White Peak Distillery, Wire Works, Small Batch 06/2022, Single Malt Whisky, England (47.7%)

White Peak Distillery is Derbyshire’s first full-scale craft distillery, with a proud focus on their Derbyshire heritage.  To create Wire Works Whisky, they use local brewer’s yeast, combined with an uncommonly long fermentation for a distinctive new make spirit with character before it goes into a cask. This is a lightly-peated single malt. On the nose, notes of vanilla butter fudge are complemented by crisp green apples and fruitcake. The palate reveals tobacco leaf and the bittersweet tang of orange marmalade, enriched by earthy cereal undertones.

A delicate finish unfolds with subtle smoke and spice, fading into the lingering sweetness of vanilla. Matured in a precise blend of first-fill ex-Bourbon and shaved, toasted and recharred casks, with a pronounced influence of American oak, this whisky benefits from aging in the warmer upper dunnage, where heightened temperatures draw out deeper, more intense flavors. Bottled at a robust 47.7% ABV, it offers both complexity and approachability.

James Beresford, Berry Bros. & Rudd (November 2024)