botanical blend in the finest British wheat spirit and the purest water drawn from our Lake District National Park home in a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Juniper, coriander and angelica provide our gin’s flavour cornerstones. Orris root, cassia bark and liquorice offer complementary flavours with orange and lemon peel enhancing our gin’s citrus notes.
By steeping the botanicals overnight like loose-leaf tea, they interact freely with the warm spirit to encourage the essential oils to release more slowly, protecting their delicate nature. The traditional copper pot still then runs slow and long to extract the maximum amount of flavour.
“Sensational aroma with lashings of pink grapefruit.”
‘Outstanding’ Gold Award
International Wine & Spirits Judging Panel
Sense of place
Tied to the desire to distil is the pull of a place.
The Lakes has long been a crucible for creativity, a place in which the imagination can flourish. It isn’t preserved in aspic, a place of nodding daffodils and naughty bunnies, but a challenging place where questions can be asked, new ideas formulated, something which goes deeper than picture box prettiness.
Wordsworth returned here because it was the only place he could formulate his radical thoughts about poetry; his fellow poets joined him because in the wildness they found the Romantic ideal of the sublime that challenged conventional thoughts of beauty.
It didn’t stop there, countless artists, authors, philosophers and musicians have found in the Lakes a place where their vision can be fully manifested. It seeps into every word, note or brushstroke.
Why The Lakes?
Whisky at its best triggers an emotional response, it is more than a drink. It shares that with landscape.
If you strip it back to basics what you need for a new distillery is access to lots of cold, clean water, space for storing the casks, and access to market. You could make whisky anywhere these requirements are met. What makes you choose the place, speaks of the person.
The Lakes exerts a pull on the soul
This pull has been the same for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years. Poets, artists, novelists, sculptors, have been drawn here, its fells and waters make people settle down and stay, draw more in.
So it was with the Currie family. Paul may have worked in Scotch whisky, but holidays were taken back home in England, in the Lakes. He may have had whisky in his veins, but why not an English distillery in the Lake District? He could tick off all the requirements: water, land, old farm buildings suitable for conversion, potential visitor numbers; but most importantly it felt right.
This is a good place to make whisky. It is a good place to be. It changes perspective, gets into your bones.
Embedded in people’s lives
People stay in the Lakes because that ‘truth’ speaks to them, but they have to eat, and support their families. A distillery becomes part of a community, something which is especially important in rural communities where jobs can be hard to find.
Its presence ripples out across the region. Working in distillation, maturation, guiding tourists, serving food, delivering goods. It embeds itself in people’s lives. The distillery now employs over 40 local people, and has opened up new career possibilities: distiller, chef, warehouseman. It becomes part of the glue which deepens a sense of place.
The beginning
All distilleries have a creation story, that moment of inspiration, some might say madness, when someone decides that they need to make whisky.
Paul Currie may have had whisky in his veins, but why should he stick to Scotland? It is not only about the ‘why’ but also about the ‘why not’.
A place to call home
Five miles north-west of the popular tourist destination of Keswick and just one hundred and fifty yards from an excellent water supply, Paul identified a disused, broken down dairy farm that looked promising. A barn with enough height was in place to accommodate the vitally important stills and the grounds housed perfectly proportioned buildings.
The start of our journey
Made of beautiful local stone and slate, the original farmstead featured all the architectural detail and splendour of this period of Victorian prosperity.
This 160-year old building had stood derelict for over 20 years, and we began a project to breathe new life to them. Meticulous renovation began. Replacement materials were sourced from within the Lake District National Park, which was the guiding principle behind the whole renovation.
Slate and cobbles were brought from south Cumbria, sandstone was sourced from near Penrith. The original Westmorland green slates were carefully stripped from the roof, cleaned up and re-used.
The Quatrefoil
The quatrefoil is an ancient Celtic symbol representing faith, hope, luck and love. During the extensive renovation, 26 depictions of the quatrefoil symbol were unearthed in the original masonry and are preserved as a daily reminder of our core beliefs.
These beliefs; faith, hope, luck and love are our compass points, traversing the state of the art technology, advanced scientific thinking and boundless creativity, leading us to new heights of exceptional flavour.
In the early days…
Explore the original restoration and installation of the stills.
The Arrival of our stills
Distillery Tour & Tasting
Go behind the scenes at our state-of-the-art distillery where our Whiskymaker’s unique approach comes to life.
Availability:
Available daily at selected times
Experience Duration:
1 Hour
Ticket prices:
Adults (18+) £20pp
Youths (10-17): £5pp
The experience
Go behind the scenes at our state-of-the-art distillery where our Whiskymaker’s unique approach comes to life. Accompanied by an expert tour guide, you will explore our Still Room, learn about the impact of oak and cask seasoning on flavour creation, and discover how we make The Lakes whisky, gin, and vodka.
Guests over the age of 18 are invited to enjoy a hosted tasting of three of our spirits, with the opportunity to visit our distillery shop and a complimentary voucher to save up to £10 in-store.
What’s included
| Explore | Visit our Still Room & learn about the impact of oak and cask seasoning on flavour creation. |
| Taste | Enjoy a guided tasting of three Lakes spirits, including; Lakes Whisky, The Lakes Gin, and The Lakes Vodka. |
| Discover | Tickets include a complimentary voucher to save up to £10 in-store. Extend your stay by joining us for lunch or afternoon tea. Book a table in the Bistro. |
Essential information
- We highly recommend booking tours and tables at minimum 24hrs in advance.
- Walk-in visits are welcome, subject to availability.
- Please arrive 10-15 minutes before your tour with your order confirmation.
- Young people aged 10 to 17 are permitted the Distillery Tour but must always be supervised. Children under the age of 10 (including babies and prams) are not permitted on any tour for health and safety reasons.
- If you have babies and children under 10, they are welcome in the Bistro and to visit the Alpacaly Ever After herd who live on the distillery site. There is a Meet & Greet experience at 2.30 Fri-Mon (please check the Alpacaly website for details).
- The site is wheelchair friendly, please contact us to discuss your mobility requirements.
- Dogs on leads are allowed in the courtyard, garden and shop. Guide dogs are permitted on tours.
How to find us
The Lakes Distillery, Setmurthy, Bassenthwaite CA13 9SJ
From the A66: Turn off A66 at the north end of Bassenthwaite Lake onto B5291. At Ouse Bridge junction bear left (don’t go over the bridge). Distillery is on the right after a few hundred metres.
From the A591: use the turning directly next to the Castle Inn onto the B5291. Carry on past Armathwaite Hall. Bear right after crossing the Ouse Bridge and the Distillery is on the right after a few hundred metres.
Google Maps: Type in ‘Lakes Distillery, Setmurthy’ and it will take you straight to the door.
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