In Conversation With: Claire Vaughan, White Peak Distillery
Founded in 2016, White Peak distillery sits on the bank of the River Derwent in Derbyshire, England, and holds the honour of being the regions first ever full-scale craft distillery. Although still in its youth, White Peak are already producing award-winning gin, rum, and whisky.
Derbyshire raised husband-and-wife team, Max & Claire Vaughan, lay the foundations for White Peak distillery and continue to own and operate it today, now with a small team beside them. Having left behind their finance and teaching careers in London, Max & Claire chose to move back to Derbyshire in 2010 and began plans for a distillery.
Our start point was purely passion. Passionate about place, passionate about whisky. Max is a life-long fan, but not an expert, an interest that was fostered by his father (who introduced him to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society). When we lived in London, Max would head off once a month to their tasting rooms in Farringdon, sampling a few malts before choosing what to bring home.
Whilst there he would chat with staff at the members bar, and on one such occasion they got talking about an urban distillery that was being set up in Battersea. The seed was firmly planted and being a trained accountant Max started to pull together a business plan for Derbyshire’s first whisky distillery.
Claire Vaughan, Co-Founder at White Peak Distillery
Peak District, England [Source: White Peak Distillery]
The distillery itself sits within the former Johnson & Nephew Wire Works in Ambergate, Derbyshire - a pioneer in wire and cable products in the 19th century. The Wire Works was once known for producing some of the highest quality cabling in the world, with the factory’s galvanised products being used in the first cross-Channel communication line, suspension bridges, and various buildings across the globe. In recognition to the facilities manufacturing past, the White Peak whisky brand is simply known as "Wire Works", with their glass bottle presented in the form of a wound galvanised cable.
Now into their 6th year of production, White Peak has gained a reputation for producing whisky of exceptional quality, with a continued focus on product quality, heritage, and laying the foundations for the future of craft spirits in The Peak District and Derbyshire.
Max understood early on that he needed to focus on what would be different about the whisky he had planned from Derbyshire. The focus was on flavour and provenance, breaking down each stage of the whisky-making process to create a quality new make spirit, rather than over reliance on wood and time in cask.
There was no single event or grand decision. We had a dream that evolved and a plan (the plan changed – a lot). A collection of events, a lot of conversations with numerous people within the industry who were very generous with their time, chance meetings and genuine interest from lots of people meant that with every small step, it felt like we could make the distillery a reality.
Claire Vaughan, Co-Founder at White Peak Distillery
The White Peak Distillery Team [Source: White Peak distillery]
Provenance, Heritage & Flavour - The Ethos of White Peak
Derbyshire is a region with centuries of heritage in brewing, innovation and industry, however, there are no historical references to the production of whisky. Max & Claire of course changed this history in 2016, setting out to establish a distillery that would acknowledge the region's rich heritage but be inspired by the modern flavours and innovations of today's whisky industry.
We set out to establish a distillery that would make a connection between provenance, heritage and flavour, always conscious of how the distillery will live beyond our time and have a positive impact on the area we love.
We want to take people on that journey with us, to build a sustainable business that people are proud of.
Claire Vaughan, Co-Founder at White Peak Distillery
White Peak are unique within the English whisky category in that that their core style is a blend of non-peated and lightly peated spirit, adding complexity to the whisky without creating a clasically 'peated' malt. Having a focus on creating a quality new make spirit, and not placing an over-reliance on wood influence or time spent in cask, was established early on.
In homage to Derbyshire's long history in brewing, the distillery uses live brewer’s yeast from Thornbridge Brewery during the production process (as opposed to dry yeast that is most common in the whisky industry). An extended four-day fermentation period is the standard at White Peak and distillation takes place in small custom-built, copper pot stills, creating a truly unique final spirit.
Live Brewer's Yeast from Thornbridge Brewery [Source: White Peak distillery]
Through our relationship with Thornbridge Brewery, we capture and distill the essence of this legacy in our whisky. Unlike dry yeasts typically used in the whisky sector, live brewer’s yeast can’t be stored for long as it only lasts a few days, and we’ve built up a great relationship with Thornbridge, just 15 miles up the road in the Peak District, from where we collect our fresh supply each week.
These unique yeasts combined with a longer, slower fermentation create great flavours that you will not find at any other distillery. The pursuit of flavour spans the whole whisky-making process, and we’ve carefully considered each stage of the whisky-making process. Importantly, the entire process leading up to our bottled whisky happens here at the Wire Works – a full life-cycle Derbyshire provenance.
The spirit is fruit forward, typically with notes of chocolate and mocha with a background complexity added by the lightly peat malt. These are flavours we focus on through fermentation and careful selection of distillation cut points.
Claire Vaughan, Co-Founder at White Peak Distillery
Although the distillery focuses heavily on the quality of their new make spirit, cask selection and maturation is of course integral to producing quality whisky. White Peak's filled inventory is principally fresh fill ex-bourbon barrels (sourced direct from Heaven Hill distillery in Kentucky) and STR (shaved, toasted and recharred) casks.
Alongside this, the distillery is also experimenting with virgin oak casks, port casks and rum casks – the latter being of particularly intrigue as the rum itself was produced and matured at White Peak distillery.
Wire Works First Release
Although early examples of the distillery’s spirit were made available from 2020 (including an independent release from That Boutique-y Whisky Company), the distillery's first official bottling and inaugural single malt whisky was released in February 2022, under White Peak's whisky brand - Wire Works.
[Finally holding our first bottle of Wire Works whisky] was almost like an out-of-body experience – an emotional wave that was part euphoria and part relief!
We were probably surprised to acknowledge how much we’d been holding onto inside since we started the business in 2016. The 6-year wait for our first release sounds like a long time, but it’s been such a busy few years we perhaps didn’t stop enough along the way to take stock of the ‘wins’. Even as we approached the final push to get our first release whisky out, the environment of global supply chain issues caused by the pandemic meant we were on our toes until the end. It was definitely a long slow exhale to hold those first bottles.
Release day was very special, the people who queued for their first bottle have been supporting us on this journey from the start, and there was definitely a sense of shared community pride which the whole team felt on the day.
Claire Vaughan, Co-Founder at White Peak Distillery
Wire Works First Release [Source: White Peak distillery]
This inaugural bottling was distilled in 2018 and aged in a combination of first-fill ex-Bourbon and STR casks. The lightly-peated single malt whisky was crafted using a combination of English unpeated and peated malted barley. Bottled at a generously high ABV of 50.3%, the release was finally made available to the public on 3rd February 2022. In recognition to the facilities manufacturing past, the glass bottle is presented in the form of a wound galvanised cable.
As always, the road to getting the distillery off the ground to bottling Derbyshire's first single malt whisky was paved with the support of many incredible people, from family, friends, team members and industry fellows that were generous with their time and advice.
We’re fortunate to work in a sector where there is a willingness to share information and offer advice to new distilleries, and we see this camaraderie in particular in the English whisky scene.
Whilst we have been mindful of creating our own whisky here at the Wire Works, we’ve certainly benefitted along the way from conversations and relationships with various people.
There is one person in particular who needs highlighting and that is Chip Tate. Chip was the original founder of Balcones Distillery in Waco, Texas and is now pursuing his next venture. Max spent a week with Chip in Texas in early 2016 and their time together has proved invaluable in shaping what White Peak Distillery has been able to so far achieve.
Claire Vaughan, Co-Founder at White Peak Distillery
Bottles #1 - 12 of Wire Works First Release from White Peak Distillery [Source: Whisky Auctioneer]
The Wire Works Charity Auction
Following its launch in February 2022, the release sold out both in stores and online in just a few hours. The distillery released just over 5,000 numbered bottles, however, held back bottle numbers 1 - 12 of this first release, with a view to auctioning them later in the year to raise money for two regional charities close to the distillery’s heart.
Whisky Auctioneer is delighted to have partnered with White Peak to exclusively offer bottles #1 - #12 of Wire Works First Release from 26 August - 5 September 2022. All of the proceeds from this, including Whisky Auctioneer’s buyer’s commission, will go to support the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and the Peak District National Park Foundation.
We want to [build our business] in tandem with support for our local Derbyshire causes, hence us working with and supporting the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Peak District National Park Foundation through this auction.
Claire Vaughan, Co-Founder at White Peak Distillery
