When we began our distillery journey, we were fascinated by the idea that we could bring a sense of place into the spirits that we were creating. The Welsh Origin whisky story is a continuation of that journey - our desire has always been to create an expression of the land where we live and work, and it makes sense that we should continue this with our Welsh origin whisky project.
In gin, the use of locally available botanicals satisfies that intention. With whisky, we began to think more laterally, developing the idea that the barley and the land where it is grown could deliver something to the flavour profile of whisky - not simply the cask. Just as terroir is inextricably linked with wine, we began to talk about 'tir' (Welsh for 'land') in connection with our whisky project, and explore these possibilities further. Surely a Welsh origin whisky would taste irrefutably of 'Wales'. We're not alone either. And while it isn't an idea that's gained widespread approval yet, we were excited to read a recently-published, peer-reviewed study involving Waterford Distillery and their Whisky Terroir project.
“The impact of terroir on the Flavour of Single Malt Whisky New Make Spirit” reports game-changing research which demonstrates that terroir influences the flavours in barley and the spirit distilled from that barley. Not just a feeling that barley and the land must have an impact on flavour profile, but a study that has been peer-reviewed which attests to this.
Waterford's approach has been hugely influential on our own plans for distilling. Their single farm distillations garner great praise, and we're confident that our Welsh origin whisky can achieve the same in terms of flavour and respect.
Here on the cusp of bringing our grain to glass Welsh origin whisky to life, it's exciting to see evidence to support our belief that our barley and where it is grown would make a difference to the flavour of our spirit.
You can read more about the Waterford Distillery research here.
