Waterford Archives

November 17, 2023November 15, 2023

Heavily Peated Waterford is here to stay

Waterford is no longer a newcomer in the Irish whisky scene. It’s a brand with a wide range of different bottlings, ensuring that every whisky enthusiast can find a bottle to their liking, except for the peatheads among us.

Until recently, that is because Waterford has recently released the Fenniscourt 1.1 at 38 ppm and the slightly more heavily peated Ballybannon 1.1 at 47 ppm. These are now joined by the launch of Lacken 1.1 at 57 ppm and finally Woodbrook 1.1 at 74 ppm. As always, bottled at 50% ABV.

With these two releases, Waterford can now offer a complete range of peated whiskies, ranging from “lightly” peated to heavily peated. With this range, Waterford silences its critics, proving that they are not a one-trick pony but can cater to enthusiasts in every corner of the flavor spectrum!

ORDER by clicking the photos

Waterford Woodbrook bottle — Waterford Lacken bottle

April 2, 2023April 2, 2023

Waterford – Irish Single Malt – Masterclass

In collaboration with the Maltclan.

Unexpectedly we have got the opportunity to host a tasting with Ruari Reynier of Waterford distillery. Waterford is maybe a difficult brand to grasp, but it is oooohhhhh sssuuuccchhhh an exciting brand as well. Proofing terroir in whisky is pushing the boundaries of the known whisky industry.

Secure your place here

It gives us also the chance to give some of you a sneak preview in our Box Bizar project which we are setting up in the little church of Ten Broek.

A bit about the brand: WATERFORD IS ON A QUEST TO UNEARTH WHISKY’S MOST NATURAL FLAVOURS

Unashamedly influenced by the world’s greatest winemakers, they obsessively bring the same intellectual drive, methodology and rigour to barley – the very source of malt whisky’s complex flavour.

Extolling a hundred exclusive farms of Irish-grown barley, they search for natural flavours via three paths: their Single Farm Origins pursue the individualism of terroir-derived flavour; they are the building blocks of our Cuvées, where the whole is greater than the sum. Finally their Arcadian Barley expresses the intensity of flavour from exploring the old ways – of Organic, Biodynamic, Heritage and even Irish-peated barley. Indeed, so thorough is their exploration of the frontiers of natural flavour that they are the world’s largest producer of organic and biodynamic whiskies.

WHEN: 20h00 – Friday 14th April 2023

WHERE: Zavelbergweg 7, 1640 Sint-Genesius-Rode, Belgium

COST: €30 for 8 drams

LINE-UP: very interesting, but currently unknown

DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR OWN GLASSES!

December 8, 2022December 8, 2022

Old grains and peat in Irish malt

Waterford is bringing out a new Micro Cuvée, a malt based on an old forgotten Irish grain and their first peated malts.

The Waterford cuvées are assembled from different ‘Original Farm Origins’. They show us how an blend of different terroirs creates layers and complexity in the whisky even if it is still fairly young. Micro Cuvée Feuille Morte has not been released in Belgium, but we managed to get our hands on some bottles straight from the distillery.

The Heritage series explores the aroma’s and flavours of old, forgotten grains. In this case they had to reintroduce Hunter barley, named after plant breeder Herbert Hunter who introduced it in 1959. It disappeared in the 1970’s superceded by more economically rewarding crosses, all that remained of Hunter was a 50 gram bag in the seed bank of the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine.

And last but not least we have two new Arcadian Series members Ballybannon 1.1 and Fenniscourt 1.1. Ballybannon is peated up to 47ppm, while Fenniscourt is up to 38ppm. The peat levels were chosen specifically for each farm to make sure the character of the terroir is not lost behind to much peat.

Click the photo to order Waterford-Peated_Ballybannon

September 13, 2022September 13, 2022

Want to taste TERROIRE in whisky

This is probably one of the coolest projects in the whisky industry of the last couple of years. I know it is a hard nut to crack as the available information given is massive and it is something we are less familiar with in the wonderful world of whisky.

And yes, they’ve released in all their enthusiasm too much, too quickly, which makes it hard to buy every release, but the goal of proofing TERROIRE in whisky is sooooo cooooolllll!

Maybe it is not scientifically proven, but if you have ever tried two samples of new make Waterford that have been distilled identically and have been matured in the same manner the different flavours coming from the two samples will convince you.

Now if you missed the Waterford train here is your chance to do a BACK-to-BACK tasting of different TERROIRES: 7 Single Farm Origins, 7 different flavour profiles.

Order by clicking on the images.