The Wire Works Necessary Evil Batch 3 sees England’s Derbyshire White Peak distillery partner with the nearby Thornbridge brewery. This involves maturing Wire Works lightly peated single malt in casks which have previously held Thornbridge’s award winning Necessary Evil stout.
Wire Works Necessary Evil Batch 3 is a dual maturation, initially matured in ex-bourbon barrels before an 8-month finishing period in ex-red wine STR (shaved, toasted, and recharred) casks previously used to age Necessary Evil stout.
Only 2,457 bottles of Wire Works Necessary Evil Batch 3 were produced, with the whisky awarded a ‘Masters’ medal at the World Whisky Masters 2025. Bottled at 100% natural colour and non-chill filtered, at 51.3% ABV.
The nose is a mix of sweetness, with savoury malt, and some gentle but earthy peat smoke. Initial aromas of sweet vanilla fudge, golden syrup, milk chocolate, and creamy coffee alongside caramel Biscoff biscuits. The sweetness fades as an earthy, malty stout character develops alongside aromas of treacle, cinnamon, gingerbread, and oak spice.
On the palate, the gentle peat smoke is immediately evident alongside the malty stout character. The sweet notes open initially, with vanilla, golden syrup, and milk chocolate – shifting slowly to treacle and dark chocolate. There are changing background notes of toasted wood, stewed dates, orange peel, gingerbread, pepper, with lots of biscuity malt.
Long, dry oak combines with roasted malt and ashy smoke. There’s a final hint of milk chocolate with a dash of mint, giving way to ground coffee for a slight bitterness at the close.
The Wire Works Necessary Evil Batch 3 is the result of an innovative partnership between White Peak distillery and Thornbridge brewery.
The stout cask influence is well pronounced on the Wire Works Necessary Evil Batch 3, with clear chocolate, coffee, and malty notes. These integrate well with Wire Work’s lightly peated character, creating some well-balanced layers of sweetness, malt, and smoke. Wire Works Necessary Evil is a quirky small batch limited-edition whisky, which has used stout casks well for finishing maturation – I’ll admit having previously sampled some whiskies which I felt ineffectively used IPA casks for finishing I was initially sceptical on what impact the stout cask would have on the whisky. I enjoy a strong stout, so really enjoyed experiencing the characteristic chocolate, treacle and malt flavours in a whisky, especially combined with the ashy smoke.
Given Wire Works Necessary Evil is a small batch release I feel the whisky offers good value for money at the price point. A complex whisky with an unusual and surprisingly effective finishing maturation – this one fully deserves a 10! I think most whisky enthusiasts would find an enjoyable aspect in Necessary Evil, but the whisky is definitely one for Wire Works fans, smoky peat lovers, and beer drinkers.
