Waterford Sheestown: Edition 1.1

Sheestown 1.1 is a Single Farm Origin release drawing on barley grown by Phil O'Brien just outside the historic town of Kilkenny. The Irish name for the location, Baile an fhasaigh, translates as 'the place of the lush grass'. The land sits on undulating, well drained lowland terroir predominantly derived from limestone and sandstone, with an average of 5 to 5.5 hours of direct sunlight per day. O'Brien has farmed the holding for around half a century and is the father of one of the distillery's own workers. The Irina barley variety was harvested in 2015 and distilled in June 2016 after a 131.5 hour fermentation. An outturn of 9,000 bottles was released after three years, ten months and 25 days of maturation. Every bottle carries the TÉIREOIR code linking to the specific field and cask records.

Maturation used four cask types: 35% first fill American oak, 21% virgin American oak, 25% premium French oak and 19% Vin Doux Naturel. First fill Bourbon contributes vanillin and coconut lactones through the charred inner wood. Virgin American oak adds toasted sugar and raw lignin derived spice. French oak delivers finer grained tannins with clove phenolics. The Vin Doux Naturel casks, previously used for fortified sweet wines from southern France, add oxidised fruit esters and concentrated sweetness. Bottled at 50% without chill filtration or added colour.

The nose shows lavender, earth after rain and honey. The palate layers malt sweetness with liquorice, pear and porridge, closing on white pepper, mint chocolate and toasted cracker.