New addition to the French whisky family!
A blend and a 7 year old single malt from Corsica. The latter got 95 points in Jim Murray’s whisky Bible 2014: ‘’… A distillery I must get to soon: it is rare to find a malt with this level of complexity and charm. Delightful: an absolute, near faultless joy of a malt.’’
I’ve carried the Michel Couvreur whiskies for many years but was told recently that he had passed away. Do you know whether the brand will continue to exist?
Michel passed away in August last year. The brand will continue as the family took over.
1934 Blavier stills (used originally to distil lavender for the perfume industry) from Distillerie de Revermont (Jura region near the village of Chateau Chalon). The spirit is then aged in Feuillette barrel (1/2 size of a Burgundy barrel)
Hedgehog Straight Whisky Bourbonnais
Double distilled in Holstein stills. Made of organic corn, rye and malted barley. Matured for 3 to 4 years in Cognac barrels. Un-chillfiltered. 45% ABV
This is ‘Straight Whisky Bourbonnais.’ Nothing to do with American Bourbon though, Bourbonnais is a small region in the centre of France. The distillery is located in the village of Hérisson, which means Hedgehog in French. Colour: amber/orange. Nose: this one displays the typical notes that come out of some eau-de-vie stills. Very fruity (ripe apples and oranges), with notes of cloves and Chinese anise, developing more on muesli and caramel/candy sugar. Lots of fruitcake coming through after a while, dried pears, tangerine liqueur (Mandarine Impériale). I must say this is pleasant, even if we’re far from Scotch once again. Mouth: hey, the attack is nice! All in keeping with the nose, that is to say very candied and gingery (speculoos galore!), with rather big notes of marmalade and then the kind of spice mix they use to make mulled wine (cloves, cinnamon, aniseed and the rest). The oak is rather big, and maybe the middle is a tad weaker than the attack, but it’s still very pleasant whisky. Finish: long and even spicier, with quite some pepper and a ‘sweet bitterness’ from the oak. I’d love to know which kinds of cask Monsieur Balthazar used for maturing this baby. Comments: a very good surprise. These whiskies are very rare and I never had the opportunity to try them.
SOURCE: WhiskyFun website
The Whiskey Jug website (thewhiskeyjug.com) just put online three reviews of Pro$hibition whiskies from the Jura region of France.
The full reviews are available at the following links:
Single Vin de Paille Cask - http://thewhiskeyjug.com/french-whisky/prohibition-vin-de-paille-single-cask-review/
Single Vin Jaune Cask - http://thewhiskeyjug.com/french-whisky/prohibition-vin-jaune-single-cask-review/
Single Macvin Cask - http://thewhiskeyjug.com/french-whisky/prohibition-macvin-single-cask-review/
I have little experience, only Batille which I thought was not so great. Several of these look beautiful, and considering the strength of French brandies I’d certainly give these a try if they were available and competitively priced!
Michel Couvreur could be found in the US but not the others (Couvreur, Guillon, Pro$hibition, G.Rozelieures in British Columbia | P&M in Ontario | Couvreur in Quebec).
Michel Couvreur Candid
Malt distilled in 2006 and matured in Pedro Ximenez media botas (250 liters). Lightly peated with salty caramel notes. Blend of four casks.
Yannick, have you had or heard of Uberach? From Alsace, Aged in old Ganevat vin jaune barrels. Just learned about it today.
Never. I had Meyer and Lehman distilleries, both Alsacian but not Uberach (Bertrand Distillery). I went back to Burgundy for Xmas and got some samples of the only Buckwheat whisky in the world called Eddu (double distilled and aged in Broceliande forest oak) and the new make from the organic Distillerie des Hautes Glaces (French Alps): great spirit - would be extremely interesting to taste them in 10 years from now!)
FIRST certified #Organic distillery in France: Domaine des Hautes Glaces in the French Alps. They grow their own grain based on a Terroir approach. Each field/terroir are unique and batched separately. Still a very young distillery but worth following up. More at Whisky français bio, single malt – Domaine des Hautes Glaces but site only in French.
Vulson is pure organic rye that they grow and malt themselves. This #rye #spirit is triple distilled in copper pot stills and rested for a year in stainless-steel tanks before being bottled. 41% abv.
Les Moissons Single Malt is a blend of 3 annual crops (2010 • 2011 • 2012) from the Andrieu field/terroir. Double distilled and matured in Cognac and white Côte du Rhône wines ‘Roux’ barrels (old neutral barrels) as well as new Troncais oak barrels. 42% abv
Thanks for the tip Yannick!
I picked up a bottle of the 2011 #3 seigle / rye yesterday. I had a glass last night and was extremely impressed. I love the pure expression of the grain. I appreciate this was raised for +/- 3 years in oak but did not leave any notes of wood. It is 46° but is elegant and understated on the palate. Enormously well proportioned and balanced.
A rye for Burg-lovers. I will be following this distillery CLOSELY in the years to come…
Armorik Breizh - is a blended french whisky.