The individually-numbered bottles of Wire Works Whisky – Derbyshire’s first ever single malt whisky – have been auctioned via Whisky Auctioneer, with all of the proceeds going to local Derbyshire charities. Wire Works Whisky bottle no. 1 individually sold for an incredible hammer price of £9,900 - the highest price paid at public auction for a single bottle of English whisky*.  

The auction ran from 26th August – 5th September and invited whisky lovers from the UK and beyond to place their bids individually for each of the 12 bottles of Wire Works Whisky. During the 10-day period, over 370 bids were received from bidders across the UK, as well as from Denmark, Singapore, China and Andorra. 

White Peak released just over 5,000 numbered bottles of its long-awaited first release 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. Since then, the Distillery has released four more whiskies under the Wire Works label with each one receiving significant acclaim within the whisky community.  

Speaking about the donation, Mark Heaven, Head of Fundraising at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust said: “Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is delighted to have been named as one of the charities to benefit from White Peak Distillery’s auction. White Peak is a valued partner who actively supports our vision for a Wilder Derbyshire and we look forward to continuing to work with them.  

“The incredible donation 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.” 

Claire Vaughan from White Peak said: “We are absolutely delighted and humbled by the response to this charity auction. To have raised over £15,000 for our charity partners alongside Whisky Auctioneer is very special…. not to mention a special moment for English whisky! We hope that the proceeds can help to support our local community and some fantastic environmental projects for both Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and The Peak District National Park Foundation.” 

The charities will receive 100% of the auction proceeds, as well as the auctioneers fees waived by Whisky Auctioneer. The Distillery has previously worked with both charities on numerous fundraising bottlings and activities, including limited-edition spirit releases and local environmental initiatives.  

The Distillery and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust once again joined forces this week to host an event for local businesses to find out more about ‘Business, Wildlife and The White Peak Distillery’. Businesses heard about Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s goals, the role of local business and how they can work together to make Derbyshire Wilder. 

Find out more about White Peak Distillery here. 

More information about becoming a partner of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust can be found here. 

*according to research from publicly available data.