White Peak partners with Whisky Auctioneer
to auction bottles 1 – 12 of its inaugural release for Derbyshire charities
White Peak Distillery from Derbyshire is this month offering the last opportunity to own a bottle of its sell-out inaugural release of Wire Works Whisky via leading auction site Whisky Auctioneer.
Off the back of its hugely successful launch in February 2022, White Peak has partnered with Whisky Auctioneer, the world’s leading online auction platform to auction the first 12 individually-numbered bottles of Wire Works Whisky – Derbyshire’s first ever single malt. The auction will be live on whiskyauctioneer.com from the 26th August – 5th September with 100% of the proceeds going to Derbyshire charities.
White Peak released just over 5,000 numbered bottles of its long-awaited Wire Works Whisky single malt in February this year and the whisky received an extraordinary response from the Distillery’s loyal followers and supporters selling out both in stores and online in just a few hours.
The Distillery thoughtfully held back bottle numbers 1 – 12 of this first release, with a view to auctioning them later in the year to raise as much money as possible for two regional charities close to the Distillery’s heart.
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and The Peak District National Park Foundation are the two beneficiary charities who will receive the auction proceeds. The Distillery has previously worked with both on numerous fundraising bottlings and activities, including limited edition spirit releases and local environmental initiatives.
Whisky Auctioneer is working in partnership with White Peak to host the auction live on its global-reaching site, with bids being accepted from 26th August. Those looking to bid for a bottle of the sell-out inaugural Wire Works Whisky single malt will have ten days until 5th September to place their bids. Potential bidders from across the globe will have the opportunity to place bids for one of the dozen bottles going on sale.
Claire Vaughan from White Peak said: “We are very excited to be bringing this auction to life through Whisky Auctioneer and support two important environmental charities in our local Derbyshire region. We strive to support our local communities, so when we first launched our inaugural single malt, we saw another great opportunity to again give something back. We hoped that the auction proceeds from these first 12 bottles would help contribute to some brilliant regional causes. We are delighted to partner with the Whisky Auctioneer team to make this happen for two fantastic local charity partners: Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and The Peak District National Park Foundation and can’t wait to see how much we can raise.”
Joe Wilson, head curator and spirits specialist at Whisky Auctioneer, said: “Excitement reverberated in the whisky community earlier this year with the release of the inaugural Wire Works Whisky from White Peak distillery. As such, we are delighted to now partner with the distillery to offer the only chance to acquire the first 12 numbered bottles.
“We are sure that these bottles will generate a lot of excitement from our global audience of whisky lovers, offering the exclusive opportunity to collect the very first output from such a young and vibrant distillery which is already held in great esteem. To ensure that as much is raised as possible from the auction, we have waived our selling fees and will donate the 10% buyer’s commission in addition to the hammer price raised.”
Emma Davenport, Partnerships Officer at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust said: “Derbyshire Wildlife Trust are delighted to receive half of the proceeds from the White Peak Distillery Whisky Auction. White Peak Distillery is a valued partner who is actively engaged in our mission to combat the climate and nature emergency; and achieve our vision of a Wilder Derbyshire. The proceeds from the auction will support our work to ensure 33% of Derbyshire is managed for wildlife by 2030, 1 million wild connections each year and 1 in 4 people acting for wildlife.”
Sarah Slowther, The Peak District National Park Foundation Manager said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by White Peak Distillery to receive donations from the auction. The donation will support our Connect Recover Thrive campaign which helps people to connect to the National Park and to experience the joy of nature, as well as helping landscapes and habitats to recover and thrive.”
The auction for 12 bottles of Wire Works Whisky goes live on Whisky Auctioneer on Friday 26th August and will remain open for ten days until Monday 5th September. For further information, please visit: https://whiskylink.co/WireWorks-CharityAuction
For those wanting to visit White Peak, the Distillery is open Monday – Saturday for shop visitors, with tours available every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. For availability, timings and to book, please visit www.whitepeakdistillery.co.uk
About White Peak Distillery:
White Peak Distillery was founded in 2016 by husband-and-wife team Max & Claire Vaughan – both originally from Derbyshire – and continues to go from strength to strength, having won awards for its Distillery visitor experiences, as well as its new make and maturing single malt spirit.
Provenance, heritage and flavour are at the heart of the Distillery ethos and whisky-making process, and its home at the dramatic former Johnson & Nephew Wire Works is celebrated within the whisky brand. The Distillery’s woodland home on the banks of the River Derwent has a long history of innovation and forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Wire Works Whisky celebrates its rich homeland and the brewing heritage for which the region is so renowned. Every aspect of production and maturation is done onsite at the Distillery to ensure that the unique location and environment can play their part in the provenance of the final spirit.
The lightly-peated single malt whisky has been created using a combination of English un-peated and peated malted barley. A flavour-focused four-day fermentation uses a unique yeast Blend incorporating live yeast sourced from a local Peak District brewery.
The Distillery’s traditional, bespoke copper pot stills have been hand-built by McMillan and are run slowly to help produce the desired flavour profile. The final spirit is matured in a variety of carefully selected first fill oak casks, including ex-bourbon, virgin and STR (re-conditioned casks that have been shaved, toasted and re-charred), adding the final rich flavours to the whisky.
About Whisky Auctioneer
Whisky Auctioneer is the global market leader and trusted authority on the buying and selling of whisky and spirits at auction. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Perth, Whisky Auctioneer utilises its expertise and knowledge combined with its auction platform to increase interest and passion in the whisky and spirits community.
Whisky Auctioneer endeavours to make the secondary market more accessible for buyers and sellers of any background and demographic, wherever in the world they are based. Its monthly global auctions feature the most comprehensive selection of old, rare and collectible whiskies and spirits online, and are unmatched in volume, variety of bottles offered and prices achieved. Whisky Auctioneer is passionate about connecting these bottles with those who share their passion and actively support their customers in their aims, whether consuming, collecting or investing.
In February 2021, the online auction house made history during the iconic sale of The Perfect Collection, when a bottle of The Macallan 1926 Fine and Rare 60 Year Old sold for a hammer price of £1 million. This was the first time a single bottle of whisky has sold at an online-only auction for one million pounds.
Whisky Auctioneer became the first online auction house to sell a million-pound bottle and outperformed the nearest traditional auction house by 200% in value from spirits sales in 2020, showcasing the move that whisky collectors, investors and drinkers have already made online and firmly establishing their leading position within the modern secondary whisky market.
The business currently sees over 100,000 bids per month and has conducted deliveries to 74 countries across the globe. It also opened its first European base in Germany in 2020.
The business’ Founder, Iain McClune, was listed as ‘One to Watch’ in The Telegraph’s Most Ambitious Business Leaders 2020 programme.
About The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust:
They are a small charity with big ideas, uniquely positioned to lead change in Derbyshire. They are bold, grassroots-oriented and local whilst also being part of a strong, cohesive movement, the Wildlife Trusts.
Their goals by 2030 are as follows:
- 33% of Derbyshire will be managed for wildlife
- They will have at least 1 million wild connections each year
- 1 in 4 people will act for wildlife
- We will be carbon positive
For more information and to support The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust visit: www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/support
About The Peak District National Park Foundation:
An independent charity that helps to care for the Peak District National Park and to make it accessible for all.
Their vision is a National Park enjoyed and conserved by everyone, forever. It should be a vibrant, colourful, and safe home for the wildlife we all love. Their right to enjoy the National Park was hard won by ordinary folk. In that spirit, let’s fight to make it ever more accessible, for everyone to enjoy. But it is also unique and very fragile; we must always strive to keep it special. This is what they believe – and why they exist. With your support, they can start to make good things happen.
