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Waterford Whiskey: New whiskeys from distiller and brand innovator of the year

Posted on: 25 Feb 2021

Winner of the coveted Distiller and Brand Innovator of the Year awards at the 2021 Icons of Whisky Ireland, Waterford Distillery, is pleased to announce a new set of Single Farm Origin releases for Spring 2021.

Waterford Whisky is influenced by the world's greatest winemakers, obsessively bringing the same intellectual drive, methodology and rigour to single malt whisky by exploring Irish-grown barley – one farm, one terroir, at a time. The fully traceable Single Farm Origin whiskies each carry a unique digital number – the TÉIREOIR code – on the back label, which introduces the Irish farm origin, the people that work it, the casks used to compose the whisky, and an array of media. 

These Spring releases introduce two new globally available expressions.

The precision of place

Two Waterford Single Farm Origins will be available worldwide from mid-March onwards. Waterford
Whisky is distributed exclusively in Ireland by Barry & Fitzwilliam.

Hook Head: Edition 1.1 - The lighthouse at Hook Head, an extreme maritime terroir, stands resolute
against the full force of the Atlantic Ocean on Ireland’s southern coast. Exposed to salt-laden storms,
Martin Foley's barley grows on clay/loam soils of the Elton series. This edition is a spice bomb with
notes of cloves, salted caramel, liquorice, ginger biscuits, lemon zest, and chilli chocolate.
 

Lakefield: Edition 1.1 – Lakefield, inland in lush Co. Laois, is farmed by the enigmatic Seamus
Duggan – a Barley Grower of the Year trophy winner. Derived from limestone and sandstone, these
well-drained, deep loam soils produce exceptional barley. This edition is a mellow dram with hints of
rhubarb and apple tart fresh from the oven.

Irish exclusive

Part of Waterford's strategy is to allow individual markets to follow the development of ‘their own’
single terroir over a number of years.

Ratheadon: Edition 1.2 – An evolution of its 1.1 predecessor, this Irish Exclusive is the
second release from the 2016 distillation of Irina barley grown by Stephen and Andrew McDonnell in the limestone lowlands of County Carlow, beyond the river’s east bank on rich & loamy soils. This edition has strong notes of white pepper, ginger, pearl barley, honey oiliness, soft spices and orange barley sweets.

CEO Mark Reynier says: “We are very proud to have won the top two coveted titles of Distiller and Brand Innovator of the Year at the Icons of Whisky, after just 7 months of our first bottlings. While our unique terroir approach has been extremely well received, it has been rather frantic meeting the rapid growth – a good problem to have in these troubled times. These new releases allow the discerning drinker to further compare, contrast, and enjoy Irish barley, farm by farm.”