WATERFORD - Heritage Hunter - 50%
The Waterford Distillery is ideally located in the historic city of Waterford, in Ireland, the cradle of an ancient brewing tradition. This exceptional project was initiated by Mark Reynier, a recognized visionary, famous for leading the revival of the prestigious Islay Single Malt whisky, Bruichladdich. Inspired by the rigorous methods of the world's greatest winemakers, he established an innovative distillery dedicated to Irish terroir whiskies. Initially set up in 2004 by Diageo and then rehabilitated in 2015, this flagship distillery focuses on absolute traceability, highlighting the specificity of barley origin, soil, and related agricultural practices. Mark Reynier works closely with an exclusive network of 86 Irish farms, cultivating barley on 19 distinct terroirs, including organic and biodynamic crops. Thanks to a highly efficient digital logistics system, each harvest is meticulously collected, stored, malted, and distilled independently, thus guaranteeing the authenticity and unique aromatic richness of each expression.
Heritage Barley 1.1 is a gem crafted from the exceptional Hunter barley grown by Tom Bryan on his family farm located in Donoughmore. This legendary variety, named in honor of the pioneering phytogeneticist Dr. Herbert Hunter, was introduced in 1959 and distinguished itself for nearly twenty years by its unique and deep flavor. Disappeared from Irish fields since the late 1970s, supplanted by more profitable hybrids, it was miraculously preserved as a single 50-gram bag carefully kept in the seed bank of the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Cultivated in successive cycles in greenhouse bags, this initial small quantity was multiplied to reach 25.5 tons of brewing barley, allowing the filling of 50 casks. Harvested on August 8, 2018, then distilled between February 23 and 26, 2019, this expression was aged for 3 years, 2 months, and 6 days. Its maturation takes place in a unique blend of 45% first-fill American oak barrels from Kelvin Cooperage, 21% French oak barrels that held Château Palmer wine, 18% virgin American oak barrels, and 16% Rivesaltes natural sweet wine barrels. In total, 9,048 exceptional bottles were produced, each embodying the purest expression of the Irish terroir.
Non-Peated - Without added peat for a natural and authentic aromatic profile.
For more information, discover the "Téireoir" section on the official Waterford website, where you can use the unique code located on the back of the bottle to trace the precise origin of your whisky.
