Lakes Distillery to expand its whisky production

The Lakes Distillery in Cumbria is expanding its business with the introduction of eight new washbacks, allowing to almost double its production, as it sets its sights on becoming a “global luxury brand”.

Dhavall Gandhi, the chief whisky maker at the distillery, told db‘s sister publication, The Spirits Business: “Right now we are at full capacity and our bottleneck is fermentation. We have a very long fermentation time – 96 hours – and the only way to ensure we maintain the quality and the character of our spirit is to increase our washback capacity.”

The distillery currently distills 230,000 liners of alcohol each year, but the new wash backs will allow them to increase capacity to 400,000-450,000 litres.

This expansion is part of Gandhi’s ambition to make Lakes Distillery whisky a “global luxury brand”.

Recent developments in the Lakes Distillery brand include the production of a limited edition single malt whisky range which will be released over four years, aged in ex-Sherry casks. The distillery is also considering an initial public offering (IPO) to raise funds to grow the business.