Waterford Hook Head 1.1 Single Farm Irish Malt

A single malt Irish whisky from Waterford's Single Farm Origin series. All the barley for this expression comes from the Hook Head farm in Ireland's County Wexford. It showcases the influence of coastal terroir with the proximity to the sea imparting subtle notes of salt and a slightly briny character to the final product. It's another of Waterford's exploration of how even subtle changes in a barley's growing environment can drastically change a whisky's flavour profile.

Waterford Whisky may have gone into administration in late 2024, but since its demise, its cult following has only grown and bottles are steadily becoming harder to find. Founded in 2015 by Mark Reynier, they only had a short life, but made a big impact. Their USP was exploring terroir's impact on whisky by championing a barley-forward approach and, in collaboration with individual farmers, selecting grain from unique soils and microclimates and distilling each harvest separately to create distinctive single origin whiskies that showed clear, farm-by-farm flavour influence. Sadly it was a project not destined for success, but such was their reputation that remaining bottlings are slowly becoming collector's items.