Waterford The Cuvée 1.1 50% NV

Professionele reviews

Words of Whisky (87)

Nose: Big notes of apfelstrudel with warm vanilla sauce, as well as a strawberry reduction, nougat, plenty of toffee, and some shortbread too. Most importantly, there’s a lovely malty backbone highlighted by whole-grain bread and barley husks.
Taste: Rather oily from the get-go. Some spices like nutmeg and cardamom, but the barley talks loudest. Muesli, biscuits and a hint of porridge with lemon zest. There’s also an encore of the apple, more like a compote now.
Finish: A pinch of white pepper, but then sweet stone fruits, poached pears and flower honey. Medium in length.

CONCLUSION
Once again, very impressive. I also find it remarkable how much of a recognizable style Waterford already has. It seems as though they've really hit their groove, highlighted by this Waterford The Cuvée.

BOW (88)

The Definitive Waterford Whiskey
At Waterford Whiskey people love dates. All data of every Single Farm Edition created to date is maintained down to the smallest detail. There is therefore a wide spectrum of natural flavors defined by the soils and microclimates of Ireland.
So far this has led to several Single Farm Origins, centering on individual Irish farms. The final goal?
Creating and combining all the different components to produce the ultimate whiskey. This is what Waterford The Cuvée stands for: The Definitive Waterford Whiskey.
The Cuvée
The concept is inspired by the wine world, where the word Cuvée is well known. In the wine world, it refers to blending different grape varieties to create the ultimate wine.
Mark Reynier and his team have applied this concept to Waterford whiskey. No fewer than 25 different Waterford Single Malts – each from an individual farm – are aged together in one bottle. All the researched flavors of the different terroirs are married to bring together an ultimate complexity.
The label
This bottling has a special label on the front, designed by artist Leah Hewson. It had to be a label that is different from all other labels. Designed by someone who can visualize the rather unusual concept of The Cuvée.
Soon the young Irish artist Leah Hewson came into the picture and took on the challenge of interpreting The Cuvée, the concept, the philosophy and the people behind it..

Malt Fascination (83)

Sniff:
Quite grainy, with a dessert wine sweetness in the background. Green malt as well, but mostly heaps of barley.

Sip:
The palate packs quite a punch. Lots of dry grainy notes, lots of black pepper. There’s a grapeseed bitterness too.

Swallow:
The finish is a bit less expressive, and not very long. There’s some grain and wood, a very light bitterness.

It fits nicely in the range of Waterford whiskies, but it doesn’t stand out anywhere. Add to that that it misses the uniqueness of single estate whiskies and I kind of lose interest. Of course, keep in mind that if this is an entry point into what Waterford is doing it is a very fine example. But it also defeats the entire approach.

On top of that, it’s a nice whisky, but not a great one.