By Julian Whittle

Last updated at 11:31, Tuesday, 19 February 2013

A premium gin made from pure Lakeland water is poised to go global following a £600,000 investment.

Tim Moor, chief executive of Langtons Gin

Tim Moor and Nick Dymoke-Marr launched Langtons of Skiddaw No. 1 Lakeland Gin in December with £200,000 of backing from private individuals.

They have now secured a further £600,000 from investors, including £250,000 from the Sheffield-based Business Angel Co Investment Fund (Angel CoFund).

Leeds law firm Clarion advised Langtons on the transaction.

The extra cash will be used to establish the gin as a global brand.

Mr Moor, chief executive of Langtons Gin, said: “It’s great news that we’ve been able to secure this funding which enables us to grow the business by focusing on developing the brand.

“Over the last three months, we have received significant levels of orders from UK customers and we recently took our first export order from Sweden.

“We are in discussions with companies in Japan, the USA and Spain, and this funding will enable us to explore these markets.”

Langtons is distilled and bottled by GJ Greenall in Warrington but uses water drawn from an aquifer 90 metres beneath Mr Moor’s family’s land at Millbeck, near Keswick. It goes through three distillations before botanicals are added, including Lakeland oak bark and juniper berries.

After it has settled for 24 hours, the spring water is added.

Mr Moor said: “The geologist said that the water could be up to one million years old, which is quite remarkable.”

The project has been under development for two years. The aquifer was found in December 2011 and by February 2012 a borehole had been drilled to source the water.

Mr Moor added: “We did look at distilling the product here but there wasn’t a major distiller in Cumbria and we wanted our product to be top quality.”

First published at 11:28, Tuesday, 19 February 2013
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk