The beer and whisky industries often seem to run in parallel to one another but occasionally, when they do run hand-in-hand, great things can happen – and I’ve saved this post for St. George’s Day to give you an English example!
This is none more prevalent than in Derbyshire, where the ties between the White Peak distillery and Thornbridge breweries are clearly very tight. Not only do they share a love for provenance, ideas, and live yeast strands, but here they have even shared barrels.
The name of this whisky comes from the Thornbridge beer Necessary Evil. The beer is an Imperial Stout (weighing in at a chunky 13% ABV) which has been aged in barrels that previously held Pedro Ximenez sherry. Within a week of the casks being emptied for the Necessary Evil stout to be bottled, White Peak’s whisky (previously matured in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels) is then added for a finishing period.
The resultant whisky is then bottled in the gorgeous Wire Works signature bottles at a whopping 51.3% ABV at its natural colour and without chill-filtration. The limited batch run of 2143 bottles was made available for £67 each.
Nose
An initial big caramel and malt nose. Really grist-like. Then the alcohol vapours take hold, and once dispersed leave a chocolate and biscuity set of notes, bringing bourbon biscuits to mind particularly. There’s a little roasted coffee bean note, and with time and as the heat settles there are apples and dates.
Taste
Toffee apples and red berries (strawberries and raspberries) start proceedings before the burn of the alcohol kicks in and zips around the tastebuds. Beneath there are more subtle coffee notes, dark chocolate, and hazelnuts before a soft peated finale.
Finish
A rye bread style spice and gentle peat work well with the high ABV finish to give a warming, lingering, and satisfying finish.
Verdict
Lovely stuff. Really lovely stuff. It’s flavourful. It’s vibrant. It’s got a little something else to others out there.
For all the big flavours at play, the body remains quite light. I’m a big fan of what they’re doing over in Derbyshire. The lack of age statement is not a hindrance, but a help to getting the flavours and profiles just right.
The peat and heat stop this from being an overly moreish whisky. They make you take a pause, appreciate the finish, and let some of those richer flavours dissipate.
Having planned a short winter’s getaway to the Peak District, a trip to the distillery was clearly on the cards. I bought this bottle after tasting it in the sampling room at the distillery after a tour. Having tasted it alongside others, I could really appreciate the extra flavours and oomph added by the imperial stout casks – those coffee and chocolate notes in particular.
I love the honesty and sense of local pride as part of this collaboration. If there is anything that’s going to make an impression on their young high strength spirit then an imperial stout should do the job. I know that Thornbridge have since released an “English whisky cask” version of Necessary Evil and I wonder if it was these casks then being used again, creating some of beer and whisky cask version of Inception?
As it happens, I made sure that I came home via the A6 and the Thornbridge taproom and shop – picking up a bottle of the PX Necessary Evil on the way. Now, I’ve got to do a Boilermaker with the two, aka The Derbyshire Hauf n hauf.
M
Sample disclosure: This is a bottle that I bought whilst at the distillery after a tour. All notes are intended as an honest, fair, and independent review of the whisky, and not as a promotion. Please drink responsibly. Please drink wisely.
whisky unplugged 
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