Official bottling | 50.3% ABV

I Am Not A Morning Person

Yes, coffee tends to help, but fundamentally I am not a person who is prepared to engage, entertain, or even acknowledge the world or its swelling populace before 9am. 10am if I can help it. Some people are very much of the ‘attack the day’ mindset; not for me thank-you very much.

What you will not find me doing, therefore, is making the marathon-like effort to reach over the bedside table and start browsing the various apps on my phone at 7am. Twitter? Not today Satan. Instagram? Too bright. Facebook? We’re all too ‘Meta’ for that now aren’t we? This has both good sides and bad. The good - A few more minutes in that weird dozing haze somewhere between sleep and full consciousness. The bad - it seems this could now mean that you miss the release of several whiskies. All of which naturally sell out by the time I finally swipe the screen open at 7:34am.

There is at least one thing that I and billions of others on this spinning hunk of wet rock do have in common. That is access to the wonders of the internet. This mystical, almost magical, and often at times frankly regrettable, invention connects millions of people to each other, and to all of their wants and desires.

Partly to thank for this are the millions of miles of wires and cables criss-crossing cities, counties, countries, and continents - all before entering your home via a slim piece of cable. Through this collection of hair-like metal, you can watch blockbuster movies, tell someone you love (or hate) them, or have a bottle of whisky delivered, direct to your front door. 

Wire production, just like much of whisky production, used to be a very hands on process and required a lot of space. One such building sits in the village of Ambergate in the heart of Derbyshire’s Peak District. 

Sat on the River Derwent, the Johnson & Nephew Wire Works was founded in 1887 and was once a major employer in the local area before closing its doors in the early 1990s. Fittingly however, industrial machinery once more hums happily in what is now the White Peak Distillery. Founded in 2016 by Max and Claire Vaughan, White Peak adds another string to the ever increasing bow that is English Whisky. The distillery itself has an abundance of space and all their casks are matured on site, something not every distillery can boast, even north of the border.

There are now around 30 distilleries in England that have created, or are actively creating whisky. This number exploded between 2016 and 2020 in particular, which in a sense highlights the sheer level of momentum the category is carrying and, I’m glad to say, it’s warranted. 

I love the idea that a spirit which is synonymous with tradition, age, and manual processes, is intrinsically linked with the modern age and technology, where so much is achievable at the click of a button. A still house containing copper stills heated to just the right temperature, being controlled via computers chocked full of intricate copper wires. All now housed in the very building in which those very copper wires were once made. 

There is plenty of whisky out there for everyone, a myriad flavour and expression in what is arguably a period of modern whisky renaissance. I try not to chase bottles anymore. I really do… but what can I say - I’m weak. I’m weaker than a Sports Direct umbrella in the slightest breeze, or Dominic Cummings’ optical prescription.

With this in mind, when I caught wind that White Peak were on the cusp of releasing their first whisky to the public, I swore to set the date and time of release into proverbial stone. Naturally I completely forgot. The whisky was released on White Peak’s website at 7am on the 3rd February 2022. This sold out within minutes. I was quite happily snoozing away at this point. Cue the aforementioned 7:34am phone swipe and imagine my initial bewilderment and then the stomach wrenching horror of what I’d done. Or, what I hadn’t. Calls throughout the day to local retailers were as fruitless as the menu at a Texan BBQ. However, thanks to a tip off from a fellow whisky-ist, I eventually found my bottle. 

Review

White Peak Wire Works, Official bottling. 50.3%
£65 RRP limited to 5,016 bottles

Nose

A moving feast. Immediately baked apple, toffee and an ever-so-slight touch of toasted fennel seed. There’s almost a blood orange note to this, think citrus but earthier. An oily nuttiness comes through alongside vanilla icing and ground coffee.

Palate

Initially we’re following the nose with apple, however, fittingly an almost complete Bakewell tart appears with that buttery pastry, almond and glacé cherry. A nice hit of warming spice in the middle acts as a good springboard for a soft and almost cigar-like smoke. Dark chocolate, candied ginger and more of that cherry takes us through to the finish.

The Dregs

I opened this bottle within minutes of arrival on the 4th February. Since then I’ve steadily chipped away at the first third of the bottle and am impressed with its development. One of the things I’ve noticed from many English distilleries is the quality of the spirit itself has been very promising indeed, bordering on wonderful in some cases. With this release, White Peak has rocketed to the upper echelons of my expectations in that regard and I’ll certainly be keeping a close eye on the otherwise sleepy village of Ambergate from now on.

Score: 7/10

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. LM