Review by: The Muskox
I haven’t tried a Waterford since attending a tasting of theirs a few years ago. I remember being impressed but ready to give their stocks plenty of time to come of age.
Waterford was founded in 2016 by Mark Reynier, the same guy who kickstarted Bruichladdich’s revitalization over 20 years ago now. You can see the similarities with Bruichladdich instantly – the focus is on terroir and local barley, everything’s bottled at 50% ABV from a mix of casks, the release numbering schemes, and the design of the bottles is sleek and modern.
Waterford can go several steps further than Bruichladdich did with disclosing as much info as they possibly can – as an Irish whiskey, they’re free from the hamstringing of the Scotch Whisky Association and their traditionalist views. Type the code from this bottle into Waterford’s “Teireoir” database, and you’re met with a gigantic pile of info, from exact dates and times for each stem in the whiskey-making process, to interactive maps of the source farms, to a list of every single cask used and its fill level down to the deciliter.
This is all cool, but does it translate to good whiskey? I stopped into my local liquor monopoly’s tasting bar the other day to try this latest bottling of Waterford’s organic cuvee.
Distillery: Waterford.
Bottler: Official bottling.
Region: Ireland.
ABV: 50%.
Age: 4 years, 2 months, and 7 days old (how specific!). Distilled in March 2017. Bottled August 21st 2021.
Cask type: This batch is a vatting of:
- 42 first-fill ex-bourbon barrels, sourced from Heaven Hill distillery
- 21 virgin American oak barrels
- 21 French wine casks, 15 from Chateau Margaux and 6 from Chateau Lafite Rothschild(!!)
- 19 “vin doux naturel” (i.e. fortified wine) casks, composed of 15 Marsala casks, 3 Rivesaltes casks, and one port cask.
Price: $134 CAD.
Color: Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: Sweet and rich. Browned butter, maple fudge, muscat grape, and cooked apples.
Palate: Thick texture. Arrives sweet – key lime pie with a buttery graham cracker crust, toffee and dates. The development is very long, with sweet fragrant oak and sugared grapefruit leading the way. Earthier notes underneath: walnuts, nutmeg, even a little tobacco.
Finish: Fairly long. Caramel corn, cookie dough, and more browned butter. Cooked apples and orange zest. More tobacco, some garam masala, and a hint of black pepper. Some fragrant character is here too, with a slight pine note.
Possible SMWS bottling name: “Sun-beamed country house pantry”
Conclusion: An enormously impressive whiskey. At just 4 years old, it’s very full-bodied and characterful, with good complexity. It doesn’t taste old or anything, but it’s hit the level of maturity where those younger grassy notes, present in Gaia 1.1, are absent in this second release. The scotch comparison that I had in my head was Daftmill – this has that level of complexity and fruity brightness. As a disciple of Gaia myself (by which I mean that I study the Earth for a living), I might just make a point of following this release through the years.
Final Score: 85.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 