Wine

Cathal McBride: Irish whisky maker takes a leaf from winemakers’ book

Waterford Distillery takes a terroir-driven approach to its use of organically grown barley from up to 100 Irish farms

Mark Reynier, chief executive and owner, Waterford Distillery, spent 20 years in the wine industry

Terroir, essentially meaning “a sense of place”, is mostly a wine term, and one that we have come to understand relates to the environmental impact from soil, climate, site elevation and other unique characteristics that separates one winemaking region from another. Think of how a pinot noir from New Zealand displays different qualities from a pinot noir in Burgundy. That, in a condensed shiny nutshell, is terroir.

But what if we flip the page, and ...