New Vibrations
French Spirits
GENESIS AND LINEAGE
France: country of cognac, armagnac, calvados... but also of whisky! Forty years have passed since the first drops of what would someday become a French whisky trickled out of Breton distillery Warenghem’s still: an anniversary La Maison du Whisky is celebrating with the release of Une brève mais intense histoire du whisky français (A Brief but Intense History of French Whisky), published by Flammarion (see page 188). The book, written by Matthieu Acar (who has specialised in the field for over 10 years, and selects spirits for the Version Française range), tells the fascinating tale of how France became a fully fledged whisky producer.
The New Vibrations collection is also an opportunity for La Maison du Whisky to unveil a new cycle in its Version Française range of exclu- sive French spirits: Cerealis. The first release showcases the raw material – cereal grain – and will be followed by others, with each chapter highlighting a different aspect of French spirit- making craft-manship: oak, cellars, stills, etc.
The 2023 edition of Ex Libris, a range which bridges the worlds of whisky and literature, is also
dedicated to French whisky: a dialogue between Celtic Whisky Distillerie, makers of the Glann Ar Mor and Kornog single malts, and the poetry of Yvon Le Men, laureate of the 2019 Prix Goncourt de Poésie.
In honour of this history, which started in Brittany, this chapter then showcases the pioneers of French whisky that are the Waren- ghem distillery (Amorik) and Distillerie des Menhirs (Eddu) – the former having distilled the very first French whisky in 1983, and the latter being the first in the world to have distilled buckwheat. The winemaking roots of French whisky are also highlighted with the inclusion of the Castan distillery, founded in the Tarn region in 1941, as are its roots in brewing, represented by Lyon distillery Ninkasi.
Lastly, this chapter closes out by returning to the source of the art of distillation in France, with a selection of fruit-based and wine-based eaux-de-vie from the Cognac, Armagnac, and Pays d’Auge regions, including a handful of rare and even antique bottlings.
VERSION FRANÇAISE CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF FRENCH WHISKY
In 2020, La Maison du Whisky launched Version Française, a range dedicated to exceptional French spirits, criss-crossing the country to meet with producers and celebrate their craftmanship. This year, to mark the 40th anniversary of French whisky (1983-2023), Version Française is unveiling a true rarity – a 2003 vintage – and inaugurating a new cycle dedicated to highlighting the various stages of whisky production.
Christened Cerealis, the first episode of this cycle focuses on the emblematic cereal grains used around the world in whisky production, with four versions made from maize, rye, barley, and wheat. Distilled between 2013 and 2019 in an Armagnac still, the four small batches which make up Cerealis are re-examinations of the bourbon, rye, single malt, and grain whisky families.
After examining the raw material, Version Française’s next few years will focus on the other parameters influencing whisky’s organoleptic profile (oaks, cellars, stills...), which shape the incredible variety of French whisky production.
Alongside Cerealis, Version Française includes a fifth product of the same region: a single-cask, distilled in 2003 in a pot still built by renowned early-19th-century coppersmiths P. Blavier et Cie. Aged 20 years, this version is a precious artifact of a time when France only numbered a handful of producers, of whose work only fifteen or so barrels remain today.
"By examining in detail the various models of distilling equipment exhibited at the Semaine agricole by Mr. P Blavier [...] distillers and moonshiners were able to form a most favorable opinion. All concerned were impressed by the robustness of all the components, the quality of the workmanship, in a word, the irreproachable workmanship resulting from fifty years of research and experience by this firm."
La Dépêche, March 1931.
EX LIBRIS ON BRETON LANDS
The annual Ex Libris range, with its unmistakable design inspired by book covers, explores distilleries across the world with releases of exclusive single- casks bottled at cask strength. The series draws inspiration from novels and poetry, naming each bottling after the work of an author with deep ties to the spirit’s region of origin.
This year, Ex Libris is dedicated to French whisky, which in 2023 celebrates its 40th anniversary. This collection is made up of three whiskies from Celtic Whisky Distillerie, which was founded in 1997 in Pleubian, near the isle of Bréhat in France’s Côtes- d’Armor region. Created by erstwhile Scotch whisky bottlers Martine and Jean Donnay, the distillery has been bottling its own production since 2008, when it launched its unpeated single malt Glann Ar Mor (‘Seaside’ in the Breton language). Its peated version dubbed Kornog (‘Westerly’), of which three versions make up this year’s Ex Libris release, was born a year later.
Christened Quelque part dans le ciel (‘Some- where in the Sky’), Le poids d’un nuage (‘The Weight of a Cloud’), and Une île en terre (‘An Island Inland’), these three single malts aged 8, 10, and 12 years respectively were named after titles of volumes by Breton poet Yvon Le Men, winner of the 2019 Prix Goncourt for poetry. A few selected verses from his poems adorn the back-labels, serving as companion pieces to the tasting.
“We have been experimenting with atypical matu- ration for a while now. My grandfather, Christian Drouin, already aged his calvadoses in port or sherry casks. He would seek out these types of barrels for the notes of burnt butter and rancio they gave his calvadoses. In actuality, many Normans at the time would recover and use these barrels as they shipped through the harbour in Le Havre.
Since I took over the family business in 2014, we have expanded our work on maturation. Tokay, port, sauternes... we seek out casks of extremely varied origin. In 2020, we went a step further by creating the Expérimental de Christian Drouin range. For this collection, we let the calvados rest for a few months in barrels from partner distilleries we particularly love: Hampden, Mars, Caroni, Longpond, J.M... We select the calvados that we think will best express itself in accordance with the profile of the cask, and follow the evolution of the brandy month-to-month.
The cuvée selected for New Vibrations is part of this endeavour. We wanted to work with Domaine des Hautes-Glaces, which shares our approach to terroir. We speak the same language. This is also the first time we have matured a calvados in a cask which had previously contained French whisky. It’s a very dynamic category nowadays, and a showcase for the time-tested distillation and ageing know-how of French spirit-makers.”
Guillaume Drouin, general manager of Maison Christian Drouin
