Interview: The Lakes Distillery on building its luxury credentials through travel retail

“We aim to be 1% of the global luxury dark spirits category worldwide, and travel retail can play a big part in achieving that.”

Speaking at TFWA Asia Pacific recently, The Lakes Distillery Head of GTR Claire Keene outlined how the English whisky maker plans to grow its business to 50,000 nine-litre cases by 2027, in line with the strong growth in luxury dark spirits globally.

Home to the ‘World’s Best Single Malt Whisky’ (2022 World Whiskies Award), the distillery is located on the north shore of Bassenthwaite Lake in England’s Lake District National Park. Since it was established in 2011, The Lakes Distillery has quickly emerged as a key player in the new world of whisky due to its approach to whisky flavour creation and focus on sherry-wood maturation.

The whisky maker stands out for its use of the art of élevage – the interplay between spirit, oak and air – during maturation, creating much of the whisky’s flavour.

As reported, The Lakes has appointed agent and distributor Duty Free Global as the company’s partner in the global travel retail channel.

Keene said: “We see a huge opportunity in luxury dark spirits, across prestige and prestige-plus segments, at £80 and above. That is a segment that will grow from three to five million cases by 2027, according to IWSR, and is where we want to play.”

While English whisky is coming from a small volume base, it is now exported to 35 markets with around £1 billion of stock laid down in the category across all distilleries in the emerging segment.

Keene said: “This new world revolution appeals to consumers who are knowledge-hungry, looking for innovation and willing to spend a little more.”

On what being an English whisky means for innovation, Keene said: “We are not restricted by the Scotch whisky rules and can push the boundaries further.

“The élevage technique means layering of flavour by moving the liquid between different sherry-seasoned casks. We start to move our whisky from cask to cask after six months. That gives it a very concentrated flavour. The casks we move between also give it the dark colour after a short space of time.

“We play about with the length of time in the casks to show what élevage can do. It shows how expressions with the same DNA can develop.

“Our aim is to be known as sherry experts and we are transparent about what sherry brings to our single malts. Our first fill casks, which involve a big investment, are part of the reasons we won the World’s Best Single Malt Whisky award in 2022.

“Through our distiller Sarah Burgess we also bring technical excellence, including fermentation for 96 hours, which we believe helps to impart our rich, opulent flavours.”

Keene also spoke about the timing of The Lakes’ focus on travel retail, with its Boundless expression set to appear as a channel exclusive from September. This is matured in First-fill European & American oak Oloroso sherry casks, with a recommended retail sale price of £115. A further travel retail reference will be revealed at TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes.

Keene said: “We recognise that duty free deserves to have high-calibre liquid and we are now in the right place after distilling for ten years and won some big awards.

“The trends in single malt are that category growth is coming from new players. We can enhance that, playing on our techniques and innovation. We have access to good inventory of juice, with about 8,000 casks laid down today. We produce 250,000 litres of alcohol year, which will grow to 500,000 by 2027 using the same distillery assets as we have today to meet expected demand.

“We know that retailers are excited about up and coming brands, and that consumers are seeking transparency and knowledge. Seeing a brand named the world’s best single malt with a presence in GTR adds value for the retailer as well as the consumer, and gives trust to the consumer that this channel is where you find the best products.

“This really marks our entry to travel retail. We will track priority markets such as the UK and those big whisky markets in Asia, where sherry-forward flavours are popular. Plus we’ll unveil a new reference in Cannes.

“We have earned our stripes at the luxury end of single malt and want to bring out the quality that English whisky has proved in recent years.” ✈