Spirited away

When it comes to creating a classic gin, it turns out that less really is more. We go behind the scenes of a distillery whose ethos of simplicity produces a gin as deep, cool and clear as the waters of the Cumbrian lakes that inspired its creation

The famous lakes, majestic mountains and lush fells of the Lake District have long been an inspiration for poets and philosophers, and a playground for walkers and holidaymakers – among them, Paul Currie and his family. Paul’s father Hal had a whisky distillery on the Isle of Arran, off the west coast of Scotland, but there was something about the Lakes that caught Paul’s imagination.

“I began to wonder if you could open a distillery there,” he says. “If you strip it back to basics, all you really need is access to plenty of water and the right environment for storing casks, and the Lakes has that in abundance.” Then one day, on the way home from a holiday there with his own children, Paul was driving along the A66 when he saw an auction sign. The family pulled over and clambered over the gate. Right on the shores of Bassenthwaite Lake was a derelict farm.

In 2014, after painstakingly restoring the farm buildings, Paul opened The Lakes Distillery, with the sole intent of making a whisky that captured the spirit of the Lake District in its flavour. But, inspired by the sprawling beauty of the distillery’s UNESCO World Heritage Site home, horizons soon broadened and in 2019 The Lakes launched their Classic Gin too.

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