Notes: Probably the largest collection of Irish Whiskey expressions you have never heard of, and capturing the high ground of premium, single malt, single-origin, and certainly organic and biodynamic whiskies in the world! This is one of the many expressions that Waterford Distillery makes. I have to admire the absolutely obsessive, possibly pathologically OCD in a charming way, that this group goes about making whisky. Using biodynamic techniques with heirloom barley varieties they seem to have obsessively thought out every other aspect of distillation, aging, cask wood aging, and every other possible point to produce a stunning whisky. One of the more interesting aspects; the careful selection of a variety of casks used in the aging process, a mix of virgin American Oak, Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels, French Chateau Lafite Rothschild, , and the percentages used in the final blending.

Another aspect that applies to all their whiskies is their WhiskyManifesto a fascinating and dare I say multifaceted approach to how they do things and how it contributes not only to outstanding whiskies, but their environmental impacts and world view. Fascinating read through to fully appreciate their gentle madness and obsessions that lead to such outstanding products.

Appearance: Clear as a bell, Light brown/sand color or the color of a light machine or compressor oil.Color of new barley straw would be another descriptor.On swirling it leaves a very light coating on the glass that is remarkably uniformed it very slowly recedes with few legs forming , more like it is rolling over its own edge line back into the glass – never seen a spirit do that before…

First Impression: A dry, biscuity but fruity with dried persimmons, figs, dark fruit, cocoa, alkali, Saigon cinnamon, saddle or harness leather.Dry, malty and fruity in a dry sense all at once.Subtle.

Taste: Nice malty oily entry, off dry with dark and dried fruits rolling in behind it and a pleasant alcohol warmth pushing it forward to a malty, oat like finish with cinnamon and dried fruits.Lovely breakfast kind of malt. A rather dry malt altogether and more lean and spare than some of their others. The virgin wood and sherry casks are more apparent.Also the French barrels give it a sort of dry, spare old growth Bordeaux notes to contribute to a leaner more aesthetic malt.

Drinks: Can’t really comment as I think it is to nice to really mix with , but given the quality, it should make some pretty spectacular , somewhat drier Irish Whisky cocktails.

Bottle: Beautiful damn bottle! A deep straw yellow slight inset for the label with a series of ridges toward the bottom gives it a sort of machine age or maybe deco overtones. The labels are a combination of silk screening and paper labels with a teal silver speckled background and raised silver lettering. The back label is a single piece of plastic film with 9 point lettering. Label contains a short narrative, the growers’ names, and the TÉIREOIR code which links to an exhaustive and lovingly detailed genealogy of your bottle. The stopper is a red glass stopper with a tightly rigid nylon gasket that gives a great seal without being too much of a challenge to open, and a silkscreen design that I do not know what it means. Overall a very carefully thought out and executed repository for a remarkable spirit.

Other: Waterford Distillery has a plethora of other whisky expressions and we look forward to reviewing them if/when we can get our hands on some. So far we have done the Biodynamic Luna 1.1, The Cuvee, and The Dunbbell

Cigars: Something lighter like a Conneticut Shade wrapper , maybe an Ashton or Davidoff, thinner also – nothing to obscure the dry delicateness and fruit.

Final Thoughts: A very different expression of their malts.Very charming in its own way, but a radical departure in a drier, leaner way

Website: https://waterfordwhisky.com

Easily the most comprehensive and beautifully done website (of any kind but especially for Whisky) that we have ever had the privilege to visit.When you type in the teierorr code you go straight down a fascinating rabbit hole.