Claire Vaughan: I feel less like an imposter in whisky
With qualifications in sports science and interior design, Claire Vaughan, co-founder of Derbyshire’s White Peak Distillery, never thought she’d end up in whisky. But her skill set has been key to the success of the Wire Works whisky brand.
Claire Vaughan and her husband Max have always had a project on the go.
“We've always bought projects that we can see have potential,” explains Vaughan, “and we've done a lot of the work ourselves.”
Their biggest project to date, perhaps, was founding Derbyshire’s White Peak Distillery in 2016, the former Johnson & Nephew Wire Works nestled in woodlands on the bank of the River Derwent - part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since its founding, the brand has built an impressive cult following , and under Max and Claire’s leadership, become one of the most exciting new whisky brands on the market.
Vaughan has been instrumental in the vision and execution of the White Peak Distillery itself and Wire Works Whisky brands. Working mostly on the direct-to-consumer side of the business, she has spearheaded the company’s marketing, packaging, branding and advertising – she is responsible for how consumers interact with their whiskies. Her vision has paid dividends: alongside the many awards for their liquid, Wire Works has also won numerous design accolades including the IWSC 2022 Contemporary Design Award and the UK Packaging Awards’ Best Corrugated Pack of the Year.
Despite not having a background in the industry, Vaughan is only now realising that her specific skillset has become instrumental in White Peak’s success: “I'm recognising that more and more, recently,” she says.
The award-winning design of Wire Works whisky
From Sports to Spirits
Vaughan began her professional life teaching sports having graduated from university with a Sports Science degree. “It was challenging and rewarding in equal measures. I taught in various different schools, from a selective grammar to a comprehensive and an ex-mining community. So, you know, even the naughty children were amazing.”
After a stint in London and a move back home to Derbyshire to raise their three children, Vaughan realised that teaching sports was not the future for her. “It must have been a really, really cold winter,” she laughs, “because I just remember thinking, ‘No, I just don't want to be one of those teachers who doesn't want to go outside anymore.’”
So, she decided to do a diploma in Interior Design at KLC School of Design, going back and forth between Derbyshire and London to complete it. “It was really challenging because a lot of people in the room were coming from creative backgrounds. I also didn’t have any digital CAD [computer-aided design] skills, but I got through it and I really enjoyed it.”
Vaughan began working with developers and private clients - and it wasn’t long after that Max began to float the idea of building a whisky brand. Initially, Vaughan saw herself as more as a support system than a part of the dream: “We were discussing it, but I wasn't really invested; it was more like I’d support and be a sounding board.” But it was a visit to the Wire Works that sparked Vaughan’s interest in being a bigger part of the project.
Since then she has lived and breathed the distillery alongside Max, driving the White Peak vision of becoming Derbyshire’s very first craft distillery.
Vaughan noses samples with marketing manager Rosie Ferrer (left) and distiller Sarah Mangan (right)
Recognising your value
With Max more focused on the production side of the business, Vaughan initially struggled to recognise her place in a whisky company - something she has, thankfully, overcome with time.
“I've always worried that I don't make the whisky, or that I haven't got an amazing nose or palate that picks out all the flavours, but what I realised is it doesn't really matter, because we have plenty of people in our business who do all of that.
“The way I approach it is from a consumer point of view. I look at it in terms of consumer proposition; I come at it from a different angle. It’s about understanding what your strengths are and backing yourself. I don't know everything, but that's fine - I don't need to, I can go and find out. We're all on this continual learning process, all of us, so I'm happy with that.”
Her background in sports has also led her to value things like performance and teamwork in the company, as well as valuing people and their individual skillsets. The latter comes to the fore in her working relationship with Max. “We've kind of got to where we are because we appreciate each other's skills,” she says.
Getting to this stage of recognition has been no small or quick feat: “I think like a lot of people you feel like an imposter, but probably in the last 12 months, I’m feeling less like that. I am getting to the stage where I think I'm okay.”
Love, Sweat and Tears: The first bottle from the first cask of White Peak single malt
The Demeter Collection
For the first iteration of the Demeter Collection, Vaughan has aptly chosen to donate the first bottle from the first cask ever filled at the distillery back in 2018. Called ‘Love, Sweat & Tears’ the lightly-peated single malt whisky has been created using a combination of English unpeated and peated malted barley.
A flavour-focused four-to-six day fermentation (which varies across seasons) uses a unique yeast blend incorporating live yeast sourced from award-winning Thornbridge brewery. The resulting spirit was filled into an ex-Bourbon cask from Heaven Hill distillery in Kentucky and laid to rest, untouched, until now.
“We had no plans for it really, we didn't know what we'd do with it,” she explains. “You're never quite sure with cask number one. That's your first liquid. And we haven't got any plans to bottle any more of that cask at the moment, so it’s really quite incredible.”
Vaughan has also designed bespoke packaging for the whisky, incorporating carved oak and engraved steel. The lot also includes an invitation to visit Wire Works distillery for a VIP Founders tour and cask tasting, including an exclusive sample of whisky from Cask No.1 plus lunch or dinner with Max and Claire.
Supporting the auction was a no-brainer for Vaughan: “It wasn’t a case of ‘can we, can’t we?’ I basically sat down with Max and then Tom [the distillery manager] and thought what we could do.”
Changing Stereotypes
When it comes to the male stereotype in whisky, Vaughan’s experience of it has been from the consumer side. “There’s been a couple of occasions where maybe somebody's popped into the shop, and they're like, ‘Oh, I didn't know you made whisky down here.’ I'll show them the operation through the window and they'll see Sarah [Mangan, the distiller] doing the distilling process and they'll go, ’Oh you’ve got a woman making it!’”
While she isn’t a fan of the spotlight, Vaughan knows that showing consumers the women behind the brand is important for representation. “I don't want to do it, but I know that I just need to so that there's that representation - the consumer needs to see.”
White Peak has also had two members of its team go through the OurWhisky Foundation’s mentorship programme as mentees, something Vaughan also sees as a reason to show its support of the organisation. “We've had two people who have really benefitted from it so being able to help you put more in place for the industry I think is really important.”
It’s also inspired her to think more locally when it comes to mentorship too: “I've got a young lady who works for me who wants to develop her skills in tourism and marketing. I’m thinking it'd be great if we have this sort of mentorship for local organisations as well.”
The Demeter Collection auction will run 29 March - 8 April 2024 at whiskyauctioneer.com.
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