Waterford The Cuvée is the benchmark bottling for everything they’ve done so far at this Irish distillery. Like its highly limited predecessor Waterford 1st Cuvée this is a composition of multiple single farm origins which are normally distilled and bottled seperately. In fact the single farm origins will become less important in the future – when they start to move to wider releases we’ll be seeing more of these assemblages.
Waterford The Cuvée is 4,5 years old, distilled from four barley strains and composed from 25 farms and different cask types including ex-bourbon, virgin oak, French oak and their trademark VDN casks. Every little detail is on their website.
Waterford The Cuvée (50%, OB 2021, 40.000 btl.)
Nose: dusty barley, bread crust and whole grain biscuits all over, in a really nice way, joined by red apples, hints of dried flowers and nutmeg. Behind this there is citrus and orange peel, with a creamy backbone and some nougat.
Mouth: an oily-fruity profile with plenty of texture and always revolving around these grainy notes. Porridge, toasted bread, followed by cardamom and aniseed. A slight prickle of white pepper, then grapefruit peels, grassy notes and a hint of dark chocolate. Mind you, the youth is obvious, especially in the aftertaste which gets a tad raw and boozy.
Finish: medium, spicy and slightly floral, with ginger and loads of oily cereals.
In a way this is more traditional, and more traditionally Irish than most of the single farm origins. Yet it’s also the most all-round and balanced Waterford so far. Interesting whisk(e)y, a benchmark for start-up distilleries. Still available from The Whisky Exchange or Master of Malt for instance, or your local retailer of course.