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

The whisky industry’s finest gathered together at the Honourable Artillery Company in London on Thursday, 24 March to celebrate the 2022 Whisky Magazine Awards.

Returning as an in-person event, the global awards ceremony saw the announcement of the World Whiskies Awards and the Icons of Whisky global winners, as well as four new inductees to Whisky Magazine’s renowned Hall of Fame.

The Whisky Magazine Awards seek to honour the very best in the industry, across its people, places, and products. From bartenders to brand ambassadors, 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, with The Lakes Distillery’s The Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.4 taking home the “World’s Best Single Malt Whisky”.

The commercial director, Kirsty Taylor, who was presented with the award last night, said,

Last night, we were incredibly honoured to be awarded The World’s Best Single Malt Whisky for The Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.4.

To be a finalist alongside hugely respected global brands such as Glenmorangie, Bunnahabhain, Aberlour, Kavalan, and relatively new entrants such as Westland, Stauning and Millstone is a credit to the hard work and sacrifices of everyone who has played a part in building The Lakes Single Malt from a derelict Victorian farmstead into a respected whisky found in some of the world’s leading bars.

We are overjoyed to have received this award as it not only highlights The Lakes Single Malt Whisky as being one of the finest sherry-matured single malts in the world, it also helps to put England on the map as a whisky-producing region.”

Dhavall Gandhi, The Lakes’ whiskymaker, said,

It is very 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, with round one seeing a panel made up of international and leading journalists, specialist drinks retailers, 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 to be compared head-to-head with 24 winners from Japan, Scotland, the US and more.