One of the UK’s most exciting new distilleries has launched bookable tours giving visitors a unique insight into its inner workings.
Housed alongside the home of Grasmere Brewery in the heart of the Lake District, Grasmere Distillery launched in 2021, releasing the first iterations of its grain-to-glass spirits in 2022, distilling first vodka and then subsequently gin from scratch.
Resulting in the creation of one of only a few independent distilleries in the region, let alone the UK, which manufactures their base spirits themselves, utilising founder Paul Abbott’s brewing knowledge and painstaking distilling skills to produce premium quality, small-batch gin, and vodka.
Fast forward to 2024 and the next natural progression in the distillery journey was to set about creating and launching a ‘founders club’ to then be able to add English single malt whisky iterations to the overall product range. To create unique small-scale exotic cask seasonings, delivering distinctive iterations resembling Bourbon formats found in America, but in this instance reflecting the beer from which the spirit is made.
If you are keen to see just how they make their spirits, which include Grasmere Sugar Beet Vodka and Grasmere Dry Gin, then book a place and take a tour with tour with and tasting with distillery founder Paul Abbott and let him lift the lid on aspects of the process during a comprehensive one-hour long tour.
The 60-minute tour starts at The Good Sport the brewery and distillery Tap Room, where the tour starts with a gin and vodka tasting, before a short walk down to the distillery on the shores of Grasmere where Paul will then show some of the brewing, distilling and bottling processes and share a little of his insight into the trials and tribulations of crafting grain to glass spirits from scratch.
Tours run throughout the year at 2 pm each day. All tour places must be booked in advance. For parties of 2 up to 10 please visit https://www.grasmeredistillery.com/tours/ Places are priced at £25 per person, which includes a guided tour, and spirits tasting on arrival at the Brewery & Distillery tap room. Private tours for more than 10 people must be booked in advance by calling the distiller Paul Abbott on (+44) 7840 059561.
Paul Abbott remarked: ”We’re really excited to be able to show visitors a little of what we do day to day. We are a 100% grain-to-glass, family-owned distillery in the heart of the Lake District and powered 100% by renewable energy.”
‘I do all the tours myself and always will. It’s a great opportunity for me to share our future plans, especially as we develop and refine our Grasmere whisky, which we are laying down now in casks for maturation.”
For more information or to book a tour visit: https://www.grasmeredistillery.com