The Lakes Distillery

 

The full line-up

It may have been St Andrew's Night but for our November tasting, we were able to enjoy a selection of drams courtesy of one of England's top distilleries, the Lakes.

Equinox

Established in 2012 and opened in 2014, the Lakes has gradually emerged as one of the leading new names in whisky especially for its Whiskymaker's Reserve range, of which more later. But first we had the chance to try some bottles from its Editions series.

But first we had our hands on glasses of Equinox. Light and delicate and showing the influence of both Calvados and oloroso sherry, this was a very fruity drink. It was a bit spicy at the end too, with white pepper notes and a bit of welcome dryness.

Good for all year round drinking we thought, light enough for summer but with a bit of spiciness that meant it wouldn't be out of place in colder weather either. It's 46.6% and a bottle is £90.

Iris

Next it was Iris, more of a spring-summer dram according to the distillery, but even so it packs a punch at 56%. Floral and fruity, and spicy again. Very powerful all round in fact.

Once that spice dies down the flavour gets more of a chnace to come through, and the main note we had was crisp red apple. It's £85.

For dram three, a collaboration with Simon Rogan, the chef behind Cartmel's multi-Michelin starred L'Enclume and pioneer of sustainability in the food industry.

Reflections

Called Reflections, this is a whisky aimed more at autumn and winter, and features locally sourced ingredients to pair with L'Enclume's autumn menu.

Lots of red wine barrels were involved here, and as such the key tasting notes we picked out were candied fruit, pumpkin spice and cinnamon. This was a very well-balanced dram to drink despite the strength at 54%. It was £85 as well, a price tag that was low enough to tempt a few of us to invest in a bottle from Aston's of Manchester, who were at the tasting too.

No 6

After a half-time break to give us all a chance to recharge our glasses downstairs at the Britons Protection, it was on to part two of the evening and a chance to try three drams from the Reserve range.

Whisky four was No 6, which is matured in a mix of oloroso, Pedro Ximinez and red wine casks, and we thought the red wine barrel gave it a bit of a savoury note. Liquorice, perhaps. Overall, this was a meaty, almost brothy drink, with a big and long finish.

It was 52% but if anything tasted a touch stronger than that, and again you can pick it up for about £85.

No 7

The brand new Whiskymaker's Reserve No 7 was up next, what will be the last in this particular series, and this featured similar casks with a mixture of sherry and red wine again. Sherry-led as befits the Lakes general style, but with notable sandalwood on the nose. Sultanas, too, with a little bit of smoke on the aftertaste.

Adding water brought a bit more of the fruit and less of the spice. It's 52% and is a noble way to end what has been a hugely successful series of releases for The Lakes. Again, the price tag is £85.

Which brought us to the end of the evening and something a bit special to end on. Back to Editions we went for a bottle of Infinity. The recommended way to tackle this was through two sips: let the first one sit on the palate for a moment and then follow up with the second straight after.

Infinity

This gave us the experience of something spicy, then sweet, and then savoury. A sherry bomb, this was Christmas all round. It's 52% and £95.

All that remained was the dram of the night voting, and it was a thumbs up in the end for dram five - the Whiskymaker's Reserve No 7 - with 14 votes, just one ahead of the Reflections with 13. Infinity was third, but all the bottles got at least some support in the room, showing what a strong range of whiskies we had in front of us for this tasting.

Our thanks to everyone at The Lakes and Aston's for putting on the tasting and helping us buy some bottles afterwards. Thanks also to the Britons Protection for hosting us again, and to all club members who joined us for the tasting. Next: the annual Christmas Party!