2. The War on Terroir

Terroir - a word and approach more associated with wine making than whisky making has had its critics and detractors since the first day Mark Reynier announced he was building a distillery on its very premise. In this episode of Terroir-Driven: The Waterford Whisky podcast, we hear from whisky industry experts and enthusiasts who paint a picture of a whisky industry that has followed a certain approach to whisky making for many years and how Waterford Distillery’s pursuit of a barley and a flavour-forward process has been met with raised eyebrows and criticism from whisky producers and consumers alike. We’ll hear how early criticisms led to the establishment of a scientific study to determine conclusively whether terroir has a verifiable impact on whisky’s flavour and we’ll pose some of the criticisms leveled against this terror-driven approach to those inside the distillery.