A new whiskymaker is leading the Lakes Distillery.
Sarah Burgess has been appointed into the role at the Setmurthy distillery, taking over from Dhavall Gandi.
Former lead Whiskymaker at The Macallan, Sarah’s time at Edrington focused on whisky range creation, innovation, and quality control for one of the world’s most revered single malts.
It was Sarah’s expertise that helped to design The Macallan Genesis, The Anecdotes of Ages Collection with Sir Peter Blake, and establish a global collaboration with the Pantone Color Institute.
On leaving her role as creative director at The Craigellachie, Sarah brings more than 25 years of whisky-making passion and knowledge to The Lakes Distillery at a time when it is accelerating production and planning for rapid international growth.
She said: “I was intrigued by The Lakes as a new distillery but one creating such high-quality whisky.
“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 whiskies will follow.”
Nigel Mills, a co-founder of The Lakes Distillery, said: “We are 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 whiskymaking team is something we are very excited about.
“With an acute understanding of the complete whiskymaking process, Sarah’s hands-on approach to taking concepts from inception through to creation aligns flawlessly with our whiskymaking philosophy. It is a very exciting time for us all.”
Dhavall opened a whisky consultancy in January 2022 alongside his role at The Lakes.
Tim Farazmand, chairman of The Lakes Distillery, said: “Dhavall has played an instrumental role in what has been an extraordinary journey for The Lakes over the past five years.
“Culminating in The Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.4 being named the World’s Best Single Malt Whisky at the 2022 World Whiskies Awards, Dhavall has dedicated himself artistically to the distillery and helped us to forge a clear vision and philosophy for our whiskymaking. For that, we will be forever grateful.”
Sarah joined The Lakes Distillery last Thursday, working with Dhavall to hand over The Lakes’ 2023 bottlings before taking over responsibility for all whiskymaking operations.
