Fenniscourt, Co. Carlow

Arcadian Barley, from our secret garden of delights, explores the flavours, intensity & honesty of old ways. Out of necessity, since the dawn of time, peat (or turf) has been the primary fuel source in rural Ireland, with its sweet pungency familiar to generations gathered around the hearths of ancient thatched cottages. This same diffused aroma cloaked barley dried over peat smoke by illicit distillers, a custom that died out in the 1850s. 

The lush, inland terroir of Fenniscourt in Co. Carlow has been farmed by the Byrne family since 1870, its rich Elton Series soils nourished by the River Barrow. For this whisky, their barley was kiln-dried during malting  by heat generated from sphagnum-rich peat from Niall Carroll’s cuttings at Ballyteige, Co. Kildare. The terroir’s character suited a medium peating intensity of 38ppm. Along with its sister bottling, Ballybannon, Peated Fenniscourt represents the first marriage of Irish barley and Irish peat in generations.

Appearance: Rich buttermilk with fabulous oils.

Nose: Turf (peat), saltiness, pear skin, woodland moss, hay, lemon skin, dried thyme, malted biscuits, marzipan, cooked banana, sweet floralness, wattle and daub, golden syrup.

Taste:  Farm tastes, dry rub that you would use on a barbecue, bog myrtle, clove sweets , leather, maraschino cherry, barley husks, gooseberry jam. 

Finish: Soft, earthy warmth, dry, finish in gentle waves.

An overcast summer’s day at Fenniscourt. This track starts out under the trees by the entrance to one of the barley fields. Heading down around the edge of the field, where the quiet is interrupted by the Waterford to Dublin train as it hurtle past on a line that spits the farmland, it’s a brief change of pace. We keep moving along the eastern edge of the field. The breeze picks up a little, blowing through the crop; the hedgerows are still busy and a buzzard flies overhead. There’s a wide headland along the northern edge of the field; the wild flowers here give the bees plenty to do before the rain sets in for the afternoon.