The Lakes Distillery: building a global whisky brand
The Lakes Distillery
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing the stories of some of Cumbria’s export ambassadors to inspire and showcase the benefits of expanding your business overseas to drive growth. In this series, we’ll look at some of the key considerations for any business looking to expand to trade internationally, and explain how the Department of International Trade (DIT) can support you and your business at every stage of the export process.
Founded in 2011, The Lakes Distillery take inspiration from their home in the Lake District National Park, where they have built a state-of-the-art whisky distillery within a 160-year-old farmstead on the banks of the River Derwent.
A whiskymaker with an artistic ethos, they are on a continuous journey of improvement. Respecting whisky’s heritage by learning from the experience of centuries and taking the best models from other industries and interpreting them in their way.
With a vision to build a global single malt whisky brand, to date they have sold spirits in nineteen countries around the world, operating in the fastest growing sector – New World Whisky – of an international whisky market worth £11.4bn.
Following the 2019 release of their first widely available single malt whisky – The Whiskymaker’s Reserve - The Lakes has appointed sales director, Andy Boughey, to oversee exports and are engaging with a series of strategic partners to develop multi-year plans which will introduce the distillery to new regions and grow recognition in key cities across the world.
With increasing investment in marketing and a desire to see their portfolio of spirits enjoyed in locations that reflect the quality of the single malt whisky itself, they are focused on building collaborative relationships with distribution partners to unlock new menu listings in prestigious bars, restaurants, and hotels.
Proudly identified as one of three ‘World Whisky’ brands to watch by The Spirits Business in 2019, alongside Starward (Diageo) and Hibiki (Beam Suntory), a launch in the USA beckons in the autumn, following new distribution agreements already established in China, Singapore, Japan, Belgium, Poland, and Latin America.
The Lakes Distillery would recommend that any business wishing to sell their products overseas should contact DIT to learn more about the journey to exporting. For information and assistance on trading internationally, please get in touch with our Export Manager, Sarah Peak, who joins our team on secondment from the DIT. She can help with any enquires you may have and enable your business to export and grow into global markets: sarah.peak@tradenw.org.