The Lakes Distillery has appointed Sarah Burgess as whiskey-maker.
Burgess brings more than 25 years of whiskey-making experience to the business as it looks to boost production and grow overseas demand.
She takes over from Dhavall Gandhi, who last year opened a consultancy called Dhavall Gandhi Whisky alongside his role at The Lakes.
Previously lead whiskeymaker at The Macallan, Burgess joined the team on 5 January and is currently working with Gandhi to hand over The Lakes’ 2023 bottlings before taking over responsibility for all whiskeymaking operations herself.
The Lakes was founded at the end of 2011, and started to distil spirits in 2014.
“I was intrigued by The Lakes as a new distillery but one creating such high-quality whiskey,” said Burgess.
“I am excited to be part of a new and innovative operation and I am sure between my creativity and the quality casks we have in maturation that many great whiskeys will follow.”
The Lakes Distillery co-founder Nigel Mills said he was “delighted to welcome Sarah to our team”.
“Not only does she bring a wealth of experience and creativity, but Sarah’s inclusive desire to guide, support, and develop our existing whiskey-making team is something we are very excited about.”
Mills added: “With an acute understanding of the complete whiskey-making process, Sarah’s hands-on approach to taking concepts from inception through to creation aligns flawlessly with our whiskey-making philosophy. It is a very exciting time for us all.”
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