Full name: Paul Currie
Role: Managing Director
DOB: 30 March 1964
Birthplace: Liverpool
Twitter: @curriepaul
Website: lakesdistillery.com
Fun Fact: “I support St Mirren FC – it’s much better supporting a team where success is rare…”
Hey Paul! You grew up surrounded by whiskey, right? Did you know that this would always be the industry for you?
My father was MD of Chivas (Seagram’s whisky business) and then Pernod Ricard’s, so from a young age whisky has been a central part of my life. In my youth I did have ambitions to be an actor or pop star, but that was always going to be unlikely, and the whisky industry was always going to be the career for me – and I love it!
What was the process of getting from idea to outcome like? I read it took 3 years. It can’t have been easy! Can you give a little outline of your trials and tribulations?
Setting up a new whisky distillery is certainly not straightforward, with many hurdles to jump over. We had to find a suitable site in the Lakes District, obtain planning permission (very difficult in the Lake District National Park), raise the necessary funding, and then sort out the build and plant. It has been a very busy 3 years to get us to this stage, where we are about to start production.
You say that your copper stills are small scale and made to a unique design. Could you elaborate a little on that please?
Our spirit still is 3,500 litres, so relatively small. It was made to our unique design by McMillans in Scotland, who have been making stills for more than 100 years.
Tell us what spirits, along with the whiskey, that you guys are making up there?
We will be making a malt whisky (The Lakes Malt), a gin (The Lakes Gin), and a vodka (The Lakes Vodka). We also market The ONE, which is a unique blend of whiskies from around the British Isles, and has just received a silver award at the IWSC awards.
Where do you source the blends that go into The One from? Where’d the name come from anyhow?
The ONE is created with mainly malt whiskies from the five countries of the British Isles (Scotland, the two Irelands, Wales and England), and we are delighted at its quality. The name came from our excellent design agency, Hedley McEwan in Newcastle – The ONE is a perfect name, and with its contemporary packaging it is really something different.
Tell us about your master distiller, Chris Anderson. How did you get him aboard?
Chris is a legend in the whisky industry, having spent his life making whisky- on Islay and then managing all of Dewars’ whisky distilleries in Scotland. One of our directors is Alan Rutherford (who was previously Production Director at Diageo), and Chris had worked with Alan before. Alan made the introduction, I met Chris, and I was delighted he agreed to join us. I am sure the attraction was in being able to be there at the outset in creating a world class single malt – and with Chris’ expertise I am sure that is exactly what The Lakes malt will be.
I also read that you analysed the River Derwent and found that it was perfect. What exactly makes a source of water ideal for distilling anyway?
We have put the water through comprehensive analysis, and it is ideal. Slightly peaty as it passes through peat on its way down the fells, very soft, and with an outstanding turbidity (which means ‘clarity – this is gauged on a scale of 0 [perfection] to more than 100 [not good!], and our water is 0.6 ie close to perfection).
What’s the process of settling on the final product like? I read that you guys may be doing a little experimentation with barrels later down the line? Do you plan to do any unusual small batches?
We will pay great attention to creating a wonderful final product for The Lakes Malt, and our plan is that this will be a consistent product – we won’t have endless new expressions of our malt. However, we will experiment widely in particular with our wood. Being this side of the border (not in Scotland) we are not tied to the rules whereby only oak can be used, so we are planning to use other woods such as maple and chestnut. The majority of our whisky will be in oak, but it will be fascinating to see what effect these other woods have on the whisky.
How did the villagers and various conservation organisations take to you building a distillery out there?
We have widespread support from everyone locally. Building a world class facility, renovating old beautiful buildings, creating 40 jobs, these are all huge positives for Cumbria.
What’s a ‘day in your life’ like? Could you give us an insight into the spirits business?
Very busy! There is so much to do in starting a new business, so my day is very varied – from recruitment and building our team,working on the designs of our new brands, dealing with HMRC for our licences, deciding on our wood policy, setting up distributors in our target markets and building sales across the world, and overseeing the building work. I’m certainly never bored!
What’s your greatest/most memorable professional moment been, so far?
It will be when the first spirit comes off the still at The Lakes Distillery. This will be the second distillery I have set up ( in the 1990s I set up the Arran distillery with my father), and being involved in the creation of two distilleries producing fantastic whiskies is something I will look back on with great pride.
Where do you get your ideas?
Very often from other people, in particular from our outstanding team. I also find going for a walk with my dog is a great time to think – a lot of ideas come to me then.
What advice would you give to aspiring food & drinks entrepreneurs who’d want the kind of results that you’ve had?
Make sure you build a great team around you from the outset – you can’t do it by yourself, particularly in the spirits industry, which is quite complicated with many different aspects to the business – production, marketing etc.
If you weren’t doing what you do now, what would you be doing instead?
I really can’t imagine doing anything else – it is a great life in this industry.
If you could go back to the beginning and start over, what would you change or do differently?
Not a lot. There are plenty of things I have done right, plenty of things I have done wrong, and all these keep life interesting!
What’s your ultimate aim and goal for The Lakes Distillery? If you could achieve anything with it, what would you pick? Money and reality are no obstacle, so shoot for the moon…
I would hope The Lakes Distillery will become a very significant player in the spirits world, with its brands known and enjoyed globally, and that the distillery (as a place to visit with its outstanding bistro) will become the top attraction in the Lakes.
Where next for you and the business?
Production of our malt whisky, gin and vodka all start in the next 2 months, and in December our bistro, shop and tours open. It will be a very exciting few months ahead!
Anything I missed that you’d like to include here? (include as much or as little as you’d like)
We are also very excited about our 3 clubs (Connoisseurs, Founders and Signature), all of which give lovers of malt whisky the opportunity to be a part of our exciting development from the outset. Interest in them as been tremendous, and will build up to the end of the year as we start production.
And we always ask three customary ridiculous questions…
If The Lakes Distillery was forced to change from purveyor of delicious spirits into a martial arts dojo, what style would you guys teach and what music would you play in your gym to get people fired up?
Martial arts are not really my thing, but looking up the various types I found ‘Aikado’ which is known for its ‘fluidity and blending’ with an attacker. Fluidity and blending sound good to me! As for music, the 80s were my teen and student years, so a compilation from then – Simple Minds would get them going.
If the army donated a functioning army tank to you guys (and paid its fuel /ammo expenses) what would you do with it?
Blast away bureaucracy and red tape. Sorting out planning, electricity supply etc in the UK is far too difficult, and takes far too long.
You’ve been forced to (somehow) convert the distillery into either a death metal band or gangsta rap group, and commercial success is guaranteed. So, which would you choose, what would your first album be called, what would the music be all about and who would you collaborate with in the music industry?
Neither Death Metal nor Gangsta Rap is my kind of music, so preferably something else! If I had to choose, Gangsta Rap. The first album would be ‘Spirit’, and I would collaborate with Eminem (at least I’ve heard of him!)