Waterford 2016 Organic Gaia 1.1 3 yo

 

 

 

50°

Distillery : Waterford - Ireland

1st Fill Bourbon, New American Oak, French Oak and Natural Sweet Wine Barrels

Original Bottling 

Limited Edition 

Single Malt 

Bottled in 2020

Unchilliltered, Uncoloured

Totally Unpeated 

After having sold Bruichladdich to Remy Cointreau in 2012, Mark Reynier went on to found Waterford in 2016, an Irish distillery whose principle is to reveal the power of terroir, that is, to show that the quality of whisky depends on the place where it was distilled and aged, and where the barley used to make it matured. And in 2020, the first whiskies were released, in the form of a number of limited editions. This one is an organic whisky named Gaia, after the goddess of the same name. It is distilled from organic Irish barley, and has undergone a fairly complex ageing process lasting 3 years and 11 months. 24,000 bottles have been released, it is a large limited edition. This expression won a silver medal at the World Whiskies Awards.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

There's something robust in this, it's very cereal-based, cereal bar, dried corn, granola, and some buttery toasts, white plums, mirabelles, violet in the background, a mineral note, quartz, salt, it's also earthy I think, dry earth. Silica. On the palate, still cereals, but it's a little more lively, vanilla milk and oat flakes, crusty bread, ample spices, milk chocolate. Long finish, wheat grains, reeds, the earth becomes softer, it's ferruginous, walnuts and hazelnuts, marzipan, dates.

 

In Short, 

After contributing to the creation of the modern whisky with Bruichladdich, Mark Reynier has gone even further with Waterford, arguably creating the post-modern whisky. It's a divisive bottling, criticised for its youth and for the values it defends, emphasising ecology and the notion of terroir. Others have excessively praised it for the same reasons. But when you simply taste the product, putting aside all the rhetoric and principles, you realise that it's very interesting, original and incredibly well made. The youthfulness of the distillate is barely noticeable, and the influence of the organic barley is impressive. This is something you absolutely must try if you're a whisky lover. Afterwards, you either like it or you don't, to each his own. As for the price, it's rather high for a three-year-old, but it's also a question of supporting a young, up-and-coming distillery.

Score : 88

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Old Heavy Hands - The Flood