We went on a tour of the distillery on a rare day off from work, and I'd highly recommend it. Our…read moretour guide Liz was fantastically passionate and enthusiastic, and the tour was informative and a lot of fun. We saw the mash tanks, the copper stills, and even got a peek into the warehouse where they were quite literally rolling out the barrels. The Lakes Distillery is housed in a renovated Victorian Farm, and the impression created is that no expense has been spared. It is a sensitively done and absolutely beautiful renovation, with fantastic attention to detail.This place oozes class and luxury. They know what they're doing these guys - their founder is one of the team who founded the Arran Distillery, and they have lured their master distiller, Chris Anderson, out of retirement on the Isle of Skye. I was really impressed with their environmental focus too, as they're making the place as 'green' as they can. The distilling process is entirely natural, using only grain, yeast and water, and most of they by-products are returned to local farmers to use as animal feed or soil improvement - lucky sheep! It's next to Bassenthwaite Lake, and the River Derwent runs alongside it. It's from this river that they draw the incredibly pure water to use in their spirits. Liz was explaining that there's a way to measure water purity on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the least pure. The water they draw from the river is point something - as pure as you can get really. And by jove, does it make a delicious gin! The tour ends at their tasting bar, and we tasted their vodka, gin and whisky. At the moment, their whisky is a blend - being a new distillery, their own whisky will take time to mature, so they're cracking on with other stuff in the meantime. I'd never previously tried a whisky in my life - even the smell of it - ugh! But I dared to try this one and was glad that I did - my verdict is that it is definitely drinkable. It seemed very smooth, and well, that's all I can say about whisky really, I'm no expert. I'm definitely more of a gin fan, and their gin is delicious. They source many of the ingredients locally, using the classic botanticals such as juniper alongside other local plants such as heather and meadowsweet - a true artisan gin. Fresh and clean, but not too astringent, it's very drinkable. If you're in the area, definitely pop in - there's a restaurant on site too. If you're not in the area, there's also an online shop in which their products can be bought. Good to know!

We went for a quick family dinner at the bistro. We opted for the Easter weekend pre-fix menu,…read morewhich was roughly £20 for three courses. I had the starter of squid, main of steak, and dessert of honeycomb ice cream, and enjoyed everything. Steak was cooked nicely medium and dessert was my absolute favourite. Service was also stellar. All came out promptly, and the servers were kind and efficient. Ambience was also very nice. Part of a broader distillery establishment, it can be a great outing even if not for the meal. I would love to return for the distillery tour -- a nice glass of gin and tonic by the lake would be magical.

If you are remotely considering a trip to Scotland to visit distilleries (be it any regions,…read moreHighland, Lowland, Speyside or Islay), you must contact Willie and Craig at Celtic legend/Whisky Tours Scotland! After doing some research on-line, I found their site and immediately contacted them to organize a tour with 8 people in the Islay region. We price compared options and their prices were right in line what one could expect finding accommodations and travel. When you factor in their tour guide service and everything else they set up, their prices were quite excellent! And the key being that they are so pleasant to deal with! Willie helped organize the Tour, and Craig was our guide. They also gave us numerous names of folks that toured with them to discuss some of their experiences. They will answer e-mail promptly. For a little background, we planned a larger scale trip that had us fly from Los Angeles to London, then flew into Glasgow (where Craig picked us up), went to Islay, were dropped off in Edinburgh by Craig, then flew to Dublin, then went back to Los Angeles. From the moment Craig picked us up at the airport in Glasgow, the tour was amazing! We spent the first part of the day venturing the countryside on our way to Islay, took the ferry to Islay, stayed the night and began the real tour in the morning! We had the most amazing tour at Laphroaig, went to Ardbeg for an amazing lunch (where the brave of us tried haggis and lamb burgers that were delicious!) , then went to see ruins of the oldest church in Islay (which was uniquely beautiful) and we concluded our tour day with a fun tour at Lagavulin. We then had some delicious dinner at Bridgend. The next day had us go to Bruichladdich, then off to Finlaggin to see the amazing ruins by the sea, then to Kilchomen for some tasty food for lunch, and lastly to Bowmore for the grand finale! The last day was a travel day to Edinburgh, where Craig stopped at many spots along the way for all of us to soak in. Craig was the kindest and nicest guide one could ask for! He was very tolerant of all the odd personalities of our tour group, me especially! We planned out our trip for about 9 months before actually going. We went this past July 2011. Be prepared to pay some deposits to lock in an amazing stay. I simply cannot recommend Celtic legend/Whisky Tours Scotland enough to anyone considering such a trek! Please look Willie and Craig up! They will treat you well! All of us in our group cannot thank them enough for the most amazing experience! (...and a few of the people in the group don't even drink!)