Key Facts

EDITION	1.1
HARVESTED	12 AUGUST 2016
DISTILLED	WEEK 22, 2017
Maturation	1989 DAYS OR 5 YEARS, 5 MONTH 12 DAYS
ABV	50%
No. of Bottles	2000
For Market	Hawksmoor Exclusive (UK)
Bottled	February 2023

Blackcastle Co. Kildare

Located 5 miles north of Carlow in County Kildare, Blackcastle is a lush, fertile place on the eastern banks of the River Greese, just before it joins the Barrow. These alluvial soils have nourished agricultural communities here for millennia, including the 6th century Monastery at Dunmanoge whose ruins still stand today. A richly productive terroir set upon a thick limestone-derived clay of the outstanding Elton Series, which nurtures whiskies of particular textural unctuousness & weight, it is tended by Leonard Ashmore whose family have grown barley here since the 19th century.

The Sound of Blackcastle

Blackcastle – 17th August 2020 A soft day at Blackcastle. This track starts out in the yard with the rain falling gently, and a door banging in the light breeze. We move inside, taking shelter from the rain inside a shed storing this year’s crop for Waterford. Harvested just before the dry spell ended, and ready for collection in the coming days, it sits there waiting as the rain runs down the corrugated roof. Moving back outside, through a narrow alley between two buildings, with the rain falling in the puddles. We head out to the back of the yard and down along the River Greese, arriving at the harvested fields. The rain eases off. The breeze picks up a little as traffic passes on the road nearby, and birds come out of cover.

Waterford Distillery · Single Farm Origin: Blackcastle

BARLEY TIMELINES

SOWN	21 March 2016
HARVESTED	12 August 2016
Arrived at Cathedral	13 August 2016
Went to Maltings	20 April 2017
Arrived at Distillery	11 May 2017
Fermentation Started	25 May 2017
Distillation Started	30 May 2017
Distillation Finished	8 June 2017
Filled at Warehouse	12 June 2017
Marriage of Casks	22 November 2022
Sent for Bottling	17 February 2023

The Distillers

James Ellickson Ian O'Brien Padraic Power Cian Dirrane

TERROIR

FIELDS

SOIL

CREDIT: TEAGASC.

series	Elton ASSOCIATION
type	LUVISOL
pdf	Elton Association
description	Fine loamy drift with limestones Elton Association (Elton, Kellistown, Baggotstown, Mylerstown, Ballylusky, NewInn, Cloonmore, Newtown and Greenane series)
elevation	360 - 400 Feet
sunlight	Average 6-6.5 Hours

Growers

Grower

Farm

County

Type

Leonard & Barry Ashmore

Blackcastle

Kildare

Conventional

BARLEY, YEAST & WATER

VARIETY	Planet
Yeast	Mauri Distiller's Yeast
Production Water	Volcanic Aquifier
Fermentation	141 Hours

Head Distiller's Observations

Appearance: Copper with a peach hue and oily legs that pause a while on their journey.

Nose: Figs, chilly chocolate, malted biscuits, 3 peel marmalade, cola cube sweets, lavender, crème brûlée, dry clay, butterscotch, fresh loaf, leather.

Taste: White pepper, chilly chocolate, honey, grapefruit, lemon sherbet, bell pepper, ginger, stone fruits, liquorice, coriander, dry, brown sugar.

Finish: Dry with gentle spice that leaves a tingle on the tongue.

cask no.

cask type

cask fill

cooperage

fill date

farm

10461

FIRST FILL U.S.

195.94

Four Roses Distillery

12 June 2017