{"id":246830,"date":"2025-05-19T06:54:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T06:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/recipes\/category-a-b\/beer\/waterford-cuvee-koffi-a-dram-that-does-too-much-total-ales\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T06:54:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T06:54:05","slug":"waterford-cuvee-koffi-a-dram-that-does-too-much-total-ales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=246830","title":{"rendered":"Waterford Cuv\u00e9e Koffi \u2014 A Dram That Does Too Much \u2014 TOTAL ALES"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Recently, I was kindly sent a bottle of Cuv\u00e9e Koffi, a single malt whisky from Waterford Whisky<\/span><\/a>, a distillery based in the Irish town of the same name.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t write a lot about whisky, but it\u2019s something I enjoy immensely, and would like to write about a bit more. I particularly enjoy American bourbon and rye, but love Islay and Speyside whiskies, as much as I do Irish whisky. Or whiskey, depending on whether the distillery in question uses the \u2018e\u2019. Waterford do not.<\/p>\n

When it comes to Irish whisk(e)y, at the moment I am particularly fond of booth Teeling, and Redbreast 12. Both are what I would call \u2018every day sippers\u2019 because neither are particularly pricy, with the Redbreast 12 being slightly more expensive at just over \u00a350 a bottle. But both are inherently mellow and smooth, with the Teeling showcasing delicate notes of citrus amid pockets of honeyed sweetness, while the Redbreast has a touch more sherried complexity: figs, dates, apricots, and marzipan. I want it to bake me a cake.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never tried a whisky from Waterford before, so I was excited to have the opportunity. I suspect this bottle arrived at my doorstep because Waterford are big into talking about terroir<\/em> and using single farm origin barley varieties. Cuv\u00e9e Koffi is reportedly their ultimate expression of this, bringing together single origin barley from no less than 24 farms, each harvest producing a standalone distillation before coming together as this whisky. A megablend of terroir, if you will.<\/p>\n

You might know that I have argued about terroir before<\/span><\/a>. It gets me in a bit of trouble when I do. It is my belief that terroir is a representation of everything that happens to ingredients before they are influenced by human intervention. I generally find that about 50% of people agree with me on this, and the other 50% argue that terroir is a direct<\/em> result of human intervention. Perhaps I interpret the term too literally, but for me terroir is most definitely of the earth<\/em> and not of the mash tun, or pot still.<\/p>\n

Do I believe that barley can possess terroir? I think so. I have tasted beers made with varieties such as Chevallier, Golden Promise and Scotch Annat with remarkable differences. I have never explicitly tasted, say, Maris Otter grown in Cornwall against that grown in East Anglia. I would like to. I think it would be interesting to see if it made much difference. It probably does.<\/p>\n

But do I believe that this can be showcased after mashing, fermentation and the precise art of distillation, where the distiller will select the best cut of distillate for the best flavour? There\u2019s a more interesting word: flavour. That I can always believe in. The existence of Terroir should perhaps only be argued about by the gods, or maybe even with them, late into the night after polishing off a bottle of something delicious.<\/p>\n

Terroir or not, Cuv\u00e9e Koffi comes in a very pretty, very colourful bottle, its cardboard sleeve flecked with bright pinks, blues, yellows and greens. The bottle itself is rendered in a deep blue glass that is just as pleasing on the eye. I don\u2019t like the glass stopper at all. It feels excessive and is a pain to get out (plus it doesn\u2019t make the satisfying \u2018plumpf\u2019<\/em> of cork being removed from glass.)<\/p>\n

This whisky is bottled at 50%, a hefty strength that gives it the musculature required to carry all of its reported terroir. And well-defined it is, with a sharp, strong, well cut nose that even the most burly of gym-bros would no doubt be proud of. It is a little on the hot side, which I found could be tamed with a dash of water, but also considered that this, or the addition of an ice cube did little to benefit or enhance its flavour, and that it was best enjoyed neat.<\/p>\n

That flavour is where I consider that its strength and character becomes almost burdensome. When I sip aforementioned drams like Teeling or Redbreast, there\u2019s a soft, almost sultry character, one you can really dig into but doesn\u2019t interfere with what I believe is the primary purpose of drinking whisky: relaxation. Cuv\u00e9e Koffi gives you no opportunity to rest. This is a bold, boisterous whisky, its grainy mouthfeel leaving behind cinder toffee, roasted hazelnut, and a deep, lingering hit of alcohol. It doesn\u2019t let you take your attention away from it for a millisecond, which, in this case, I actually consider to be a flaw.<\/p>\n

There is an awful lot going on here. Too much, in fact. Maybe it\u2019s because at 6 years old it is quite young for such a powerfully flavoured whisky, and at 8, 10 or 12 years it might mellow to a point where it finds its level. Or maybe that\u2019s the point? The label describes it as Waterford\u2019s most \u201cexpressive, profound and complex single malt\u201d and I would agree that it is all of those things. My question in response is: does it need to be?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, I was kindly sent a bottle of Cuv\u00e9e Koffi, a single malt whisky from Waterford Whisky, a distillery based in the Irish town of the same name. I don\u2019t write a lot about whisky, but it\u2019s something I enjoy immensely, and would like to write about a bit more. I particularly enjoy American bourbon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":246831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137],"tags":[20787,57858,24929,36700,9473,26992],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-246830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beer","tag-ales","tag-cuvee","tag-dram","tag-koffi","tag-total","tag-waterford"],"yoast_head":"\nWaterford Cuv\u00e9e Koffi \u2014 A Dram That Does Too Much \u2014 TOTAL ALES - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=246830\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Waterford Cuv\u00e9e Koffi \u2014 A Dram That Does Too Much \u2014 TOTAL ALES - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently, I was kindly sent a bottle of Cuv\u00e9e Koffi, a single malt whisky from Waterford Whisky, a distillery based in the Irish town of the same name. 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