WATERFORD DISTILLERY APPOINTS TERROIR AGRONOMIST
Irish single malt whisky producer, Waterford Distillery, is delighted to announce that Grace O’Reilly will be joining the team as the company’s agronomist in charge of terroir.
Grace will be overseeing the distillery’s relationship with its barley growers, and deepening the company’s understanding of the barley grown across their multiple Irish terroirs.
Terroir is the French word used primarily in the wine trade to describe the interaction between soil, microclimate and place.
Grace will help unearth knowledge on how these variables influence the different flavours found in the terroir-derived distillates produced at Waterford Distillery.
Grace’s career started with the Minch Malt, part of maltsters Boortmalt, and was from day one closely involved with the distillery’s initial intricate barley logistics.
Latterly Grace was with agricultural specialists Glanbia, before joining Waterford Distillery directly. She has continued to advise malting barley growers over the past four harvests across Ireland’s tillage-growing regions.
Having witnessed first-hand the successes and challenges of localized barley production across Ireland, Grace has a profound understanding of the variance from field to field in a given growing season.
Waterford Distillery CEO Mark Reynier says: “Terroir, provenance and traceability may be trendy buzzwords frequently bandied about by marketing men, but to us they actually mean something.
“Heretical as it may seem, we can show that a whisky’s flavour can indeed be influenced by where its barley is grown.
“While large distillers understandably are reluctant to accept this inconvenience, we find it both compelling and intriguing. Grace’s appointment is a kind of ‘putting money where our mouth is’ thing.”
Grace O’Reilly added: “From the beginning I really enjoyed collaborating with the team at Waterford Distillery and I’m thrilled to be joining at this exciting stage.
“Waterford Distillery are leaders in a what I hope becomes a barley movement. The level of research and data that has been collected on the 71 farms so-far involved is astonishing, and proves how serious we are about terroir.”
“Growers are the gatekeepers of terroir and through the spirit we can see how all these factors can influence flavour.”
It is highly unusual for a whisky distillery to require its own in-house agronomist, but is indicative of the importance attributable to the extensive barley provisioning policy and the consequent understanding of terroir.
Given Waterford Distillery’s obsession with barley – the essential variable that makes single malt whisky the most complex spirit in the world – the team believes this appointment will further enhance the company’s pioneering exploration in to whisky terroir.
DISTILLERY HIGHLIGHTS
71 Irish barley growers across multiple terroirs – each with demonstrable traceability from field to barrel
Entirely sourced from one of the premier malting barley growing regions in the world
Each farm distilled individually
First to produce organic Irish whisky in the modern era – Organic Trust certified since 2016
First to distill using biodynamic Irish barley – Demeter certified since 2018
First to take part in major academic research into terroir and spirit distilled from barley
Distilling one million litres of spirit a year (LPA)
NOTES
Waterford Distillery is a major whisky project by the man behind the renaissance of Islay’s Bruichladdich single malt whisky.
We’re embarking on a long journey, a voyage as ambitious as it’s pioneering. The destination is to create not just the most compelling Irish whisky, but the world’s most profound single malt.
WATERFORD
We chose Waterford, for here on the banks of the river Suir, on Ireland’s sunny south-eastern coast, we have an exceptional state-of-the-art facility originally built by Diageo in 2004 and converted to distilling in 2015. And we have the finest quality raw materials: the purest of spring water from renowned ancient wells; a team of passionate distillers that share the vision; and the very best barley in the world.
BARLEY
The provenance of our barley, where and how it is cultivated, is therefore key. Taking proven principles from Islay a giant step further, we have sourced an unprecedented 71 Irish farms, some organically-run, growing barley on 19 distinct soil types. With a pioneering digital logistical system keeping track, each farmer’s crop is harvested, stored, malted and distilled separately. Thus we can capture in spirit each farm’s terroir, that subtle character shaped by micro-climate and soil. Individuality and integrity from field to barrel.
PROVENANCE
The goal of this precision, provenance with total traceability, is to provide us with an unparalleled library of maturing, nascent single malt whisky as each farm’s barley is distilled, one per week throughout the year.
WHISKY
The first whisky ran in January 2016. After maturing for several years in the best of French and American oak, we believe these component “single”, single malts, each one exhibiting its own nuances, will come together making the most profound single malt whisky ever created.
THE TERROIR PROJECT
The Waterford team is currently working with industry-leading researcher Dr Dustin Herb from Oregon State University, as well as the Irish agricultural body Teagasc, to demonstrate the influence of terroir on flavours found in barley distillates – another world-first for the industry. The results of this will be published towards the end of 2019.
WATERFORDDISTILLERY.IE
Waterford Distillery, Grattan Quay, Waterford, X91 KF51, Ireland
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