Waterford Distillery, has today announced the UK launch of Ireland's first certified organic whisky.
Waterford ORGANIC: GAIA 1.1 (50% ABV) has been produced using whiskies matured in a combination of first fill American oak – 42%, American virgin oak –
17%, French oak – 23% and Vin Doux Naturel (sweet fortified wine) 18%.
 |
| Waterford ORGANIC: GAIA 1.1 |
The latest release is part of the brand’s new Arcadian Series, which is a provenance-driven range of Irish whiskies made from organic, biodynamic and heritage grains. The series celebrates radical barley growers and alternative farming philosophies.
Waterford ORGANIC: GAIA 1.1, which takes its name from the
Greek goddess symbol of the Earth, was distilled in 2016 from 100% organic
Irish barley grown by six small, dedicated farmers. John Mallick, Paddy Tobin,
Alan Jackson, Pat and Denis Booth, Jason Stanley and Trevor Harris, who rose to
the challenge laid down by Waterford Distillery to produce the first Irish-grown
organic malting barley.
Commenting on the news, Mark Reynier, Waterford Distillery
Founder and CEO, said: “At Waterford, we have placed barley – where and how it
is grown – at the heart of what we do, curious about where the real whisky
flavour may be found. A natural progression of this philosophy is to see what
not only single farm origins can accomplish but what organically grown barley
can do when it is given the right platform. Compliance for organic status is not
straight forward by any means – there’s a lot of hoops to jump through, deep
cleaning regimens, audits and assessments to undergo. So, is it worth it?
We certainly think so, what we lose in yield and hair pulling we gain in purity
and definition of flavour.”
He went onto say: "We’re not playing at it; we lay down
400 to 600 casks of organic spirit a year, we buy all the Irish grown organic
malting barley that can get our hands on. Waterford Organic will be a main
player in our ongoing portfolio for the discerning whisky drinker."
Waterford ORGANIC: GAIA 1.1, which will be exclusively distributed
in the UK by Speciality Brands, will be available later this month from
specialist retailers, for a RRP of £77.00.
Posted by Steve Rush