Wire Works Necessary Evil

The Maker

In recent years it's almost become a cliché to say that England is the most exciting part of the UK whisky industry. Yet in many respects it's well deserved praise with distilleries as varied as the Spirit of Yorkshire and Circumstance in Bristol bringing forward exciting and innovative releases to bolster the sector alongside established names like Cotswolds and Bimber.

In any such discussion it isn't long before somebody mentions White Peak Distillery in Derbyshire, or how it's more commonly known: Wire Works.

White Peak Distillery can be found in Ambergate on the edge of the Peak District National Park. I have a natural soft spot for the area as I married into a Derbyshire family based just a few minutes up the road in Ripley. As a result I like to treat White Peak as my second local distillery after Penderyn, and have been keenly waiting for its whiskies to mature ever since I first heard production had begun.

That production got underway in 2016 when local couple Max and Claire Vaughan established the distillery at a disused wire factory (hence the name and twisted glass bottle design) on the banks of the river Derwent. In 2022 the first whisky was released and was soon picking up awards from the usual 'pay-to-play' industry heavyweights.

Yet while the awards themselves might not mean a huge amount, what does is the reception the whisky has had from the online community, with bottlings appearing frequently on several online tastings and reviews channels over the past few years. In the time since White Peak have managed to develop a healthy core range of batch releases that show off various finishes and maturations.

The Expression

Given the local history of great beer the obvious choice to make when looking at the range was the Necessary Evil Stout Finish. This from the second batch and bought in December 2023 (to be precise bottle number 2053/2553) at a strength of 51.3%.

This is a lightly peated spirit that spent the bulk of it's maturation in ex-bourbon barrels from the Heaven Hill distillery in Kentucky. We don't know how long this maturation was (beyond it being at least three years), but we do know it was then transferred into ex-stout barrels from Thornbridge brewery near Bakewell for several additional months. As you'd expect from the name these are the same barrels that Thornbridge has previously used to mature their Necessary Evil stout over a period of 8 months.

What's left is presented in natural colour and without chill-filtration at a price in the region of £65.

The Neck Pour

The stout is instantly present on the nose. If it were possible to smell 'thick and creamy' this would be it. This is followed by plenty of malt powder and the burn of alcohol from the cask strength. Yet these notes are followed by a rich sweetness that's reminiscent of dark cherries and blackcurrant.

On the palate it's much sweeter than I expected. Indeed I'd even go so far as to say that there's a hefty dose of Calpol to it. Maybe even edging toward a blackcurrant throat sweet. Basically it’s got a sweet medicinal quality.

The peat is there but is relatively subtle in following along. The finish in contrast heads towards citrus and burnt tangerine peel. All rather nice and very different to other things I'm drinking from the shelf right now.

The Body

Several months from opening that thick creamy lactose note is all the stronger and still followed by those deep dark sugars notes that approach black forest gateau. Yet that citrus finish has become more present in the form of bitter hops.

The palate is still very sweet but with added cereal notes. There's increasing depth with oxidisation which is all the more impressive from what is fundamentally still a very young spirit from a relatively new distillery. There’s also now a nice dose of char on the finish alongside those bitter hops. Almost smoky. Reminds me a bit of a young Glen Scotia.

Final Thoughts

I'm sad to be coming to the end of this bottle a good 18 months after first opening it. I’ve enjoyed it throughout, yet it’s never been one I’ve reached for first. That's largely down to it being that little bit different via the stout and rarely what I'm after when I fancy whisky rather than beer.

That said, as an example of a stout finish it’s definitely the best I’ve had. That thick creamy texture has continued throughout with the sweetness, and the bitterness which has only built with time. By the end it's all coming together like a rich liquorish and used coffee grains.

My main takeaway from this is that it tastes like a much more mature whisky than it is. It isn't much older than three years, yet it has the depth and integration of flavour that I’d associate with something in its teens. There’s a refinement here you don’t get with lightly peated scotches of a similar age. It’s very impressive and bodes well for the future. English whisky continues to impress.