Meet Max & Claire

White Peak Distillery was launched by Max and Claire Vaughan, so here’s a little more about the people behind the product:

Max: Starting White Peak is a dream Max held since 2011, and he come to it with a life-long passion for whisky inherited from his father.

The ambition was to build a distillery to produce authentic English whisky and establish a destination to celebrate the craft of distilling. Impassioned by various personalities he’d met, Max started to investigate the size of the ask to build his own Distillery in his homeland in Derbyshire, where he and his family were moving back to after over a decade in London and a previous career in finance.

The Distillery was always going to be in Derbyshire, where both Max & Claire grew up, and as soon as they stepped into the old Wire Works on the banks of the River Derwent, they knew it would be the perfect spot to bring their vision to life.

As part of his research Max spoke to and spent time with numerous well-known whisky distillers, both in the UK and in the USA who generously offered their advice and wisdom about all the aspects to consider when creating your own Distillery and your own whisky. With five years of planning, a wealth of brilliant advice and the Distillery site secured, in 2017 Max and Claire went on to curate a fully operational Distillery from scratch, working with local engineering firm Musk and McMillan coppersmiths in Scotland for their unique stills.

Max brought in a head distiller early on and the team distilled their first batch of single malt whisky in spring 2018. To help build the business and relationships with stockists and consumers, White Peak has developed a range of gins and rums which have been sold locally since 2018.

When he’s not working, Max is an avid runner and cyclist and enjoys exploring the Peak District with Claire.

Claire: After 20 years as a teacher, Claire re-trained as an interior designer, whilst having an increasing interest and passion for whisky. She has lived and breathed the Distillery alongside Max from the outset, driving the White Peak vision of becoming Derbyshire’s very first craft Distillery.

Aside from the distilling and production at White Peak, Claire looks after every aspect of the Distillery: from tours and tastings, to marketing, packaging and design – she brings to life the White Peak experience, personality and values beyond the Still House.

Drawing on her experience as an interior designer, Claire has curated every aspect of the Distillery in an ‘industrial meets nature’ style, in keeping with the provenance of this stunning World Heritage site area within Derbyshire, where she is originally from. Outside of the Distillery walls, Claire’s focus is to build relationships and connections with the local area.

Along with Max, she has driven a number of local community initiatives, including to maintain the natural beauty of the area through a quarterly litter pick organised by the Distillery. Claire is passionate about the Distillery’s sense of place within the Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage Site and its rich history and the importance of leaving a future legacy, whilst continuing the long history of ‘making’ in the valley.

She’s also established links with the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, whom White Peak are working with for their latest small-batch gin release in November 2021. Claire and Max live in Wirksworth with their three children and Labrador, Chester. When she’s not working, Claire enjoys getting out into the local Derbyshire Dales and Peak District, and also manages a local National League hockey team.