Waterford Heritage Goldthorpe and Biodynamic Cuvée Luna are the latest releases from the distillery. Both are made with the aim of maximising the taste of terroir by focusing on the barley, whether it is a historic barley variety or the specific farming style.
Waterford Heritage Goldthorpe
Goldthorpe was found as a single fortuitous mutation in a Yorkshire barley field in 1889. This long-forgotten barley variety was reintroduced in Donoughmore in 2019 and then distilled at Waterford Distillery to offer us a new flavour experience. And believe you me, it delivers!
Waterford Heritage Goldthorpe is only three years, seven months and five days old, but it still takes you on quite the journey. Plenty to offer for a young whisky. This is a marriage of first-fill American oak (40%), virgin American oak (24%), French oak (18%) and Vin Doux Naturel (18%). Bottled at 50% ABV.
My tasting notes:
Appearance: Sunset gold, nice legs
Nose: What on earth am I smelling here?! Cheese? Like a cheese board with one really stinky one that is quite potent, yet you really want to eat it… After some consideration, I decided it smelled like piimä, a Finnish fermented milk (served cold). It’s similar to buttermilk. With air, the aroma mellows, it still reminds me of a cheese board but with crackers and Brazil nuts. Also lemon cake, prunes, red wine, cranberries, barley and dried herbs.
Palate: Flat Fanta (I was thinking Jaffa but that might just be known to Finns), porridge made with milk and served with banana, winter spices, flat traditional apple cider, honeydew melon, something a bit floral, slightly smoky
Finish: Dried apple sweetness, sweet liquorice, subtle bitterness of green tea
It’s quite the whisky! This certainly is an odd one but in a very intriguing way. I want to go back to it again and again to discover what other aromas and flavours I get each time. The whisky keeps on giving, both on the nose and on the palate. I’m hooked.
Waterford Cuvée Luna
Similarly to the Heritage barley concept, biodynamics is like time travel, with the sole purpose of creating the optimum conditions for healthy crops using natural, traditional methods. Biodynamic farming is time-consuming, and one needs to have a lot of patience and attention to detail. It focuses entirely on the importance of soil, the cycle of the seasons (and the moon) and all other aspects of terroir. It is a holistic, ethical, and ecological approach to farming. All of this translates into one thing: enhanced flavour.
Learn more about biodynamic farming and why Waterford Distillery is interested in biodynamics from my previous blog post. Biodynamic Whisky – Pursuit of Flavour
Waterford’s Cuvée concept takes its inspiration from the prestigious wineries of Bordeaux and Champagne. In this Biodynamic Cuvée Luna they have combined three of their oldest vintages of biodynamic barley (2018 & 2019), which were distilled and matured separately before being carefully married. Two of the crops were grown in Kildare and the third was from Meath.
The spirits were matured for five years, one month and 19 days to be exact. The casks used were first-fill American oak (37%), virgin American oak (17%), Vin Doux Naturel (25%) and premium French oak (21%). Bottled at 50% ABV.
My tasting notes:
Appearance: Morning sun, yellow gold, this one really sticks to the glass, nice oily whisky
Nose: Hay, grassy, subtle caramel, lemon, hazelnut, pinenuts, green tea, dried oregano, pear but like a scent in a perfume (pear blossom?)
Palate: Ginger, white pepper, grapefruit, more green tea, dried herbs, slightly creamy mouthfeel like after eating butterscotch, more sweet pear on the palate as well
Finish: Malty, nutty, subtle peppery feel
I feel this one appreciates patience. I guess that makes sense considering how patience is needed to produce the barley in the first place. Allow time for it to work its magic and your tastebuds will thank you!
Overall
Waterford Distillery will always create a lot of controversy over their approach to making whisky. Many are doubtful of the terroir project; is it worthwhile? Some believe it is a waste of resources; others are fully on board.
One thing is for certain, they sure put a lot of effort into sourcing and analysing each barley variety and delivering unique single malts. I tried the previous Biodynamic Luna and there are definitely some similarities with this latest one, so perhaps there will be certain features we can begin to expect from biodynamic barley.
The first Waterford Heritage release, Hunter, really took me by surprise when I first tried it, so I had high hopes for Heritage Goldthorpe. It certainly delivered and takes the first place between these two for me.
Have you tried these latest releases from the distillery? What did you think?
Disclaimer: Both bottles were a gift from Waterford Distillery without any requirement to feature them. I found them so interesting, I simply had to cover them on the blog. Some of the links used are affiliate links. If you buy through the links, I may receive a commission for the sale. This has no effect on the price for you.
3 Comments
Sadly it looks like time’s up for Terroir as Waterford has gone into receivership.
No doubt the debate will continue as to why.
If you enjoy the brand – best pick up a bottle soon. They’ll probably the last to be produced.
Such a shame as I felt their whiskies were getting better and better. Really enjoyed the peated ones as well.
I did find some of their initial releases a bit too raw & fresh, requiring more time in the cask to mature.
Looking back there may have been financial pressure from the start that forced their hand.
However transparency, honesty & terroir have all taken a battering from a commercial point of view – it simply didn’t work.