It's back to Derbyshire for Wire Works round 2. Round one was a fairly average experience for me so I'm hoping for a little more this time. However, the good folk at White Peak distillery decided to dabble with port cask maturation for this release and in my experience port casks can be tricky to work with. Get it right though and port cask finished or matured whiskies can be exceptional.
For those uninitiated Wire Works whisky gets it's name from the location of White Peak distillery, the former Johnson & Nephew wire works factory dating back to 1876. Johnson & Nephew produced pioneering wire and cable products including the first sub sea cross channel telegraph service and some of the early suspension bridges too.
To link the whisky to their distillery surroundings the bottle design evokes wire strands being spun together to form a cable. I have to say I think the presentation of the bottle is very classy.
The distillery was founded in 2016 with the first Wire Works whisky being released in 2022 and since then there has been a slew of releases. The distillery has a relatively small output considering it's stills are 3,100 litres and 2,100 litres and they choose long fermentation and the use of local brewers yeast to try to make a spirit that is of it's place. They also choose dunnage warehousing for maturation.
The Double Oak Port finish is actually equal maturation of ex Heaven Hill bourbon casks and ex J Dias port barriques. Bottled at 52.2% abv with an outturn of 1321 bottles the whisky is natural colour and non chill filtered and it cost £65 on release.
Let's taste.
Nose: Straight away I get a touch of young alcohol - like a lemon citrus handwash. Peppery oak and light peat. Time allows us to move past the alcohol and we get icing sugar, summer pudding, damsons and cherry. Cocoa along with cinnamon and caramel. Water brings out smoked orange slices and toffee apples.
Palate: Thankfully the alcohol is not aggressive at all on the palate. Stewed berries, plum and chocolate covered raisins. Sichuan pepper and spicy oak along with marzipan and dark cherry. Bonfire smoke builds with each sip. Some leather too. Water brings out orange, toffee and more peaty smoke.
Finish: Short to medium. Dark chocolate infused with cherry, pepper spice and smouldering embers.
Score: 6 out of 10
Overall: Definitely an improvement over the Small Batch. Solid, enjoyable with a palate that’s better than the nose. It’s pretty much all about the port cask so it’s hard to get an angle on the underlying distillate but there are no off notes and for the price it seems decent value.
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