2009 Michel Couvreur L'Oubli Single Malt French Whisky (500ml)

A single malt raised in Fino Sherry casks, then finished in Gaillac wine vats that previously contained Mauzac, a La Vigne de l'Oubli from South west France. Expect the unexpected from Couvreur's whiskies.

Tasting note: Brilliant gold. The nose offers the lightest dustings of cocoa, as well as scents of brine, cheesecake, Marie biscuits and whiffs of ripe pear - up there with the most pristine, pitch-perfect malty bouquets of the year. Understated entry before the winey, Fino / Amontillado sherry notes build. Ends tangy, salty, nutty. Ginger biscuits and a touch of sulphur in the aftertaste. A unique whisky - something like a grappa aged in amontillado sherry casks. 43.41% Alc./Vol.

Michel Couvreur's "Scotch" starts out in Scotland as bulk a.k.a.“clearach” (a high proof distillate) which is transferred to his humid cellar in Bouze-les-Beaune, Burgundy, France to be aged in small sherry casks. Total production is about 50,000 bottles or 4,000 cases annually. From 1978 on, Couvreur made maturing whiskies his life’s work, dedicating research to a process which he once compared to 'cross-fertilisation'. Couvreur passed away in 2013; his son-in-law Cyril Deschamps and his cellar master Jean-Arnaud Frantzen, with the invaluable help of Michel’s devoted wife Marthe and his daughter Alexandra, continue to follow to the letter the original philosophy of the house.