Waterford Bannow Island 1.2 (50%, OB, 2020)
- ABV: 50%
- Age: 4 Years Old
- Bottling: OB
- Category: Irish single malt whiskey
- Cost: £69.95
- Origin: Waterford distillery
- Vintage: 2016
What they say
Part of the second wave of whiskies from Waterford, Bannow Island 1.2 is made using barley grown on the extreme southern coast of County Wexford by Ed Harpur. Aromas of pears, green apples, salted toffee, toasted barley and vanilla on the nose, as well as vanilla, white grapes and white pepper. The palate offers notes of apple crumble, cinnamon, toffee, lime zest and ginger, followed by butterscotch, white grapes and white pepper.
What I say
Dram #4 from Water of Life Society Tasting 104 Unconventional Tasting. Paired with Dram #3 Waterford Sheestown 1.1. Finally a chance to see what all the fuss is about regarding Terroir-driven whiskey.
My tasting notes:
- Appearance: White Burgundy (5/20), slow-forming, medium tears and fine legs.
- Nose: Cardboard a little wet, drying linen, some fruity apple and pear, marzipan, frangipane tart/tart tatin, a touch of salt caramel, touch of florality and some oak wood.
- Taste: Quite light and very vaporous on the palate, spicy, lemon zest, ginger, white pepper and chilli flakes, oddly oily and fatty, slightly rancid salted butter, lacking in malt – this feels much more like a grain whisky.
- Finish: Medium, sweet, lemon and cod liver oil
Overall
Salty and oily fish with a dash of lemon juice – not flavours I’m really looking for in a whisky. Whilst Terroir-driven whiskey may be a fantastical experiment/marketing hack to sell Waterford they seriously need to improve their output to tempt me into drinking it again.
Score 66/100
Don’t take my word for it:
The Whiskey Nut reviews Waterford Bannow Island 1.2
Bloggers submit link to your review
Categories: Ireland
I must admit to being somewhat deflated by this whiskey.
I’ve had better poitin!
Needs more time in the barrel.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t comment personally but others on the tasting who have tried Waterford New Makes said they were a lot more promising than this final product!?
LikeLike