While we wait for resurrection:
a Waterford trio
The news hit many of us hard at the end of 2024, when it was announced that Waterford Distillery in Ireland had gone belly-up. Perhaps the most Scottish of all Irish distilleries, I know Waterford had a lot of fans who normally not venture into what the Irish category has to offer. The whisky (not spelled “whiskey”, another sign of where Waterford was aiming) got on my radar when the shops started to get flooded with a myriad of different expressions, all seemingly the same, but with one distinct element: the barley had a “Single Farm Origin”. The concept of terroir was explained to us, and Waterford put their money where their mouth was, and allowed us to taste the differences between different origins. They also experimented (with great success, I think) with old barley strains like Hunter and Goldthorpe. In the end, Waterford also started releasing Cuvee bottlings. Maybe the wine references were lost on the whisky enthusiast, but the idea was solid. The whisky too, all things considered, as most output was always quite young.
Now, those Single Farm Origins bottlings. In hindsight, a more successful approach would have been if these were offered in smaller sized bottles. Drinking a whole bottle of 3 to 5 year old whisky is a challenge, no matter how much you tinker with cask make-up. Waterford choose to add wine casks for their initial maturation, which gives flavour in spades I am sure, but also a downside in that these tannins never really click with whisky (my opinion, I add). Had Waterford decided to bring out sample packs of 3×20 cl bottles, I think they would have fared much better. And it would have supported the exploration of terroir even better.
The news surrounding Waterford and the future of this distillery has gone silent. We hope this is just the silence before we see a phoenix rise from the ashes of what has been. While we wait, we rummaged through the sample cabinet and lined up all samples of Waterford we had.
Waterford Lakefield: Edition 1.1, bottled at 50 % abv
First things first: Exactly 30.528 bottles of this batch of the Lakefield expression. When you think about it, this is an enormous amount of 3 years old whisky. Distilled in March 2017, this batch was bottled one month before it would turn into a 4 years old. Young stuff, matured in what can be called the classic Waterford mix of first fill American oak, Virgin Oak, French Wine, and Vin Doux Naturel cask (= dessert wine).
Upon Sipping: A crispy and vibrant nose upon first sniffing with lots of (pizza) dough, bread basket and fields of barley. The limestone and sandstone that are supposed to be a signature for the terroir on Lakefield farm, can indeed be detected. The notes that the wine casks give off are a little in the way of enjoying that more here. I never understood why a terroir-driven whisky is obscured by such heavy cask influence, but we have to deal with it. Where it helps, of course, is on the palate. The youth of this whisky is smartly masked by sweet wine notes, while I can still pick up enough of the Lakefield barley. There is even a hint of tropical notes in the background, which we will try to pull up with some water. That works only so much, but the dry notes from the barley are rewarding instead. The sweetness on the finish is pleasant and fresh.
Word to the Wise: This Lakefield edition of Waterford single malt is a good effort. It leaves me questioning if it works because of the elaborate cask makeup, or despite of it. In any case, this is a finely composed whisky and the result is good and fuelled with character.
Score: 84 points
Waterford Hook Head: Edition 1.1, bottled at 50 % abv
First things first: Another mammoth batch with 30.066 bottles produced, matured in the same way as the Lakefield expression. Hook Head is a farm on the Atlantic Ocean coastline of Ireland and should give off a more maritime experience in terroir. Bottled on 15 February 2021, and I suspect also from a 2017 batch so closer to 4 years old.
Upon Sipping: The difference between this Hook Head and the previous Lakefield is indeed clearly noticeable, but I suspect only when you put two glasses together, like I did. There is a more saline experience, like drying your swimming trunks on the balcony of your hotel after a day of swimming in the sea. The dry barley and breaded notes are there again. These whiskies are well related. Taking a sip, the contrast gets much bigger, with a more rounded, salted bread sensation. The naked grain notes come through much better, even though the same wine casks are involved in maturing this Waterford single malt. As someone who enjoys the malt content in a whisky, this feels like the superior product to me. Again, I am not bothered by the youth on this whisky. With water, a sweetness develops on the nose, which is a nice variation. Some smokiness or even a medicinal note rises on top of that. Quite impressive, I have to say. On the tongue, the dry notes are a little stronger now, which does not improve the experience. The finish shows off a fantastic breaded note as well, so that makes up for it.
Word to the Wise: Impressive bottling and among the many different releases I have tasted from Waterford, with the exception of the Heritage bottlings, this Hook Head is (for me) one of the best. I was seduced by the coastal character back in the day and bought this bottle. Still no regrets.
Score: 87 points.
Waterford Wilkinstown: Edition 1.1, bottled at 50 % abv
First things first: Okay, this will be interesting, but this release was an exclusive for the Netherlands and bottled in a much smaller batch of 5.000 bottles. We have some more details on maturation: 25 % First Fill US oak, 20 % Virgin US oak, 24 % Premium French and 31 % Vin Doux Naturel.
Upon Sipping: On the nose, this is almost identical to the Waterford from Lakefield farm barley. The scale is balanced towards the wine influences. Maybe a hint of sweet potato, interesting. The marshmallows are there too, to make this a true Thanksgiving Yams. On the palate, we discover that this Waterford departs from the Lakefield expression in being much more sour. Here the barley and the cask recipe do not work as well as I would have hoped. With water, the nose gains some maturity by shedding some of the sweetness. The somewhat disturbing sour note is now washed away, making this Wilkinstown (again) move closer to the Lakefield. A slightly bitter hint takes possession of the finish.
Word to the Wise: A weaker version of the Lakefield expression, to be honest. This seems a bit rushed to repeat the same trick, but with less dedication. You know what to choose if you find these two bottles on a shelf somewhere.
Score: 80 points.