March 2022 – Hi-Spirts Ireland

Waterford Whiskey Society welcomed Hi-Spirits Ireland for its third tasting of 2022 which was held in person in Revolution bar and online on Tuesday the 29th March.

The tasting was led by Ian Doogue their Senior Business Development Manager on the night who took us through a range of the core products from Sazerac as well as Paddy’s whiskey.

In general, within Buffalo Trace there are 24 x 348K Litre fermenters operating 24/7 and they run for 3-5 days fermentation, producing 3.5M Litres of spirit. Distillation runs 6 days er week expect Sundays.

Their current still house is 3 stories tall and is made up of a Column Still which is 12M High x 2M Wide in size – They don’t use pot stills – and produces 60,000 US gallons.

We also had the Society chocolate from Marco Cocoa which was made with our Thomand Gate release, as well as a distillate sample from the society’s most recent cask purchase from Blackwater distillery.

The line-up for the evening was as follows:

Paddy’s Share Irish Whiskey @47% – longer matured in Bourbon and finished in Sherry casks for a few months.

Buffalo Trace @ 40% – Their standard offering and is the same base liquid for the other bourbons, the difference being the length of aging and the location in the warehouses.

Eagle Rare 10 YO @45% – 10YO at 45% and used the same mash bill as Buffalo Trace.

EH Taylor Small Batch @50% – Again same mash bill as BT, same barrels, same char level, and nearly the same age just a higher ABV and location for maturation.

Sazerac Straight Rye @45% – 51% Rye, same distillation process, same barrels, 6YO which is unusual as most Rye’s are 4YO.

New Society Cask Program Distillate – from Blackwater Distillery 70.89% ABV. Distilled using our own unique mash bill and will be paid down in a sherry cask.

This was a great tasting, and we thank High Spirits Ireland and Ian Doogue for their continued support.
WWS.