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French Whisky
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Roborel de Climens Finition Sauvignon du Clos Floridene Single Malt French Whisky (500ml)FRANCE$120. 00Bottle$1440.00 DozenABV: 40%Tasting note: Distilled in 2017 and bottled after a finish in Sauvignon casks sourced from Clos Floridene, a house famous for their white Bordeaux. Climens' ties to the wine industry mean he's able to source incredibly fresh barrels - often empty for no longer than a week before being filled with whisky. It shows in this example. Tropical and floral on the nose with extraordinary wine pick up: Feijoa, moscato grappa, young muscat, rose-scented talc... Sweet malt settles in after 3-4 minutes. Some of that exotic fruitiness follows on the palate with suggestions of elderflower and feijoa, especially at the finish. Lovely texture and balance, even if the malt does feel slightly smothered by all those wonderful fruity / floral / herbal notes. 40% Alc./Vol. 750 bottles on offer worldwide.
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Roborel de Climens Finition Semillon du Chateau Doisy-Daene Single Malt French Whisky (500ml)FRANCE$150. 00Bottle$1800.00 DozenABV: 46%Bordeaux native, Aymeric Roborel de Climens spent twenty years working as an oenologist. His love of wine led him to spirits, and the creation of a range of whiskies that are 100% French. New make is sourced from the Hepp distillery in Alsace, a region famed for its aromatic white wines and dairy produce, as well as being one of France’s biggest barley producers.
Climens matures the spirits in a range of oak for three to four years including new French (often around 20%) and Hepp x-whisky casks. They're then finished in a range of oak sourced from around the country for five-to-six months. Barrels that held wines like Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Merlot and Rose are just a few examples. Climens' ties to the wine industry mean he's able to source incredibly fresh barrels - often empty for no longer than a week before being filled with whisky.
Tasting note: [20ml sample] Distilled in 2016 and matured in Semillon casks from 2nd Cru Bordeaux producer, Chateaux Doisy-Daene, before bottling in 2020 after a finish in rose casks. Honey undertones on the nose. Deliciously chewy, the malt is nicely complimented by wild honey and oatmeal biscuit flavours. Background tropical fruitiness. Dense and malty to finish, balanced by nimble spices. Solid length. Medium peat at 20 ppm adds texture. 46% Alc./Vol. 650 bottles produced.
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Roborel de Climens Finition Grenache Coume del Mas Banyuls Cask Strength Single Malt French Whisky (500ml)FRANCE$199. 00Bottle$2388.00 DozenABV: 55.5%Tasting note: [15ml sample] The black label presentation marks Climens' overproof series. This one's partly matured in ex-Grenache Banyuls (port-style) casks from Domaine Coume del Mas who produce both fortified and table wines in Banyuls-sur-Mer. The sweet wine cask influence is clear, with aromas of toasted sponge cake, honey drizzled cereals and distant peppermint. Initially reminiscent of young unpeated Bruicladdich, it's full, chewy and weighty in the mouth. Sweet malt and dried fruits (fig, dates) lead into a bittersweet finish, the sugars rebounding late. Peated to 20ppm, but it doesn't show. 55.5% Alc./Vol. 550 bottles produced.
- That Boutique-y Whisky Company Armorik 5 Year Old Sauternes Cask Single Malt French Whisky (500ml) - Batch 2Brittany, FRANCE$170. 00Bottle$2040.00 DozenABV: 46.4%
Batch two in Boutiquey's wine cask series includes this Armorik from Brittany's Distillerie Warenghem, matured in an ex-Sauternes wine cask, bottled at 46.4% with 286 bottles in the run. Having tasted several releases from this French whisky upstart, we can confirm the quality can be very high, even when young.
Located in Lannion on the north coast of Brittany, the Warenghem distillery has been an independent family-owned company for over 100 years. In 1998 they began producing single malt, becoming the first distillery in France to do so. As usual there's a quirky label, best explained by the Boutique-y team: "The Veneti (Gaulish: "the kin, the friendly ones") were a Gaelic tribe who lived in Armorica, now known as Brittany. We’ve set the scene deep in the forest of Gaul with a still for the cauldron and fields of barley in the background. The white swan is a nod to the late Dr. Jim Swan who gave the distillery guidance, reviewing their equipment, and techniques, proposing a series of small changes."
Notes from the bottlers... Nose: Plenty of peach and apricot with aromatic wafts of wildflowers and soft oak spice. Palate: Rich, gloopy honey, toasted nuts, and more stone fruits welcome the way for warming baking spices. Finish: Gingerbread, more sweet, floral honey, and a well rounded peppering of toasted oak and spice on the finish.
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Warenghem Distillery Armorik Maitre de Chai Single Malt French Whisky (700ml)Brittany, FRANCE$185. 00Bottle$2220.00 DozenABV: 46%Tasting note: Brassy gold. Sponge cake and cocoa over a delicate fruitiness. Dried orange peel? Marzipan? Gorgeous texture with a sumptuous, rich, rounded profile; juicy malt and dried fruit characteristics are delivered on a bed of feathery spices. Some late sweet oak input. Like the other Armorik whiskies, this is both complex and beautifully integrated. 46% Alc./Vol. Other reviews... Seaweed piled in a beach bonfire, Keemun tea, hide-covered tomes, and toffee apples. Soupy, salty smoke without the heat on this dram, which was matured for 6 years in first-fill oloroso. The flavors bring an array of apple peelings, cough sweets, aniseed, and roasted sesame seed before developing some savory elements of roast pork. A spicy tingle takes you through to the finish. Water coaxes out apple jelly and pear notes. (1,000 bottles)
84 points - www.maltadvocate.com, (Spring 2015) Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick -
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Warenghem Distillery Armorik 10 Year Old Single Cask Australian Exclusive Cask Strength Single Malt French Whisky (700ml)Brittany, FRANCE$199. 00Bottle$2388.00 DozenABV: 56%Le Baron Des Spirits is offering Australia the chance to taste a unique, limited edition cask of Brittany's Armorik Single Malt whisky. To introduce the special release its native French maker, Armorik General Manager and whisky craftsman of Distillerie Warenghem, David Roussier, visited Australian shores for the very first time. Le Baron cast a vote late last year after calling on the community of local whisky lovers to choose a favourite from three preselected special casks. Amongst the three were a Vinho and a Port cask - but it was the Sauternes cask, used to age sweet white wine from Bordeaux that came out on top as the winner. It was also the star of the seven exclusive tastings with Armorik hosted by master David Roussier around Australia. Distilled in August 2006, this along with recent bottlings from Glanna ar Morr mark Brittany as the new Tasmania on the world whisky map. The collector incentive is obvious, but we'd rather see this gets appreciated for what it is. Needless to say, stocks are extremely limited. Tasting note: Peated to 10-12 ppm and aged entirely in a Sauternes cask. Pure gold. Momentarily off-key aromas recover with penetrating vanilla fudge and ginger cake over rustic scents of straw bail, damp earth, evolving to lanolin and wet wool. Within 2-3 minutes the aromatic focus shifts towards orange peel-freshness mingling with fruit'n'nut chocolate, especially hazelnut, then a sweeter, deeper core of marmalade or fig paste. Full bodied with a gristy, gingery warmth to the delivery. Brimming with flavours of dark chocolate, burnt orange and thick malt. Peppery then firmer to finish with stewed apple / smokey citrus. Lanolin and lucerne bail later in the fade as the farmyard aspect repeats. References Longrow or the peatiest incarnations of Bunnahabhain. A malt of substantial presence and complexity. Just gets better and better... 56% Alc./Vol. 250 bottles. -
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Warenghem Distillery Armorik 10 Year Old Single Malt French Whisky (700ml)Brittany, FRANCE$129. 99Bottle$1559.88 DozenABV: 46%Tasting note: [2018 Edition tasted] A run of 2000 bottles with around one hundred available in Australia. This limited edition Armorik offers pure, malt-forward aromas including stewed pear and delicate citrus zest. 2-3 minutes of air contact adds hints of cocoa, parchment, old paperbacks and more... Full bodied and zesty, there's a grassy edge to the delivery which bristles with barley and fresh oak through to the lipsmacking finish. Deceptively simple but the fabulous tactile quality keeps you coming back. Less than a handful available. Non chill filtered. 46% Alc./Vol.
Europe's Expanding whisky scene bears fruits in France.
Not only good at enjoying whisky, the French are making it - and doing it with a prodigious flair. The industry is set to take off. Nicolas Julhès, head of the Distillerie de Paris anticipates “...within 15 years the world's best whiskies will be French. We will be able to stop copying the Scots and bring a real French style." Most French whisky producers already differentiate from their Scottish counterparts by use of a range of cereals and still types (these include cognac stills, Armagnac stills, fruit eau-de-vie stills and portable stills).There are dozens of rising stars in the south and near Alsace, but those in Brittany, a western region with strong Celtic roots, are proving the industry has already ‘arrived’, turning out seriously good malts and blends. Look out for whiskies from the Warenghem Distillery marketed under the Armorik label. Located in Lannion in the north of Brittany, originally the company produced a herbal elixir (“Elixir d'Armorique” still available today) then moved on to fruit liqueurs. They began making blended whiskies in 1987 and then tackled the single malt category in 1998. An unusual move, but one that’s paid off in spades as they've won several awards in a very short time. Also noteworthy are peated malts from Glann ar Mor - their first bottling of unpeated single malt hit the market in late 2008. Already several releases have achieved big, big scores from Jim Murray et al.