White Peak Distillery, Ambergate

Gat dayum it's good to see a fully functioning distillery right there on your doorstep! I work in the whisky industry and have visited a number of distilleries, so after my experience, I really believe the 5 stars is well earned. Our guide for the afternoon was Sarah who welcomed us into the cosy and rustic tasting room, log burner crackling and the faint smell of wood smoke in the air. After a brief history of the site, we headed onto the distillery floor. A well thought out and modern operation; there are no Douglas Fir washbacks and hand turned mash tuns here. That's no bad thing, it feels like every decision has been made with a focus on "what do we want our spirit to be and how do we get there as efficiently as possible?" As you make your way through the ever expanding maturation stores (be sure to get a finger dip in the leaky cask :D), you get a sense of what's to come from this distillery and only the bright oak casks give away the relative youth of the stock. In the tasting room we sampled the Wire Works 1 and 2 - Over Smoke releases, both surprisingly excellent and well balanced drams that defy their age and calm any fears of high ethanol oakiness. Overall, we really enjoyed our visit, for sure it helped being a quieter weekday afternoon and I'd advise anyone to try and visit off peak for a more personal experience, but even so I'm sure the warm welcome and obvious passion will shine through! Thanks Again to Max for having us and Sarah for a cracking tour!

This is the most informative whiskey tour we have ever been on.You can see Max Vaughn's passion to create a new whiskey in every aspect of production; followed by a very informative tasting! The six of us had a fabulous afternoon. We booked a bottle for the release in February 2022, and took home the 1876 cocktail to keep us going till then - its delicious!