TERROIR
Ireland
Waterford Whisky Most whisky distillers can probably only tell you roughly where the barley they buy was grown. Not Waterford Whisky in Ireland, who can trace their grain to the specific farm, and tell you the name of the farmer too. Waterford works with about 40 growers a year, distilling each farm’s barley separately to capture the terroir – which it defines as the interaction of soil, microclimate and site – of each. Waterford is now the world’s largest producer of organic and biodynamic whisky. Waterford founder Mark Reynier has since set up the Renegade Rum Distillery in Grenada, with a similar terroir-led approach, and the rums are made with sugarcane juice rather than molasses. away from the distillery in Nairobi. The distinctive flavour of Juniperus procera is said to be a result of the high altitudes and sun it receives in the country’s highlands. Beyond this main botanical, Procera has the ambitious goal of bottling the terroir of its entire continent, exclusively sourcing its ingredients from across Africa – everything from coriander and orris root from Morocco, to cardamom and mace from Zanzibar and acacia honey from Somalia.
England
The Oxford Artisan Distillery
within a 50-mile radius. Local organic and regenerative farms provide crops that haven’t been commonly used for more than a century, making the distillery’s spirits an expression not only of this specific place but of its history too. Plus, the ancient methods of farming help to increase biodiversity in the local countryside. Through its Physic Gin, T.O.A.D. it also captures another very specific place – the University of Oxford’s Botanic Garden. This spirit celebrates the botanicals grown in this garden, first planted in the 1640s for the teaching of herbal medicine.
For The Oxford Artisan Distillery, whiskymaking starts in the field, with a focus on heritage grains grown specifically for them
33 THE COCK TAIL LOVERS / ISSUE 45
Scotland
Arbikie Distillery On the east coast of Scotland lies a true estate distillery, with the family-owned farm providing everything needed to produce its range of spirits. The focus isn’t on scotch whisky, as you might expect, but on vodka and gin. For some of these, spirit is produced from potatoes or wheat, while a climate-positive range, Nàdar, is distilled from peas. The estate provides all of the necessary botanicals too, from juniper to honey. There’s whisky but not scotch as you know it. Arbikie has begun making what it claims is the first Scottish rye whisky in more than 100 years. And like everything else, the grain is grown on the estate.
