Available from the Distillery Shop from 9am SATURDAY 6th AUGUST. 

Wire Works Whisky Necessary Evil Finish – a Derbyshire Whisky and Beer collaboration

This is one of the 2022 releases of Wire Works Whisky that we’ve been looking forward to for years!

A stout finished single malt English whisky…but not just any stout. Necessary Evil is a Derbyshire-crafted imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels (at an ABV of 13%) by our friends up the road at Thornbridge Brewery.

We enjoy a longstanding relationship with Thornbridge, who we’ve been visiting each week since we started to collect spent brewer’s yeast to use in our whisky-making. Added to our long fermentation, this brewer’s yeast helps to create great flavour and Derbyshire provenance in our spirit.

Wire Works Whisky Necessary Evil Finish has been many years in the making and a proper Derbyshire collaboration.

Why Necessary Evil?

Necessary Evil is aged for 8 months in ex-bourbon barrels. Sweet bourbon, vanilla and oak from the barrel ageing combine with rich chocolate, roasted malts and caramel from the base beer. The result is a complex and flavoursome stout unlike any other, that leaves a strong DNA in the bourbon barrels once emptied of the stout.

We were looking for a flavour-forward beer with the power to add a finish to our Wire Works Whisky, which Necessary Evil has in spades. And we were looking to add to our Derbyshire provenance. The chocolatey, malty notes of the stout really complement the cereal, fruity, smoky notes of our lightly-peated single malt English whisky.

Maturation and finishing

We first mature our spirit in freshly filled ex-bourbon barrels for a minimum of 3 years before disgorging the whisky and then refilling the stout seasoned ex-bourbon barrels from Thornbridge, where the whisky is finished for several months. Wire Works Whisky Necessary Evil Finish therefore spends time in different ex-bourbon barrels and, whilst there is some profile crossover from the ex-bourbon oak, the flavour and aroma are enhanced further by the stout influence.

The barrels’ journey

The barrels used for ageing the Necessary Evil begin life in Kentucky (some from Heaven Hill Distillery), where they’ve been used to mature bourbon. The same is true of the bourbon barrels we use for maturing our single malt spirit, as Heaven Hill has been another key partner since 2018. The first part of the barrels’ journey is across the Atlantic Ocean.

Thornbridge use their ex-bourbon barrels to mature their Necessary Evil stout for eight months. Once emptied at Thornbridge the barrels travel a few short miles down the road to White Peak Distillery and, because, we’re so close we’re able to refill them almost immediately with our single malt whisky, for a final stout finish..

The whisky

Wire Works Whisky Necessary Evil Finish is a limited 2,059 bottle release, at an ABV of 51.3% and priced at £65.

It’s a Distillery exclusive release, and the only way to buy a bottle is through our website or in our Distillery shop.

Sign up to our mailing list to be among the first to know when it’s available online.

Our tasting notes

A savoury stout finish single malt whisky, with hazelnuts, light roast coffee and roasted malt on the nose, with cacao nibs, dates and bitter marmalade on the palate, and a malty smoke finish.