Waterford Distillery launches flagship bottling Cuvée Koffi
Nathanael Koffi is the artist, and namesake, behind Waterford Whisky's new flagship bottling.
Waterford Distillery has launched their newest flagship bottling with The Waterford - Cuveé Koffi.
It is their oldest whisky yet at six to seven years old, using single farm origin of 100% Irish barley, grown on individual terroirs across the south east of Ireland.
According to Waterford Whisky: "After six years in a superlative spectrum of French and American oak for harmony and balance we present our most expressive, profound and complex single malt - where the whole is greater than simply the sum of its parts."
The Cuvée Koffi is named after French artist Nathaniël Koffi, who created the vibrant bottle design.
According to the Head Distiller Ned Grahan, his first taste of the cuvée felt like: "Spices gently dancing on my tongue, lemon and strawberry shortbread biscuits, black pepper, grapefruit, chilli chocolate, oyster crackers, barley sugar, summer fruit compote, liquorice all sorts sweets."
For the nose, Ned noted: "Interesting combination of red apple on homemade brown bread, washed down with a cup of tea, delish! Three peel marmalade, white pepper tingle, mixed dry herbs, cola cubes and sherbet sweets, light lavender in fresh soil."
As for the finish: "Long and dry gentle spiciness that lasts and leads to mouth-watering with dried fruits, which all meanders on."
Waterford Whisky is the world's largest producer of organic and biodynamic whisky.
Since their inception, the company has gone from strength to strength, brokering deals with overseas brands and attracting more and more visitors to their Grattan Quay-based distillery. Mark Reynier, CEO and founder of Waterford Distillery, said: “Our years of natural flavour exploration have led us to this momentous bottling. The Waterford – Cuvée Koffi is no ordinary whisky. It’s our lodestar. Made from Irish-grown barley that is harvested, malted and distilled separately, then layered together one after another, to achieve the most natural, complex, flavoursome single malt."
Mark went on: “Our whisky has the audacity and generosity to actually taste of barley – ours is agricultural produce, not a manufactured product.
"Our vision from the start has always been to challenge the whisky status quo and show how whisky’s core ingredient – the barley – is responsible for its natural flavours, and Cuvée Koffi is further proof of that concept."
He ended: “The Waterford now becomes the apogee of our portfolio and the benchmark for future cuvée concepts we will bring to market later this year.”
