Wiring and pipe work continues a pace pic.twitter.com/p4TYbb7tVB
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) November 6, 2015
"Thar' she blows!" Steam trials into the mash house. pic.twitter.com/tovQtbUdz6
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) November 6, 2015
The Waterford Turkish Baths pic.twitter.com/FkJRCqhl2R
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) November 6, 2015
Project leader, FDT's John Regan (red vest), gives briefing to distilling team in new control room pic.twitter.com/dnvMUDO8hS
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) November 12, 2015
Gerry ran the mill today (without grain). it ran very smoothly indeed. A lot tested this week. A great week . pic.twitter.com/WQvYWZSqkN
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) November 13, 2015
A copper mural by Pauline O'Connel tucked away behind the distillery pic.twitter.com/EKqJBcpaJO
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) November 20, 2015
The wash still plate – though built in 1972 for Inverleven, but only ever used for 15 out 43 years pic.twitter.com/cS9LphDpSS
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) November 20, 2015
Lisa's first delivery of yeast arrives… #Getting serious pic.twitter.com/WfOfC0PJ6d
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) November 23, 2015
Looking through the square window. Ooh that looks good; very neat, very cool. Nice one Paul. pic.twitter.com/cSe0gWpWVb
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) November 23, 2015
See the pale blue platform on right? We're going to bridge over to railings on left for a spectacular viewing area. pic.twitter.com/HEv1ovhd1E
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) November 26, 2015
Intriguing thermal images of the wash still and its condenser. It's a simple concept… pic.twitter.com/lXOsIANdPF
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) November 27, 2015
Skylights let even more light flood in to this extraordinary still house. pic.twitter.com/nVlN8qY2tV
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 1, 2015
8 days to go and counting… pic.twitter.com/hAUpV1h9ib
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 1, 2015
Still don't have our distilling license – with a week to go. Yet more spurious & frustrating hurdles to overcome. Could be embarrassing.
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 2, 2015
Ned in the control room with engineers & programmers… pic.twitter.com/9pCKP47TIa
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 2, 2015
Very pleased to report that we now have our license to distill. We are officially a distillery. Here we come!
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 4, 2015
The first mash can now take place: we'll be mashing today & over weekend. First Waterford spirit to be distilled in 201 years on Wednesday
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 4, 2015
First wort collected for strength testing – Ned with Cian & Ian – encouraging start… pic.twitter.com/sh8QzTOBDy
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 4, 2015
Ned checks the spirit safe one last time: First wash still distillation about to start! pic.twitter.com/lfmU33ROOe
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 7, 2015
First distillation – the wash still – starts up. Pressure rises, platform rattling… pic.twitter.com/Klxgd4Yayv
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 7, 2015
Disitillery manager Paul & Mark – we're on the point of no return, the wash still is 10 mins away from Low Wines… pic.twitter.com/NOILVA6Tjb
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 7, 2015
Still nothing happening… I know I said I wanted a "slow distillation" – but this is a mere dribble…! pic.twitter.com/pusq3tWEUD
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 7, 2015
A trickle… pic.twitter.com/MghJciudqJ
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 7, 2015
Here she comes! That's more like it! pic.twitter.com/NgMapsGSN0
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 7, 2015
400 litres per hour! Here she comes… pic.twitter.com/j7aGL6uVCT
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 7, 2015
We have Low Wines. Step 1. Coming off at about 50% ABV at first, & reducing; will average around 24% when all's done pic.twitter.com/OpmYRHLpAP
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 7, 2015
Chief engineer Anthony, head brewer Lisa, distillery manager Paul & head distiller Ned. Guys you've done a great job pic.twitter.com/LoHAUGcOJG
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 7, 2015
The spirit still will run on Wednesday with the first spirit run, the whiskey itself, scheduled for noon on Whiskey Wednesday
— Waterford Distillery (@WaterfordWhisky) December 7, 2015
Whiskey Wednesday, around noon, should be the first spirit run in Waterford city for 200 years – join us via webcam waterforddistillery.ie
— Mark Reynier (@markreynier) December 7, 2015
That is the Twitter equivalent of those montages in the A-Team when BA transforms some old rusted car parts into a Black Hawk stealth chopper.
Mark Reynier’s crack team have taken an old Guinness brewery and turned it into a state-of-the-art distillery in a very short space of time, and are now ready to distill. It seems like only yesterday that the whisky world was asking ‘where the hell is Waterford?’ when Reynier resurfaced there, but since then he has put in place an incredibly detailed and transparent traceability system for his grain supply, and has deconstructed and reconstructed the brewery to suit his need – that need being, specifically, to bring some ‘mindfuckery’to Irish whiskey. But more than that, he is bringing honesty; no dressing up Cooley stock, no vagueness about sourcing grain, and a respect for the past without exploiting it; ie, no marketing bullshit. If he follows the Bruichladdich template, this will be about terroir, experimentation and hopefully the same wild spirit of adventure. And at least the weather is better than Islay.
Here’s a short film about what he has done in the sunny south east:
