Wire Works Pineau Des Charentes

THE HOLY SPIRITS VIEWAn unusual, small cask experiment from one of England's most interesting young distilleries — lightly peated Derbyshire spirit finished in a cask that once held Pineau des Charentes, the Cognac region's own fortified aperitif. Only 598 bottles from a single 500-litre cask, and a properly rare finish type in whisky, full stop. THE DISTILLERYWire Works is made by White Peak Distillery, housed in a 19th-century former wire works on the banks of the River Derwent in Ambergate, Derbyshire. Founder Max Vaughan built the whisky around a "flavour-before-cask" philosophy — long fermentations and a lightly peated house style designed to carry real character before oak ever gets involved. Even the cooling water is drawn from the Derwent through the old wire works' original pumping infrastructure. THE WHISKY: PINEAU DES CHARENTES FINISHMatured first in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels, then finished in a single 500-litre cask that previously held Pineau des Charentes — Cognac eaux-de-vie blended with fresh grape must, aged to something close to a fortified wine. That second maturation brings real depth: dried fruit, nuts and stone fruit layered over the lightly peated base spirit. Bottled at 53.6% ABV, just 598 bottles produced. TASTING NOTESPeaches and cream first, orange marmalade close behind, icing sugar, vanilla cheesecake, milk chocolate melting into sultana and cinnamon, almonds, warm apple pie. Palate turns properly decadent — white chocolate, cinder toffee, strawberry laces, rhubarb tart, dates, crème anglaise, honey, a floral touch of lavender, dried apricot, lemon curd running underneath. Finishes on candied ginger and wine gums, butter icing, marzipan lingering last. Sweet, layered, genuinely unusual cask influence — Pineau des Charentes doesn't turn up in whisky often, and it shows here in spades. Serve: Neat, in a Glencairn glass — this has enough sweetness and richness to work well as a dessert dram in its own right.