White PeakDistillery

Max and Claire Vaughan founded White Peak in 2016 in a former wire works on the Derwent at Ambergate, below Belper — Derbyshire's first full-scale craft distillery, making gin from the start and whisky as it matured. Their Wire Works whisky has since arrived emphatically: the bourbon-cask expression was named Whisky of the Year in The Whisky Exchange's 2026 awards, and the distillery marked ten years in 2026. It is founder-led and independent, distilling on the river that once powered the mills of the Derwent Valley. Take the tour; the setting, in a World Heritage mill valley, is half the story.