Each Single Farm Origin – an individual Waterford Single Malt Whisky in its own right – is made exclusively from Irish-grown barley, harvested, malted and distilled separately for complete flavour integrity.

Whilst the distillery has revelled in such individuality, it is only when there is a fusion of individual terroirs that Waterford Whisky can fulfil its ambitions to create the ultimate single malt whisky.

CEO Mark Reynier says: “Coming from a wine background I have always been intrigued by how the very greatest Bordeaux wines were made. Rather than generically bundling up their grapes in to a single wine they went to the effort of making several individual wines instead, each one expressing a terroir-derived personality of its own. Only after months of maturation are these component wines assembled – each bringing its own flavour character – to make a single profound wine of greater complexity, the Grand Vin. Why not with whisky? This is the vision seven years in the making, the essence of the Waterford project.

“Single Farm Origin whiskies, each one defined by its own Irish-grown barley, each one distinctly different – all of them Waterford single malts – come together for the first time. Here the whole is even more than simply the sum of its parts: the result is our vision of how to create the most complex and profound single malt possible.”

To create The Cuvée, Head Distiller Ned Gahan layered together 25 individually distilled Single Farm Origins, drawn from a combination of premium American and French oak barrels.

It has notes of red apples, breadcrust, green foliage, lavender, digestive biscuits, oranges, fresh mint, coffee cake, with a distinctly oily, textured palate delivering grapefruit, lemon zest, dark chocolate, cherries, granola and marmalade with an extraordinary length of flavour.

It is bottled at 50% ABV with no chill-filtration, no colouring – a totally natural whisky – and with a RRP of €70-80/£70/$95.