(TDB) - The preliminary results of a study exploring the influence of terroir on barley derived Irish whiskey has concluded that “environmental differences in whisk(e)y flavour are present”.

A study entitled the Whisk(e)y Terroir Project, which is a joint venture between Waterford Distillery and Enterprise Ireland alongside Dr Kieran Kilcawley of Teagasc; Dr Dustin Herb of Oregon State University; and independent whisky analysts Tatlock & Thomson, has completed its first year of research.

Defining terroir as “the 3D influence between microclimate, soil and place on a plant”, the study aims to understand the influence of the environment on whiskey produced from barley.

The project has used barley grown in two distinct sites in southeastern Ireland – Athy and Bunclody. While weather patterns at both sites “were comparable” to each other, their soil compositions differed, with Athy having higher levels of calcium (852 ppm higher), phosphorus (5.7 ppm higher), magnesium (30.8 pm higher), zinc (698 ppm higher), and an alkaline pH of 7.8 compared to Bunclody’s slightly acidic 6.6.