Back-to-Back: Grasmere Distillery Earns Second Consecutive World Whisky Masters Medal for Its Single Malt New Make Spirit
There is a small operation tucked inside two converted barns on the shores of Grasmere, in the heart of England's Lake District, that is quietly rewriting the story of English whisky — one blind tasting at a time. A new make spirit has earned silver at the Global World Whisky Masters, produced by Grasmere Distillery, a small operation based in the Lake District. The recognition is not a one-off fluke. Paul Abbott, co-founder and head distiller, said: "Collecting a second award for our new make whisky, two years running, shows exactly what we're about." For a startup with minimal resources competing against some of the most established spirits producers on the planet, that kind of consecutive international recognition carries enormous weight — not just for the distillery, but for the entire emerging category of English single malt whisky.
What the World Whisky Masters Actually Means
Before unpacking what this medal means for Grasmere specifically, it helps to understand the credibility of the competition itself. The competition is part of the Global Spirits Challenge and is judged through blind tastings by an expert panel. That blind format is critical — it strips away brand equity, bottle design, marketing budgets, and reputation, leaving only what is in the glass. For a tiny Lake District startup to hold its own under those conditions is the kind of validation that no amount of advertising money can manufacture.
Entries are grouped into categories based on style, age statement, and price band. Within each flight, judges assess appearance, aroma, palate, and finish, scoring each spirit independently before reaching a consensus. Medals are awarded at three levels: Silver, Gold, and Master. A Silver medal recognises solid craftsmanship and quality; Gold is awarded to spirits of exceptional balance and character; and the prestigious Master medal is reserved for those that demonstrate outstanding quality and distinction within their category.
Within the trade, results are closely watched by importers, retailers, and distributors. A win can help lesser-known brands gain shelf space or enter new markets, while reinforcing the reputations of more established distilleries. For many, a Global Spirits Masters medal is not just an award — it's a strategic asset in brand building and growth. For Grasmere, a distillery that has never had the luxury of a large marketing budget, the significance of that last point cannot be overstated.
The Panel That Judged the 2026 Competition
The 2026 edition of the World Whisky Masters brought together the kind of judging panels that lend genuine authority to the results. Forming the fifth set of judges was Nicola Carruthers, deputy editor of The Spirits Business, who chaired, with her group including Michael Hilton, brand ambassador of Deluxe Distillery; Charanjeet Bhachu, director of Single Malt Vault; and Will Meredith, director of Daisy Age Drinks. Chairing the sixth panel was Bryan Rodriguez-Curtis, spirits judge and buyer, who sat with Richard Legg, founder of Distilled Knowledge, and 58 and Co head distiller Siobhan Feeley. These are working professionals embedded in the drinks trade — buyers, editors, and distillers who taste hundreds of spirits a year. Their palates are calibrated, their standards high, and their verdicts carry real commercial consequence.
The Story Behind Grasmere Distillery
To appreciate what Grasmere Distillery has achieved, you have to understand where it came from and what it is up against. Since 2021, Paul and co-founder Beth Abbott have transformed two barns on the shores of Grasmere into one of the UK's smallest distilleries. There is nothing corporate about this operation. It is a family business in the most literal sense — husband and wife, hands in the mash, eyes on every still run. Everything is made by hand, here in Grasmere, with good quality ingredients.
The distillery did not open with whisky on its mind first — it had to build toward it. Their development began in 2021, leading to the launch of Grasmere Gin and Grasmere Vodka in 2022, with revenue from those lines reinvested to support the production of their first single malt whisky. That kind of financial bootstrapping — using gin and vodka sales to fund the patient, long-game economics of whisky production — is a strategy employed by many craft distilleries, but few execute it with the focused intentionality that Grasmere has demonstrated.
A Philosophy Built on Beer, Not Shortcuts
What sets Grasmere apart from many new-world whisky producers is the uncommon seriousness with which it approaches the wash — the fermented liquid that goes into the still. The distillery believes that incredible whisky starts with the beer, noting that whether it is the huge colour spectrum of heritage malted barley, the mash temperature and grist-to-wort ratio, or the yeast type and fermentation itself — including whether under CO2 pressure or with the use of sour bacteria — the original beer is hugely important for the complex flavours of the final whisky.
The distillery's approach centers on distilling from full-flavored beer rather than neutral spirit, allowing exploration of a wider range of grains, yeast strains, and cask techniques. In practice, that philosophy produces something strikingly different from the stripped-down, clean-spirit approach favored by many commercial distilleries looking to move product quickly. Their favorite beer for single malt is a black sour mash, very lightly peated, fermented under pressure. They make a black, sour mash, with roasted, brown, and chocolate malts for a delicious sweetness in the new-make spirit — fermented slowly over two weeks and then double-distilled on small copper pot stills of 1,000 and 500 litres.
The team's goal has always been to focus on flavour over scale, experimenting with grains, yeast strains and fermentation processes typically avoided by larger distilleries. That last point is worth sitting with. Larger distilleries often optimize for consistency and volume — the economic necessities of operating at scale. Grasmere, with its tiny still house, is freed from those pressures and able to push into corners of the flavor map that bigger players simply cannot afford to explore.
What the Judges Said
The judges in the previous year's competition were not shy about what they found in the glass. Judges described Grasmere's entry as "really lovely, fruity at first, then softening into grains and cereal." That tasting note is revealing. New make spirit — unaged whisky straight from the still — is a brutally honest measure of distilling craft. There is no oak to soften rough edges, no years of maturation to build complexity out of raw materials. What you smell and taste is entirely a product of the grain, the fermentation, and the distillation itself. A fruity, layered, grain-forward new make that earns back-to-back international medals is a compelling signal that the liquid coming off Grasmere's stills is genuinely exceptional.
The Significance of Consecutive Recognition
Winning once at a prestigious competition can be attributed to a strong batch, a favorable flight, or a day when the stars aligned. Winning twice, consecutively, in a blind format suggests something more durable: a consistent production ethos, a reproducible house style, and a level of technical skill that holds up to scrutiny from multiple panels of different expert judges. Abbott described the result as "another step towards Grasmere Distillery being recognised as a genuine force in the emerging and constantly developing world of English Whisky."
The 2025 competition delivered a gold medal. That gold medal was awarded at a judging session in London's Covent Garden, where six panels of industry specialists evaluated entries, including Nicola Carruthers, deputy editor of The Spirits Business; James Bunting, founder of New Make Communications; Billy Abbott, whisky ambassador at The Whisky Exchange; and David T Smith, drinks writer and co-founder of the Craft Distilling Expo. Now, in 2026, the silver medal adds a second chapter to that narrative. The step from gold to silver might look like a regression on paper, but within the context of Grasmere's story — a micro-distillery earning consecutive medals against global competition — it reads as sustained excellence and growing reputation.
Abbott was direct about what back-to-back medals mean for a distillery of this size: "We're a tiny start-up without big resources, so recognition like this matters hugely. It puts our New Make Single Malt on the map and shows the industry, and whisky lovers, that we're creating something genuinely special. Every drop reflects our commitment to flavour, craftsmanship and curiosity."
The Bigger Picture: English Whisky's Moment
Grasmere's medals arrive at a moment when English whisky is undergoing a quiet but unmistakable rise in global credibility. The category has long been overshadowed by Scotland, Ireland, and — especially for American audiences — bourbon and Tennessee whiskey. But a new generation of English distilleries is producing spirits that demand serious attention on their own terms, and competitions like the World Whisky Masters are beginning to validate that shift in real, measurable ways.
Cumbria has form in this space. The Lakes Distillery has won the World's Best Single Malt Whisky accolade, with CEO Nigel Mills relating the Cumbrian distillery's ten-year journey and a mission to make English whisky a globally recognised brand. But where the Lakes Distillery operates at significant scale — having expanded its whisky production from around 130,000 litres per annum to 375,000 litres — Grasmere is playing an entirely different game. Its maximum annual output of finished single malt will be tiny by any industry standard, making its medals a signal about craft and intentionality rather than industrial volume.
The Global Spirits Masters welcomes a broad spectrum of styles from around the globe, with entries grouped by region and type. Categories include single malt, blended, grain, flavoured, and cask strength whiskies, alongside regional divisions such as Asia, Europe, Australasia, the Americas, and World Blends. This structure ensures that whiskies from both established and emerging producers are judged fairly and contextually. That structural fairness is what makes Grasmere's recognition so meaningful — they are not competing in a protected small-producer category. They are in the ring with everyone.
Sustainability as a Production Principle
Beyond the liquid in the bottle, Grasmere Distillery has staked out a position on sustainability that goes well beyond greenwashing. From 2024, their copper pot stills run on used vegetable oil recycled from their tap room, making the distillery 100% powered by green renewable energy. That is not a marginal efficiency improvement — it is a fundamental rethinking of the distillery's energy footprint, achieved not with outside capital but by closing the loop on waste generated on-site.
A Solera maturation system using charred oak casks adds depth and consistency across their spirits. The Solera method — long associated with sherry production in Spain — involves continually replenishing a cask with fresh spirit while drawing off a portion of the older, more mature liquid. It creates a blended age profile that deepens over time, giving even a young distillery's output more complexity than a straightforward single-cask approach would allow. For Grasmere, it is another example of reaching into the toolkit of global craft production and applying it with care and intelligence.
The distillery's maximum output will be 1,000 bottles of single malt whisky per year from their copper pot stills. Their new make spirit interacts with the oak casks for a rich and authentic colour, and they will never use caramel or other artificial colouring agents. That commitment to authenticity — no colouring, no shortcuts, no compromise on craft — is exactly the kind of ethos that drives serious whisky drinkers to seek out small producers in the first place.
The Road Ahead: Cumbrian Barley and the Long Game
If the back-to-back World Whisky Masters medals represent Grasmere's present, its plans for the future are even more ambitious. The distillery is pursuing what may be its most significant project yet: producing the first whisky made entirely from Cumbrian ingredients. Lake District-based Grasmere Distillery will begin malting its own barley in a bid to make the first 100% Cumbrian whisky.
Abbott has spoken candidly about how long this ambition has been taking shape. "We've always wanted, as an ambition, to make a whisky that was 100% Cumbrian – Cumbrian barley, Cumbrian water, distilled in Cumbria, stored, matured in Cumbria – everything from start to finish. We've been looking for a farmer who would take a risk on us to grow some barley for us, and we managed to find John."
Thistlewood Farm and the Laureate Barley Experiment
Working with Jonathan Bainbridge of Thistlewood Farm, Cumbria, co-founder and head distiller Paul Abbott has planted the distillery's first crop of barley, due for harvest in August 2026. The choice of farming partner matters as much as the variety of grain. Farmer Jonathan Bainbridge, who farms at Thistlewood Farm just south of Carlisle, is a third-generation farmer with over 35 years' experience, whose family has owned Thistlewood for 25 years, producing barley, wheat and oats with consistently strong results.
The initial yield of eight tonnes will enable the team to produce malt not only for brewing but also to begin experimenting with whisky production, including varying levels of peat influence to develop a house style. From autumn 2026, the distillery will begin small-scale malting on site, marking the start of its ambition to produce the first whisky made entirely from Cumbrian ingredients.
To make this happen, Grasmere has invested in the infrastructure necessary to close the production loop. To support this next phase, the distillery has invested approximately £10,000 in new equipment, including a stainless-steel immersion tank, a mash tun with heat jacket control, and augers for handling malt. Plus, in collaboration with a local blacksmith, the team has also built a bespoke kiln, enabling them to complete the traditional malting process on site. Building a kiln with a local blacksmith is the kind of detail that tells you everything about the spirit of this operation. These are people who solve problems with their hands, in their community, on their own terms.
Terroir in a Bottle: The Long-Term Vision
The long-term vision is to collaborate with growers across Cumbria to create a series of individual whiskies, each reflecting the unique terroir of the county's six distinct regions — a true expression of place. The concept of whisky terroir — the idea that the specific geography, climate, water, and soil where barley is grown can be tasted in the finished spirit — is one of the most compelling frontiers in modern whisky production. It borrows a vocabulary long established in wine but is only now beginning to gain traction in serious whisky circles.
The timeline for this project demands patience that most consumers are not accustomed to. Each harvest will allow production of up to four barrels of whisky, with the first releases expected after a minimum six-year maturation period in 2032. Abbott acknowledged that reality plainly: "It's a slow six-year wait before we see a drop of finished whisky from it, but if this medal tells us anything, it's that the patient, hands-on approach is the right one."
In the meantime, the distillery has engineered a way to let its community taste a preview of what's coming. The distillery will begin releasing malt-forward beers brewed from their own barley in late 2026. Those beers will offer the first tangible expression of what Cumbrian-grown Laureate barley tastes like in liquid form — a bridge between the distillery's present and its future, and a way to connect with customers who don't want to wait until 2032 to experience what the farm-to-bottle project has produced.
Abbott's summary of the mission is as clear-eyed as it is evocative: "We want Cumbria in the bottle, not just on the label." That line cuts to the heart of what separates genuine craft distilling from the cynical use of craft aesthetics to sell industrial spirits. It is a commitment to provenance as a production standard, not a marketing claim.
What American Whiskey Drinkers Should Take From This
For American enthusiasts who have spent years hunting down rare bourbons, exploring Japanese single malts, or tracking down small-batch Scottish independents, Grasmere Distillery represents exactly the kind of producer worth knowing about before everyone else catches on. The combination of a distinct production philosophy, back-to-back international medals, a credible long-term vision, and a genuinely limited output — a grain-to-glass, experimental, tiny, craft English distillery making drinks from scratch, with finished output of English single malt limited to 1,000 numbered bottles per year, launching in late 2027 — creates the conditions for the kind of scarcity-meets-quality story that serious collectors and drinkers understand immediately.
The new make spirit that has earned two consecutive medals is available now, ahead of the aged single malt release. For anyone curious about where English whisky is heading, tasting Grasmere's new make in its current form offers a rare, transparent look at the raw craft behind a distillery that the industry is beginning to watch closely. The money that you spend with them isn't sent to a big corporation: it helps the Lake District economy. That is not a small thing, either. In an era when provenance and community connection have become meaningful factors in how serious drinkers choose what to put in their glass, Grasmere Distillery has built those values into every stage of its operation — from the barley in the field to the fire under the still.
