By the time Whiskymaker's Reserve No. 3 arrived in 2021, Dhavall Gandhi's approach at The Lakes had begun to feel less like experimentation and more like composition. Each Reserve release is marriage-led rather than age-led: casks are brought together, rested, re-tasted and allowed to settle into a single voice before bottling, and No. 3 feels particularly composed.
Bottled at 52% ABV — slightly gentler than the first two — this release draws heavily on Oloroso and PX sherry casks, with a supporting chorus of red-wine and bourbon oak. The result is a darker, more meditative expression than its siblings: less flash, more depth.
The nose is all dried figs, dates, burnt toffee and espresso, with a walnut-stained oakiness that hints at the older wood in the marriage. The palate is dense and chewy — raisin loaf, Seville marmalade, toasted almond, cocoa powder — and the slightly lower ABV lets the texture breathe without needing water.
The finish lingers on molasses and salted caramel, with a faint tannic grip that keeps it from feeling sweet. Of the early Reserves, No. 3 is the one that most rewards a slow evening and a second pour; it is the point at which The Lakes Distillery's house style — oily Cumbrian malt, sherry richness, patient marrying — stops being a promise and becomes a signature.
There is also something quietly confident about the packaging and positioning of No. 3: no fanfare, no reinvention, simply the next careful iteration in a series that has begun to feel like a conversation between whiskymaker and drinker. For those building a vertical of the Reserves, this is the dram that ties the opening chapters together.
