WATERFORD DISTILLERY LAUNCHES NEW FLAGSHIP BOTTLING: THE WATERFORD – CUVÉE KOFFI
Waterford Distillery has launched its oldest whisky to date: The Waterford – Cuvée Koffi
In The Waterford – Cuvée Koffi natural flavour, unearthed farm by farm, is layered together to create the distillery’s most complex single malt experience
24 distinct Irish Single Farm Origins come together to create this lodestar release, in which terroir-driven philosophy meets cuvée creativity
French artist Nathanaël Koffi has created a packaging design to complement the whisky’s complex and intricate flavours
Waterford Distillery, producer of the most naturally flavoursome single malts, has today launched its new flagship bottling: The Waterford – Cuvée Koffi.
Inspired by greatest Bordeaux châteaux and Champagne Grande Marques, The Waterford – Cuvée Koffi’s distinct and natural profile has been curated through layering together 24 individual Single Farm Origins of between six and seven years of age. Each Single Farm Origin was distilled separately, using 100% local Irish barley grown on individual terroirs across the south east of Ireland.
Free from artificial colouring, additives and chill-filtration – bottled at a robust 50% ABV – The Waterford is an assemblage created from four distinct cask types: 36% First Fill American Oak, 17% Virgin American Oak, 21% Premium French Oak and 26% Vin Doux Naturel. At 6 years of age, this release marks a new era for the terroir-driven producer.
The Waterford also includes the brand’s signature TÉIREOIR code, providing drinkers with an unprecedented transparent and traceable overview of each whisky’s journey from barley to bottle.
To complement the whisky’s complex flavours, rising star of the French art scene, Nathanaël Koffi, collaborated with the brand to create a striking label and packaging design. The vibrant, multi-dimensional colours and patterns reflect the complexity of each bottling: the component terroirs, the diverse cask profile, and assemblage – in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Mark Reynier, CEO and Founder of Waterford Distillery, said: “Our years of natural flavour exploration with have led us to this momentous bottling. The Waterford – Cuvée Koffi is no ordinary whisky. It’s our lodestar. Made from Irish-grown barley that is harvested, malted and distilled separately, then layered together on after another, to achieve the most natural, complex, flavoursome single malt.
“Our whisky has the audacity and generosity to actually taste of barley – ours is agricultural produce, not a manufactured product. Our vision from the start has always been to challenge the whisky status-quo and show how whisky’s core ingredient – the barley – is responsible for its natural flavours, and Cuvée Koffi is further proof of that concept. “The Waterford now becomes the apogee of our portfolio and the benchmark for future cuvée concepts we will bring to market later this year.”
Tasting Notes by Ned Gahan, Head Distiller at Waterford Distillery:
Appearance: Amber gold and thick oils that slowly descend the glass.
Nose: Interesting combination of red apple on homemade brown bread, washed down with a cup of tea, delish! Three peel marmalade, white pepper tingle, mixed dry herbs, cola cubes and sherbet sweets, light lavender in fresh soil.
Taste: Spices gently dancing on my tongue, lemon and strawberry shortbread biscuits, black pepper, grapefruit, chilli chocolate, oyster crackers, barley sugar, summer fruit compote, liquorice all sorts sweets.
Finish: Long and dry gentle spiciness that lasts and leads to mouth-watering with dried fruits which all meanders on.
The Waterford Cuvée: Koffi is available to purchase now from Waterford Distillery online, Master of Malt and worldwide at key retailers as a permanent listing, priced at approx. €85.50, £73 and US$91.50 respectively.
About Waterford Whisky
Waterford Whisky produces the most naturally flavoursome single malts.
It is the world’s largest producer of organic and biodynamic whiskies.
It is agricultural produce, not a manufactured product.
Unashamedly influenced by the world’s greatest winemakers, Waterford Whisky obsessively brings the same intellectual drive, methodology and rigour to barley – the very source of malt whisky’s complex flavour.
Extolling a hundred exclusive farms of Irish-grown barley, the distillery searches for natural flavours via three paths: its Single Farm Origins pursue the individualism of terroir-derived flavour; its Arcadian Farm Origins express the intensity of flavour from alternative philosophies and long-forgotten varieties; whilst its Cuvée Concepts revel in the ultimate complexity, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
For more information, visit www.waterfordwhisky.com.
