Draft:Waterford Distillery

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Waterford Distillery
Company typePrivate
IndustryAlcoholic beverages
Founded2014
Founder
  • Mark Reynier
Headquarters
Waterford
,
Ireland
Number of locations
1
Area served
  • Europe
  • North America
Number of employees
10
Websitewaterfordwhisky.com

Waterford Distillery is a privately owned Irish whiskey distillery founded in 2014 in the South East of Ireland. The distillery produces single malt whiskey distilled from Irish-grown barley, releasing it's first distillation in 2020.

Copper Pot Stills
Copper pot stills

History & location[edit]

The distillery is located on the River Suir estuary in the city and county of Waterford. The site was originally the William Strangman.[1] brewery, built in 1792, located on a volcanic aquifer. The old brewery’s buildings are used today as offices and visitor centre.

The, in 2004, Diageo invested heavily[2][3] in a modern new Guinness brewery[4] on the site, which was mothballed a decade later in 2014 with the loss of 21 jobs.[5]

In November 2014[6] the brewery was acquired by a group of private investors led by Mark Reynier.[7][8]

The distillery was converted in 2015[9] for distilling whiskey with the addition of two copper pot stills, formerly used at the Inverleven Distillery near Glasgow. In December 2015 its first spirit ran from the stills and the first whiskeys were released in 2020.[10]

Irish barley[edit]

Barley

Waterford Distillery uses only Irish grown malted[11] barley. Ireland’s Sunny South East benefits from high sunlight hours, glacially fertile soils, maritime climate and Gulf Stream amelioration provide optimum growing conditions for barley.

The distillery sources barley from thirty five individual Irish farms per year. Each harvest is kept separate from field to barrel: milled, mashed, fermented, distilled and matured[12] individually. Each farm’s barley is stored in individual bays at a facility at Dalton’s Mills, County Kilkenny; and the distillery uses a dedicated small-batch Boby malting plant at Athy, County Carlow.

The whiskey spirit at Waterford Distillery is matured in split, long-seasoned, toasted French oak[13][14] barrels.

The distillery is certified by the Organic Trust and Demeter.

Working with Minch Malt and Teagasc, the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine,  the company has reintroduced old heritage barley[15][16][17] varieties propagated from 50-gram bags in the ministry’s seedbank. Hunter[18] (1959), Goldthorpe (1900), Spratt-Archer (1914) and ‘Old Irish’ an original Landrace[19][20] from the middle ages. The first heritage barley whiskey[21] was released in 2022.

Terroir[edit]

In wine-making, terroir[22] is the contribution of the soil in which the grapes are grown to the taste of the final product. Waterford Distillery applies this methodology[23] to whiskey production, incorporating the principles of terroir, pneumatic pressing, wood integration, organic agriculture and biodynamic cultivation[24].

Each bottle label features a TÉIREOIR Code, identifying the farm the barley was harvested from. Based on blockchain production information, the code shows supporting information such as maps, video, images and sound files, along with validation information about the harvest, malting, distilling, maturation and bottling.

Products[edit]

Waterford distillery launched it's first whiskey on April 25th, 2020. This initial launch was a limited edition blended whiskey (Cuvée) called "Pilgrimage", with a production run of just 1,500 bottles.[25] Only 1,000 bottles were available to buy, with the rest being reserved for staff and family involved in the distillery.

The standard strength of whiskey from the Distillery is 50% ABV with a volume of 70 cl per bottle, apart from a few specific products intended for the US market. The Cuvée Argot bottling has a slightly lower ABV at 47%.

In August 2022[26], Waterford Distillery released a new peated [27][28] product line, resurrecting the practice of combining Irish peat (turf) with single malt whiskey to impart a unique taste profile. The sphagnum-rich peat is sourced from Niall Carroll’s bog cuttings at Ballyteige, County Kildare. A year later, the range was expanded to include another two whiskies with even higher peat levels, containing a phenol parts per million (ppm) rate of 57 and 74 respectively [29]

In March 2023, the distillery partnered[30] with French visual artist Nathanaël Koffi for the creation of a Cuvée Whiskey eponymously named Koffi. The artist designed the bottle label in his distinctive abstract style. Previously, the company collaborated [31] with Irish artist Leah Hewson in 2021.

Scientific research[edit]

Under the direction of Dr Dustin Herb, the distillery has worked with leading scientists to publish a peer-reviewed paper in academic journal Foods in 2021 demonstrating the evidence for terroir in single malt whiskey. The impact of terroir on the Flavour of Single Malt Whisky New Make Spirit [32] used Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry Olfactometry to demonstrate analytically and sensorially how terroir influences the flavours[33] in both barley and the spirit distilled from it.

Certifications[edit]

Biodynamic: Luna has been certified by Demeter International, the biodynamic federation

Organic: Gaia has achieved Certified Organic[34] status from the soil association

Origin Green Gold Status[35]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "William Strangman (1748-1818) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree". www.wikitree.com. 1748-06-05. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  2. ^ McSweeney, Neans (2004-01-13). "Black stuff brings €40m boost to city". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  3. ^ "New Diageo plant opens in Waterford". 2004-01-12.
  4. ^ "Geograph:: Guinness Brewery Waterford, Grattan... © P L Chadwick". www.geograph.ie. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  5. ^ "Jobs lost in brew factory closure". Independent.ie. 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  6. ^ "Diageo sold former Guinness brewery in Waterford for just €7.2m". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  7. ^ "A maverick taking on the Irish whiskey establishment". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  8. ^ "Former Bruichladdich boss Mark Reynier buys Irish brewing site". The Herald. 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  9. ^ "Ireland's Newest Distillery Is Coming To Life - WhiskyCast". 2015-12-07. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
  10. ^ "Ireland's Newest Distillery Is Coming To Life - WhiskyCast". 2015-12-07. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
  11. ^ "Malting Barley". Nature. 145 (3680): 738. 1940-05-01. Bibcode:1940Natur.145Q.738.. doi:10.1038/145738a0. ISSN 1476-4687. S2CID 4085080.
  12. ^ Sreenivasulu, Nese; Usadel, Björn; Winter, Andreas; Radchuk, Volodymyr; Scholz, Uwe; Stein, Nils; Weschke, Winfriede; Strickert, Marc; Close, Timothy J.; Stitt, Mark; Graner, Andreas; Wobus, Ulrich (April 2008). "Barley Grain Maturation and Germination: Metabolic Pathway and Regulatory Network Commonalities and Differences Highlighted by New MapMan/PageMan Profiling Tools". Plant Physiology. 146 (4): 1738–1758. doi:10.1104/pp.107.111781. ISSN 0032-0889. PMC 2287347. PMID 18281415.
  13. ^ "enology international". www.enologyinternational.com. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
  14. ^ "A Look at Oak Species for Cooperage: World Cooperage". www.worldcooperage.com. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
  15. ^ "The Telegraph". digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  16. ^ McDonnell, Francess (2022-11-29). "Rare heritage barley star of new single malt whiskey". Agriland.ie. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
  17. ^ Collins, Georgie (2022-11-29). "Waterford resurrects forgotten barley varieties". The Spirits Business. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
  18. ^ Bell, G. D. H. (April 1959). "Dr. Herbert Hunter". Nature. 183 (4667): 1016–1017. Bibcode:1959Natur.183.1016B. doi:10.1038/1831016b0. ISSN 1476-4687. S2CID 4169646.
  19. ^ Poets, Ana M.; Fang, Zhou; Clegg, Michael T.; Morrell, Peter L. (2015-08-21). "Barley landraces are characterized by geographically heterogeneous genomic origins". Genome Biology. 16 (1): 173. doi:10.1186/s13059-015-0712-3. ISSN 1474-760X. PMC 4546095. PMID 26293830.
  20. ^ Kumar, Arvind; Verma, Ramesh Pal Singh; Singh, Anshuman; Kumar Sharma, Hariom; Devi, Geeta (2020-06-01). "Barley landraces: Ecological heritage for edaphic stress adaptations and sustainable production". Environmental and Sustainability Indicators. 6: 100035. doi:10.1016/j.indic.2020.100035. ISSN 2665-9727. S2CID 218787754.
  21. ^ Collins, Georgie (2022-11-29). "Waterford resurrects forgotten barley varieties". The Spirits Business. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  22. ^ Kyraleou, Maria; Herb, Dustin; O’Reilly, Grace; Conway, Neil; Bryan, Tom; Kilcawley, Kieran N. (February 2021). "The Impact of Terroir on the Flavour of Single Malt Whisk(e)y New Make Spirit". Foods. 10 (2): 443. doi:10.3390/foods10020443. ISSN 2304-8158. PMC 7922972. PMID 33670494.
  23. ^ Correspondent, Rhys Blakely, Science (2023-11-01). "Oui dram? Whisky passes French wine test". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2023-11-01.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Malczewski, Kate (2021-06-18). "Waterford bottles world's first biodynamic Irish whiskey". The Spirits Business. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  25. ^ Bellwood, Owen (2020-02-28). "Waterford Distillery to launch its first Irish whiskey". The Spirits Business. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  26. ^ Magazine, Irish Whiskey (2022-08-26). "Waterford Whisky Irish-peated releases". Irish Whiskey Magazine. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  27. ^ WWD (2017-09-25). "What is Peated Whisky? An Introduction and Short History". World Whisky Day. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  28. ^ Fields, Jessica (2022-10-02). "The Complete Guide to Peated Whisky". VinePair. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  29. ^ Archer, Kenny (2023-09-13). "Waterford Distillery launch most peated Irish whiskies ever". The Irish News. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  30. ^ Brooker, Alice (2023-03-23). "Waterford creates new Cuvée with artist". The Spirits Business. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  31. ^ Brooker, Alice (2021-05-26). "Waterford partners with artist for single malt launch". The Spirits Business. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  32. ^ Kyraleou, Maria; Herb, Dustin; O’Reilly, Grace; Conway, Neil; Bryan, Tom; Kilcawley, Kieran N. (February 2021). "The Impact of Terroir on the Flavour of Single Malt Whisk(e)y New Make Spirit". Foods. 10 (2): 443. doi:10.3390/foods10020443. ISSN 2304-8158. PMC 7922972. PMID 33670494.
  33. ^ "The Science of Flavour - Whisky Magazine". whiskymag.com. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  34. ^ Magazine, Irish Whiskey (2020-10-09). "Ireland's first certified organic whiskey from Waterford Distillery". Irish Whiskey Magazine. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  35. ^ "Renegade Waterford Distillery". www.origingreen.ie. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:Waterford_Distillery&oldid=1215170877"