A MUCH-loved restaurant and whisky distiller from Ramsbottom has triumphed in an esteemed global awards scheme.

Bosses at Fisherman’s Retreat, based on Riding Head Lane, have taken home two accolades from the World Whiskies Awards, held in Edinburgh.

The restaurant has been a hotspot for whisky afficionados in Ramsbottom for 29 years and was started by Hervey Magnall, and his son, James in 1992.

A few years after founding the business, Hervey and James grew tired of serving patrons with the same brand of whisky every week, so decided to branch out by offering a wider variety to their customers.

After contacting to several whisky manufacturers in Scotland and building connections with various leading brands, Hervey and James started producing their own single malts.

The do this by selecting wine casks from Southern Hemisphere nations, which they take to different distilleries in Scotland.

After several years, they are taken back to be sold by the eaterie at their onsite shop and dispatched as far and wide as Japan, France, the Baltic states, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

The whiskies were recognised at a lavish ceremony in Scotland were their Edition 6.1, a Bruichladditch distillation matured in a Rivesaltes cash for 12-and-a-half years, which won in the 13-20-year-old Islay Single Cash category.

Their other whisky which impressed the judges was their Edition 8, an Arran distillation matured in a Yalumba Viognier cask for seven years, which won in the 12-year-old and under Islands Single Cask category.

Hervey said: “We’re very pleased the judges chose us, and they decided honour all our hard work. We’re passionate about whisky, so it’s a very proud feeling to know they chose some of our whiskies, especially as the judges were blindfolded so they had no bias or prejudice.

“Over the years, from my first days after starting this business, my passion for whisky grew, we’ve taken it all over the world and it means a lot to me.”

James added: “Personally, this is very satisfying to us to know that out of all the great brands in contention, ours were recognised in their respective categories.

“There are thousands of great whiskies out there and it’s nice that we can even be uttered in the same sentence.

“By no means do we consider ourselves to be great whisky connoisseurs, we just do it for the love of it.

“What makes a particular whisky great comes down to so many factors, like the age, the barrel, alcohol content, so many little details that are easy to get wrong."