The White Peak distillery are not stuck for ideas or releases and their small batch approach makes sure that the taste is constantly evolving and offering you something new and fresh each time. Even with a couple of port based releases previously (e.g, Double Oak Port and Full Port), this new LBV Port offers another variant on their Derbyshire malt.
Due for release mid-March, the LBV Port has seen their signature lightly peated spirit, first aged in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels, finished in “Late Bottled Vintage” (aka the LBV) port barriques.
LBV Port wine is made from grapes harvested in a specific year and left to cask age for 4 to 6 years, allowing for gentle oxidation and providing a well-rounded, fruity and velvety profile.
The batch has produced just 1,293 bottles, which will available soon at £75 each for the full-sized 70cl bottle.
As ever the whisky is presented without an age statement, without chill-filtration, and in its natural colour. It has been bottled at 53.3% ABV.
Nose
A berry nice smell indeed. Strawberry jam, cranberries, custard creams, and pencil shavings?! A decent toasty oak smell behind it all.
Taste
The spirit, the oak, and the peat all seem to be more pronounced on this initially, before the jammy flavours then come into play – and I like that!
Finish
Oak flavour and black pepper heat with a touch of red berry sweetness.
Verdict
Rather than being the port wine explosion of red fruits and unctuousness, that I was expecting from the port cask finish, this seems to amplify the key ingredients of the Wire Works signature profile with only a touch of the red grape goodness.
White Peak have certainly hit their stride in terms of frequent batch releases, and they do not hold back on the percentages. Whilst some distilleries have a preferred strength, these guys take a pinch of each batch and water it down gradually to find their preferred strength for their run. Must be something with this team’s tastebuds that prefer it in the 50s! They don’t hold back! You’ve got to respect that too – they could just keep adding the water to eke out a few extra bottles in the batch, but no, it’s 53.3% ABV for this one – and it doesn’t taste like it’s that high either. Works well with the strong oak profile.
One of the things I like about White Peak is the light peat smoke in their profile. The small amount used has a great balance in these spry whiskies and the bourbon barrel oak is always there. This bottling seems to dial those signature notes up a notch, and makes for more of a lip-smacker than their house style Caduro and Bourbon Barrel core releases. The port cask seems to bring more of its drying wine cask finish to the base profile. Definitely one for the White Peak fans to try side by side with others!
M
Dram disclosure: This sample was received as part of a promotional Tweet Tasting event led by TheWhiskyWire using #WireWorksWhisky on X and BlueSky. 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.
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