Grasmere Distillery has done it again. The tiny Lake District distillery's Single Malt New Make Spirit has taken silver at the prestigious Global World Whisky Masters, following last year's gold with back-to-back recognition on the world stage.

The Global World Whisky Masters exists to find the best whiskies on the global market. Entries are blind-tasted by a panel of leading spirits specialists, with Silver, Gold and Master medals awarded across a wide range of styles.

It's a serious achievement for a serious small operation. Founded by co-founders Paul and Beth Abbott, Grasmere Distillery has spent four years transforming two modest barns on the shores of Grasmere into one of the UK's smallest and most characterful distilleries. Development began in 2021; Grasmere Gin and Grasmere Vodka launched in 2022; every penny of profit since has gone straight back into expanding production and distilling the distillery's first single malt whisky.

And the ambition doesn't stop there. From autumn 2026, Grasmere will begin small-scale malting on site, the first step towards a whisky made entirely from Cumbrian ingredients. Working with Jonathan Bainbridge of Thistlewood Farm, Paul Abbott has already planted the distillery's first barley crop, due for harvest in August 2026. The initial eight-tonne yield will go into brewing malt and early whisky experiments, including varying levels of peat, as the team develops its house style.

The bigger picture is bolder still: a series of individual whiskies made with growers across Cumbria's six distinct regions, each one a genuine expression of place.

Getting there hasn't been cheap or easy. The distillery has invested roughly £10,000 in new kit, a stainless-steel immersion tank, a heat-jacketed mash tun, and augers for handling malt, and worked with a local blacksmith to build a bespoke kiln, so the entire malting process can happen on site. That means steeping the barley to kick-start germination, letting enzymes convert starch to fermentable sugars, then kilning to halt growth and dry the grain, with peat smoke introduced where a smokier character is wanted. Dried to around 5% moisture, the malt is then ready to store and, eventually, distil.

Each harvest will yield up to four barrels of whisky, with first releases expected after a minimum six-year maturation, landing in 2032. Sooner than that, malt-forward beers brewed from the distillery's own barley are due later in 2026.

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. It's another step towards Grasmere Distillery being recognised as a genuine force in the emerging and constantly developing world of English Whisky.

"We're a tiny startup 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."

He added: "What matters most to us is consistency. Anyone can get lucky once. Standing on that stage two years running tells us the whisky in our stills today is every bit as promising as the spirit that first turned heads. We're a two-barn operation on the shores of a lake in Cumbria, and to be mentioned alongside much bigger, more established names is proof that great whisky doesn't need scale; it needs patience, care, and a willingness to keep learning with every cask we lay down.

"That's exactly the thinking behind growing and malting our own barley. 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. We want Cumbria in the bottle, not just on the label."

For more information or to purchase the distillery's products, visit: www.grasmeredistillery.com or follow @grasmeredistillery