Waterford Peated Fenniscourt Whisky Review!

A peated Irish single malt that isn't Connemara, and one that actually uses Irish peat! It's also natural colour, non-chill filtered, and bottled at a good strength. This should be interesting!

Some pedantry before we get to it: yes, most Irish whiskeys use the "e" spelling, but Waterford choose not to. Because I'm a pedant, when I'm talking about Irish spirits in general I'll use both, when I'm only talking about Waterford I won't use the "e". Let's not forget that outside of Scotland, where the spelling is actually listed in the regulations, it doesn't matter and makes no real difference. 

Peated Irish whiskies / whiskeys are few & far between. Historically there would've been some peat used in the making of most or even all Irish malt whiskeys/whiskies, but just like in Scotch whiskies this became less popular over time and in the Irish example disappeared completely when the Irish whiskey industry consolidated into a single distillery (Midleton). It's also not in keeping with the traditional style of the Irish pot still whiskeys, which use both unmalted & malted barley, plus up to 5% of other grains in the mash bill. The most accessible and only large-scale commercial peated Irish whisky/whiskey is Beam Suntory's Connemara, and is produced at Cooley Distillery in Northern Ireland. Cooley was sold to Jim Beam in 2011 and only produces double distilled whisky/whiskey in their pot stills, which may not be what Irish whisky/whiskey is widely known for, but is actually more common than you may think. Cooley also has column stills on-site for grain whisky, primarily used for their blended products, but the Connemara brand is a single malt produced from 100% malted barley. It uses a component of peated barley sourced from Scotland mixed with unpeated barley, to a total level of around 15-20 ppm for their core range products. The next stop in scale from there is the triple distilled Teeling Blackpitts, but I can't find any word on where their peated barley is sourced from - which leads me to believe it'll be sourced from Scotland. There are a couple of other smaller brands of "sourced whiskey" who delve in to the peated stuff, but these are generally also sourced from Cooley, which again means peated Scottish barley. Tiny distillery Killowen has also produced some peaty whiskeys, but I believe they've only used ex-peated whisky/whiskey casks rather than distilling from peated barley, which doesn't make a peated whisky/whiskey.

So as far as I'm aware, Waterford's use of Irish peat, known locally as turf, in the drying of their malted barley makes them entirely unique in Irish whisky/whiskey. As mentioned above most peated Irish malt employs peated malted barley sourced from Scotland, rather than having their barley malted and peated locally in Ireland. Given Waterford's focus on terroir and being as Irish as possible, that setup was never going to fly with them. The Irish peat or turf used for this Fenniscourt expression was sourced from County Kildare, west of Dublin, so the peat is not particularly coastal and is closer to what we'd call mainland peat in Scotch whisky. Peat is just as abundant in Ireland as it is in Scotland, but is used more for industrial and agricultural purposes there and aside from Waterford is not used by the local whisky/whiskey industry at all. Since there were apparently no willing malting kilns in Ireland Waterford's barley had to be peated and malted in Scotland, meaning that the Irish peat was sent over with the Irish barley which was malted in separate batches to retain the single farm provenance for each release. I can't find official word on where in Scotland that malting took place, but given owner Mark Reynier's relationship with Baird's Maltings in Inverness since his Bruichladdich days, and the flexibility that company showed by producing the barley used for Octomore, I'd say there's a good chance they were the destination of choice for the Irish barley & peat used by Waterford. That may seem like a lot of extra effort to a casual observer, but with Waterford's push for terroir, provenance, and transparency (see here for more information), it's absolutely crucial. To use Scottish peated malted barley or even Scottish peat with Irish barley would completely go against their ethos as a distillery, regardless of where the barley was malted. It would also remove a major point of differentiation thanks to the unique composition of the peat itself.  

My first look at Waterford single malt whisky was the impressive "Hook Head 1.1" unpeated expression, reviewed here around 18-months ago. The first two peated Waterford expressions were released in late 2022-early 2023, named Fenniscourt and Ballybannon after the individual farms where the barley was grown, in the Waterford tradition for all but their larger "cuvee" bottlings. The Fenniscourt release we're looking at here was distilled from Irish barley peated to 38 ppm, while the Ballybannon was peated to 47 ppm. There have been two more peated Waterford releases since that were distilled from more heavily peated malt; Lacken at 57 ppm, and Woodbrook at 74 ppm. As always it's important to note that those ppm levels are measured on the malted barley, prior to milling, fermenting, distillation, and maturation, all of which reduce that ppm level. The general rule of thumb is that around 60% of the phenolic content will be lost during production and maturation, but that varies massively depending on the distillery's production regimen, and the age of the whisky. Given Waterford owner Mark Reynier's past involvement with Octomore as the former owner of Bruichladdich, he's no stranger to using these ppm measurements to great effect. But when it comes to how peaty/smoky any whisky is, the proof is in the pudding rather than the ppm figures. 

Waterford Peated Fenniscourt was distilled in September 2018 from Laureate barley grown on Fenniscourt Farm, located around 60km north of Waterford Distillery. The barley was peated to 38 ppm using Irish mainland peat, and it was fermented for 187 hours or nearly eight days, which would have to be one of the longest fermentation periods in Ireland if not the outright longest. After double-distillation in Waterford's copper pot stills it was filled in a mix of virgin American oak, American oak ex-bourbon, French oak premium wine casks including red wine and sauternes, and fortified wine / vin du naturel casks. Most of the Waterford malts that I've taken a look at so far have used a similar mix of casks, which is an interesting move. Given the push towards the barley and the provenance of the ingredients, it'd be nice to see a straight first-fill ex-bourbon maturation! Waterford Peated Fenniscourt was left to age for 3-years and 8-months before being bottled at 50% ABV in August 2022, and it is of course natural colour and non-chill filtered. A quick note here on the term vin doux naturel! This is just a generic French term for a fortified wine that has been fortified with grape spirit, but the term is being used by some distilleries - chiefly Bruichladdich and Waterford, so Mr. Reynier's background in the wine industry is showing again - as a catch-all to refer to any fortified wine. Waterford pricing here in Australia is a little steep, typically around the $140-160 AUD level depending on your retailer of choice. That's not a ridiculous price here in 2024, but a little steep for a relatively niche product that is still very young and little known. Personally I purchased this Fenniscourt bottling overseas for around $90 AUD, and it's an absolute bargain at that level.

Waterford Peated Fenniscourt 1.1, NAS (but see below), 50% ABV. Waterford, Ireland. 

Distilled Sept 2018 from Irish barley peated to 38 ppm using Irish mainland peat. Matured in first-fill ex-bourbon, virgin American oak, premium French wine (including sauternes) and French fortified wine (vin du naturel) casks. Bottled August 2022, so 3-years and 8-months old. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 11,898 bottles. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Sweet & sour, dry & earthy. Very different! Dry vegetal smoke (herbal, leafy, plant roots), fresh sourdough bread, and sprite soft drink / soda (lemonade). Fatty smoked bacon, slightly rusty metallic note (old copper coins), and creamy sweet crème anglaise (custard). Yeasty & earthy (fresh soil), lime peel, olive bread, and baking soda. Malty as well, but in a sour ale way. 

Texture: Medium weight. Silky, creamy, sweet, dry, and smoky. No heat at all. 

Taste: Dry leafy & vegetal smoke again, with more plant roots. Sweet yellow fruits (banana, touch of peach and melon - sauternes casks showing nicely), slightly floral. Creamy custard, oat biscuits, and more sprite / lemonade. Touch of horseradish, dried herbs, and yeasty olive bread. Fresh soil & sour ale (beer) heading in to the finish. 

Finish: Long length. Dry vegetal smoke carries through, and that metallic rusty note comes back. Black peppercorns, horseradish again, and that yeasty sourdough and olive bread. Getting sweeter then with the yellow fruits (banana, melon, peach) joined by candied lime peel in white chocolate. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Absolutely fascinating whisky! The smoke is totally different to any peated whisky that I've come across to date, which is exactly what you'd hope for. That dry vegetal smoke is very roots & shoots, leafy herbs and dry earth. Couple that with the yeasty sourdough, olive bread, sweet fruit, and metallic notes, and you have one complex and intriguing - and rather delicious - peated Irish single malt whisky. This Waterford does come across as being almost entirely spirit-driven, save for those yellow fruit notes from the sauternes casks, but there's absolutely no lack of complexity or quality despite the youth. It may be a little divisive if you're new to dry-ish, earthy, and smoky whiskies, but if you're open to the idea and like a bit of refreshing difference, this is certainly worth a try. And if you're an accomplished peated whisky drinker you'll probably find it just as fascinating and enjoyable as I did!

Waterford are really doing things differently in the Irish single malt scene, and this peated example is even more of a departure. Unfortunately the local pricing here in Australia is a little steep, with most expressions being on the wrong side of the $150 AUD mark. Some can be found at the more premium branches of our largest liquor retailer for $20 less, which puts them more on par with competitors from Scotland at similar ages. As mentioned above I purchased this overseas for a significantly lower price, so would I pay $150 for it? After tasting it, the answer is yes. Would I have bought it at that $150 level without tasting it first? Probably not! Which is why it's certainly worthy of a review. So if you can find it at a reasonable price in your corner of the world, I highly recommend giving this peated Waterford a go!

Cheers!