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Single Farm Origin

Bannow Island

Key Facts

EDITION1.1
HARVESTED7 SEPTEMBER 2015
DISTILLEDWEEK 25 2016
Maturation3 years 7 months 27 days
ABV50%
No. of Bottles8,616
For MarketEurope & Asia
BottledJune 2020

BANNOW ISLAND, CO. WEXFORD

Bannow Island is a striking farm, a sharp contrast to the majority of our terroirs. Under bright skies where scudding clouds move quickly with the Atlantic winds driving behind them, the soils here are challenged by being surrounded on three sides by a raw coastal environment, where the sandy loam tips down to the very shoreline itself. It is a place alive with history – from here the vanguard of the Norman forces – 30 knights, 60 men-at-arms and 300 archers – embarked on the conquest of Ireland in the late 12th century.

Ed Harpur, a grower with a smile on his face and whose mother is clearly one of the best scone bakers in all of Ireland, has been supplying barley for us since 2015 – part of our “first 40” who took up the challenge of being a Waterford grower.

Look directly down on his barley fields and sand is clearly visible, providing a challenge for nutrients – and during mid-summer one can see specks of white on the barley plant’s tips due to their exposure to salt-laden breeze. Over the winter months Ed grows cover crops on his barley fields to keep the soil broken up and the subterranean environment thriving; these crops are grazed by his herd of cattle, who surely must have the best view in Ireland.

Growers

Grower
Farm
County
Type
Ed Harpur
Bannow Island
Wexford
Conventional

The Sound of Bannow Island

The track starts on the south end of the Island with the Atlantic Ocean crashing in on the beach. The atmosphere is built up from various perspectives until it moves on up the island to the barley fields and exposed hillside with the wind howling through a fence wire and meeting the barley. Moving through the fields and down the hill to the north end of the island and the edge of the farm we find a bit of shelter in the grass and the hedgerows and finish up on the shores of Bannow Bay.

BARLEY TIMELINES

SOWN23 March 2015
HARVESTED7 September 2015
Arrived at Cathedral8 September 2015
Went for Malting18 April 2016
Arrived at Distillery10 May 2016
Fermentation Started4 June 2016
Distillation Started9 June 2016
Distillation Finished17 June 2016
Filled at Warehouse23 June 2016
Marriage of Casks7 February 2020
Sent for Bottling2 June 2020

Meet Ed Harpur

TERROIR

FIELDS
SOIL

Credit: Teagasc.

series CLASHMORE
type Brown Earth
pdf View Clashmore
description Coarse loamy drift with siliceous stones Clashmore Association (Clashmore, Clonroche, Broomhill, Ballylanders, Puckane, Clongeel, Glenlane, Duboyne, Kilrush, Gortaclareen, Ballyglass series)
elevation 33-86 FEET
sunlight AVERAGE 6-6.5 hours

BARLEY, YEAST & WATER

VARIETYOverture
YeastMauri Distiller's Yeast
Production WaterVolcanic Aquifer
Fermentation136.2 Hours

TERROIR

Head Distiller's Observations

Appearance: Light to medium honey colour; the glass is well-coated with very slow legs.

Nose: Malty, red roses, very fresh. Milk chocolate. Warm vanilla custard. Dried fruit, sweet, a perfumed elegance. Bread-and-butter pudding and custard. Walking through a freshly-cut hay field.

Taste: Vibrant, exuberant: white pepper, spicy, cloves, mouth coating with a dried sweetness of salted caramel. Malted biscuits, sherry. Oily and dry finish – mouth puckering.

cask no.
cask type
cask fill
cooperage
fill date
farm
2987
Premium French
229.3 litres
Tonnellerie des Domaines
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
2988
Premium French
233.62 litres
Tonnellerie des Domaines
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
2989
Premium French
223.57 litres
Tonnellerie des Domaines
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
2990
Premium French
225 litres
Tonnellerie des Domaines
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
2991
Premium French
227.25 litres
Tonnellerie des Domaines
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
2991
Premium French
80 litres
Tonnellerie des Domaines
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
3981
American First-Fill
197.12 litres
Jack Daniels
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
3982
American First-Fill
199.28 litres
Jack Daniels
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
3983
American First-Fill
204.28 litres
Jack Daniels
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
3984
American First-Fill
209.08 litres
Jack Daniels
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
3987
American First-Fill
206.55 litres
Jack Daniels
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
3988
American First-Fill
199.49 litres
Jack Daniels
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
3989
American First-Fill
203.7 litres
Jack Daniels
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
3990
American First-Fill
200.71 litres
Jack Daniels
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
3991
American First-Fill
199.83 litres
Jack Daniels
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
2581
American Virgin
203.99 litres
Speyside Cooperage, KY
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
2582
American Virgin
201.77 litres
Speyside Cooperage, KY
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
2538
American Virgin
204.79 litres
Speyside Cooperage, KY
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
2584
American Virgin
201.8 litres
Speyside Cooperage, KY
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
2585
American Virgin
202.33 litres
Speyside Cooperage, KY
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
2586
American Virgin
70 litres
Speyside Cooperage, KY
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
1574
Vin Doux Naturel
501.29 litres
(Oloroso)
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND
1575
Vin Doux Naturel
508.48 litres
(Oloroso)
23 June 2016
BANNOW ISLAND

Composition

35%FIRST FILL U.S
20%VIRGIN U.S.
25%PREMIUM FRENCH
20%VIN DOUX NATUREL

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