Lakes Whiskymaker's Reserve No.4 wins World's Best Single Malt

The Lakes Distillery Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.4 has been awarded the World’s Best Single Malt. 

The whisky industry gathered together in London on 24 March to celebrate the 2022 Whisky Magazine Awards. Returning as an in-person event, it saw the announcement of the World Whiskies Awards and the Icons of Whisky global winners.

The Whisky Magazine Awards honour the best in the industry, across its people, places, and products. From bartenders to brand ambassadors. From retailers to visitor attraction managers. The Icons of Whisky awards honour those who have worked tirelessly to produce and promote whisky.

Deliberated and decided upon by an expert judging panel, The World Whiskies Awards named its World’s Best winners across the breadth of categories within whisky. The Lakes Distillery’s The Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.4 taking home the “World’s Best Single Malt Whisky”. 

Kirsty Taylor is the Commercial Director at The Lakes. She said: "We were honoured to be awarded The World’s Best Single Malt Whisky for The Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.4. To be a finalist alongside respected global brands such as Glenmorangie, Bunnahabhain, Aberlour, Kavalan, and new entrants such as Westland, Stauning and Millstone is a credit to the hard work of everyone who has played a part in building The Lakes from a derelict Victorian farmstead into a respected whisky. We are overjoyed to have received this award. It highlights The Lakes Single Malt Whisky as being one of the finest sherry-matured single malts in the world. And, it helps to put England on the map as a whisky-producing region.” 

Dhavall Gandhi is the whiskymaker at The Lakes. He said: "It is humbling to receive recognition for our whisky in the form of such an illustrious award. When making, we never thought about our whisky winning awards. It is always the emotional reaction that matters most. So I am thankful that people appreciate and find value in what we are doing at The Lakes. From a whiskymaking perspective, I very much see it as an infinite journey of discovery and understanding. In essence, whisky-maker’s spend their lifetime learning how not to make whisky, and I am still learning.”

Award judging was held in two rounds. Round one saw a panel of leading journalists and industry experts taste each whisky before selecting the Category Winners. Chosen from hundreds of entries, being crowned Category Winner for Best English Single Malt (No Age Statement) meant The Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.4 advanced to the global competition. Here it was compared head-to-head with 24 winners from Japan, Scotland, the US and more.

You can find out more about The Lakes Distillery here, and read about all The Lakes whisky ranges here.