Derbyshire whisky distillery takes home top tourism award

Designed to recognise and reward excellence in the area’s valuable £2.3 billion visitor economy, the awards brought together 31 finalists in 11 categories for a glittering ceremony at Buxton’s Devonshire Dome.Some of the Peak District and Derbyshire’s finest hotels, B&Bs, holiday parks, pubs, visitor attractions and experiences were among those recognised at the awards evening.

The White Peak Distillery in Ambergate received recognition for its visitor tours, collecting the gold award in the new ‘Tourism Business’ category.

The distillery opened its doors to visitors in September 2018, having been commissioned earlier that year. The distillery has been perfecting its whisky-making since April 2018, having now laid down more than 550 casks of future Derbyshire whisky.

It is the first full-scale craft whisky distillery in Derbyshire and aims to play a major part in a new English whisky category.

Claire Vaughan, co-founder, said “It’s fantastic to win this award. Creating a destination and working within an Edwardian-era building has had it challenges, but it’s been an amazing journey to breathe new life into the old Wire Works. The whole team is passionate about what we’re doing and I think this really comes through to our visitors.”