If you remember, no long ago I reviewed two single farms Waterford whiskies I had to order online from abroad. As it happens, Waterford is now being imported to the land of milk & honey (a.k.a Israel, where I live), and that’s certainly a reason to be merry. The local imported has brought over two single farm editions to be sold initially, and this is one of them. He was kind enough to send over a bottle (cheers Kobi!) for me to taste and give my opinion, and I shall be doing just that.
The whisky at hand is yet another single farm whisky, meaning all the barley used to ferment and distill this one was grown by one farmer, in one farm in Ireland called Sheestown. Again, Waterford is offering unprecedented transparency into the whisky-making process, letting you say EVERYTHING, and by that I mean really EVERYTHING: From the farm on a map to the farmer, and soil type, sowing, and harvesting dates, and on and on – a treasure of information to a whisky geek such as myself. do yourself a favor and check this out, it’s amazing.
Looking at their info on the site, you can see the actual vatting : a mix of 33% First fill casks, 19% Virgin American casks, 25% Premium French casks, and 23% of Vin Doux Naturel casks.
Now let’s try some of that nectar, shall we?
Waterford Sheestown 1.2, 50% abv
Nose: Quite fruity and sweet on entry with a plethora of fruit: mainly peaches, apricots and apples, fruit cake and vanilla, sweet dough and orange zest alongside wood spices such as cinnamon and black pepper.
Palate: Starting very malty and rich with barley sugars, stewed fruit (apple and pear), alongside spices (the pepper is quite evident, but also ginger) which subside giving way to vanilla ice cream (very creamy), blood oranges, and more pepper.
Finish: Medium with spices, and more of the oranges, and a hint of mint chocolate.
Conclusion: Very nice stuff, not lacking complexity for such a youngster. This one’s big on the spice alongside the creamy and fruity notes. Certainly a good one, if not the best one I’ve had from Waterford. Solid 3-year-old performance from this one. Keep them coming, lads.
Score: 84/100
Available locally at Wineroute Israel, for 320 ILS.
I imported the Ballykilcavan 1.2 a few months ago – I have been following Waterford since Mark Raynier announced he was establishing a new distillery – and couldn’t wait to taste the output… really pleased to see they are now available in Israel so I can another bottle so can really make a ‘terrior’ comparison