Spirits are high at a Cumbrian distillery after it was revealed a bottle of its whisky is to make history with a multi-thousand pound price tag.

The three-year-old single malt is set to break the record for the most expensive English whisky sold at auction.

The Lakes Distillery at Setmuthy near Cockermouth is to auction 99 of its first bottles of the whisky, with bottle number one expected to go for several thousand pounds.

Named Genesis, The Lakes Single Malt whisky, is being sold at cask strength in a bespoke rosewood presentation box.

Each of the limited edition boxes will be individually numbered and hand signed by Dhavall Gandhi, operations director and whisky maker, who worked for iconic whisky brand Macallan before joining The Lakes.

He said: “We don’t just bottle our whisky because it is three years old; instead, I look at each cask to assess them individually until I find the right flavour profile. We have reached a peak for some casks and that is why we are releasing a limited number now.”

Nigel Mills CBE, chief executive officer of The Lakes Distillery, explained the company had a team of experts, all with their own specialities.

"They have all been working towards this important milestone in our history, where we can finally call our spirit whisky. Our whiskymaker has worked tirelessly to ensure that The Lakes Genesis single malt whisky is world class,” he said.

Alan Rutherford OBE, chairman of The Lakes Distillery, said: “Our expectations for the auction are very high because we have gathered a very large following and there’s a lot of interest in the products we are bringing forward.

"Genesis will be very limited in its supply and very interesting in its quality and so we predict that the first bottles will set a record for English whisky at auction.”

The online auction, which will be hosted on www.whiskyauctioneer.com , starts on Saturday June 29 and runs until noon on Tuesday July 10.

Sean McGlone, managing director of Whisky Auctioneer, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be involved in the sale of The Lakes Distillery’s new release; Genesis.

"As an auctioneer, the only thing that excites us as much as old whisky, is a brand new one.

"Alongside the rest of the whisky world, we have been watching the distillery with great anticipation. So, to now see its progress come to fruition is really exciting.

“Whisky Auctioneer is dedicated to the provision of a first-class service and expertise to our buyers and sellers, and we feel that this, coupled with the fantastic product The Lakes Distillery has bottled, will help us achieve a record-breaking sale for an English single malt.”

The distillery, founded in 2014, was the only distillery in the UK, and only attraction in Cumbria, to be awarded the prestigious Gold Accolade by VisitEngland.