New Irish Whisky is now in stock in Franks Sliema

Franks is the leading wine, whisky & cigar shop in Malta and […]

Franks is the leading wine, whisky & cigar shop in Malta and we are proud to stock Waterford Irish whiskies. Waterford is a whisky brand like no other, it is born out of the vision of Mark Reynier whose obsession with Terroir has driven him and his brand to exiting new heights in the world of single malts.

What makes Waterford Whisky so special?

The idea behind Waterford whisky is simple, it is to create the worlds best whisky by applying the philosophy of the wine world to single malts. However what does it mean?

Simply put the best wines in the world are not made from generic grapes grown around the world , fermented and then bottled. There is an idea of “terroir”, which means that the grapes act like a camera , but instead of capturing light, they capture the flavour of the area they are grown in. Of course each parcel of land is effected in different ways.

An area of high altitude will produce a fresher crop than a parcel of land in lower altitudes. This of course creates a difference in acidity between the 2 and so it effects the final aromas. Soil is a other factor that has major consequences on flavour and last but not least we are all testament to the simple fact that each year that passes is different to the one before.

This is were Mark started off, his question was simple. If terroir effect grapes, why are we assuming that it doesn’t effect barley? Isn’t it a crop that is receptive to the same notions of soil, light and time?

The story behind the whisky and the brand.

With this simple question Mark set off on a quest to find the perfect site for his new distillery. His previous job as the managing director of Bruichladdich thought him that the worlds best barley was grown in Ireland and so the emerald isle it was.

He and his team found a newly built but abandoned beer factory in Waterford and after some time he managed to buy it. Of course it was only logical to name his brand based on the concept of terroir after the town it was located in.

Once the deal was sealed he set about looking for the best parcels of land all around the country , contacted and explained each concept to the farmers and set off to work.

The Process.

Once the barley is grown each farmer delivers his crop to the main site where each plot is individually stored, this is called the cathedral. Storing each plot separate is of the utmost importance in ensuring traceability . speaking about honesty and traceability the detail the madmen at Waterford have gone through is nothing short of miraculous.

Every bottle of Waterford has a unique code at the back and once you enter this code on there site you are given a full breakdown of the entire history. What we are speaking of is the geographical location, the type of soil, the weather patterns during harvest, one can even listen to the sound of the field!

After having malted and distilled each plot to the highest standard they are placed in identical barrels ( a mixture of French and American oak). After a period of aging each whisky is then bottled at 50% and placed in the iconic glass blue bottles.

Where to find these mouthwatering whiskies?

We are currently stocking a variety of 5 different bottles which are the Sheestown 1.2, Ballymorgan 1.2, Gaia organic 1.1, Lakefield 1.1 and the Hook head 1.1.

Visit our shop in Franks, level 2 the plaza shopping centre, Sliema and ask to try a free sample or buy online via our website. Free delivery applies for purchases over 50 euro all over Malta & Gozo.