And here it is… the final chapter in Volume 2 of The Lakes’ story.
The opening volume was basically called “The Start-up”. The distillery started out in their venture and went about building a brand from the ground up.
The next volume could be called “The Dhavall Years”. Bringing in the experience of Macallan/Edrington’s “Whiskymaker” Dhavall Gandhi saw the distillery drop the opening gambits, learn some lessons, and focus on the future. And that future was to focus very heavily on Sherry.
The Whiskymaker’s Reserve series has been a chronicle of releases inviting followers of The Lakes to buy up the instalments of their journey to find the signature single malt. And with quite a bit of success on the way – The Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.4 was awarded the coveted title of Best Single Malt Whisky In The World in 2022. Quite the accolade for a work-in-progress.
Release No.7 is the closing chapter in this volume before The Lakes start Volume 3: BAU (Business/Brilliance As Usual). This release again focuses on the merits of sherry and red wine cask maturations of the Lakes’ spirit.
“Matured in the finest Oloroso, PX and red wine casks, comprising Spanish and American oak, No.7 is “a celebration of the whiskies that came before it”, sharing rich layers of honeyed fruits, hints of cocoa nibs, and dark chocolate with the familiar buttercream texture and character of previous editions, evolved with an elegant sweetness.” Full release here…
For this final limited release, a full 70cl is available whilst stocks last at a price of £85 per bottle and it has been captured at another hefty volume: 52% ABV.
Nose
No surprise that it’s Sherry front and centre. Those classic rich fruit flavours just fill your nostrils – think raisins, dates, and cherries. These are all joined by festive spices and a drying oak.
Taste
Steeped berries and Christmas cake flavours fill the palate quickly. Cola cubes, blood orange and rich chocolate all join the signature raisins and dates again. All of your usual super sherried characters appear for their roll call but they are also joined however by bit of an additional fruity floral funk – something that brought dandelion and burdock.
Finish
A good dose of spice and oak flavours tingle the tonsils. It is maybe one of the harder hitting Whiskymaker’s Reserves even though it sits in the same 50+ ABV ball park. The lasting flavour, when all is done, reminds me of sweet cherry lips sweets.
Verdict
It’s good. Really good. And we’ve come to expect it now. They’ve pretty much carved themselves out the niche of being England’s Macallan. A reliable satisfying body with all those well sherried connotations.
What we are all thinking now though is: Let’s get the main one out!
Let’s see how long it takes. Hopefully not long.
With the Whiskymaker himself now out of the picture though, will they take a different turn? Surely not. If they have found the standard then I guess he has done his job? That’s not to take it away from their new master blender but has the blueprint already been made.
The series itself has been a great exploration of sherry/wine cask maturations. [ed: on that note, tasting Reserve Nos. 1-7 side-by-side would be amazing!!] With the middle release actually winning the prize of best whisky in the world. Are they going to be pumping that out now as their standard? You’d hope so.
M
Sample disclosure: This whisky was reviewed from a sample received as part of a marketing promotion directly from the distillery. All notes are intended as an honest, fair, and independent review of the whisky itself and not as a promotion. Please drink responsibly. Please drink wisely.
whisky unplugged 