The Avant Gardists

NEW WAVE

Just as the craft beer movement, which began in the U.S. before spreading worldwide, led to the emergence of a constellation of small artisanal breweries starting in the late 2000s, a wind of change is blowing through the world of spirits. It seems not a day can go by without a distillery project being launched by a new producer, each driven to experiment with their own method of making gin, vodka, liqueurs, whisky, or rum, often at a small or very small scale.

These emergent players are united by their artisanal approach, their targeting of an audience that cares about local, sustainable products, and their desire to satisfy mixologists in search of something new. To help support this flourishing segment, La Maison du Whisky has created The Avant Gardist (TAG), an online platform dedicated to new brands and innovative distilleries. Since its launch with a selection from thirty or so producers in April of 2022, TAG’s growth has shown no signs of faltering: It now has over 100 brands under its banner, with hundreds of products from all categories of spirit: whisky, rum, gin, vodka, bitter, liqueur...

A diverse selection of ten spirits (including some truly novel items), this chapter is a glimpse into the TAG universe. The distilleries showcased in these pages, all born in this century, except for the Domaine Laballe, embody the vitality and creativity of this booming segment.

Whisky Is The Limit

In 2016, whisky enthusiast Salim DuriauxHogga launched his Instagram account Whisky is the Limit and soon found himself giving tastings to a community of followers. A year later, after visiting some 30 distilleries in Scotland, he took the leap and became an independent bottler. His whiskies are characterized by their bright and colourful packaging, which stands out from more established bottlers.

Woven

In 2020, Nick Ravenhall (director of the Holyrood distillery), Duncan McRae and Peter Allison (a retired Australian rugby player) founded Woven in Edinburgh’s port district of Leith, once the city’s industrial epicentre and home to numerous whisky makers and warehouses. Specializing in blended Scotch, the company is a superb example of Scotch whisky’s urban revival. Woven releases numbered small batches in bottles decked out in an apothecary-esque, minimalist design.

La Piautre

Founded in 2004 by Vincent Lelière and Yann Leroux, maltster and brewery La Piautre is located on the banks of the Loire, between Angers and Saumur. In 2014, it launched its first whiskies. The distillery is equipped with one wood-fired 2,500-litre Charentais still and one 1,500-litre Charentais still and produces organic single malts as well as peated and wood-smoked versions. The majority of its whiskies are matured in French oak casks from the Loire Valley or Limousin, or cognac and Chenin red oak barrels.

Ouche Nanon

Craft brewer Ouche Nanon was founded in the Berry by trained microbiologist Thomas Mousseau in 2010. After a distillation internship and an insightful trip to Scotland to visit its distilleries, Thomas got his hands on a pot still and began adapting it to his needs with his own hands. His first whiskies were distilled in 2015, the same year that he bought a second Charentais still to increase production capacities. Ouche Nanon only releases single malts made from locally grown, organic barley.

Distillerie de Lyon

The Distillerie de Lyon was founded in 2021 in the city’s 8th arrondissement. Producing gin, gentian, Anis and molasses-based rum, it is equipped with a 1,000-litre Carterhead copper still (also known as a Laumont or hybrid still).

Bear Brothers

Launched in 2019 by two brothers and their friend from the French Pyrenees, the Distillerie des Pyrénées produces gin and vodka under the name Bear Brothers in its two 800-litre Stupfler stills. The Toulousebased company is committed to organic farming techniques and produces its gins from fresh products that pay tribute to France’s traditional expertise.

Faronville

Located in the Loiret, in the heart of France’s Beauce prairie, Paul-Henri Leluc and his wife Pauline took over the familyrun Faronville Farm in 2007. After the couple discovered vodka and its production methods on a trip to Finland, they bought a Stupfler still and got to work learning the art of distillation. In 2017, the first bottles of Faronville vodka were made from their own homegrown potatoes. They were released for sale one year later.

Laballe

Located in the Landes region of Bas Armagnac, where it enjoys a tawny sand terroir, Domaine Laballe is committed to sustainable winegrowing. Representing the eight generation of the family, Cyril and Julie Laudent run the vineyard organically, using hardy grape varieties and developing agroforestry activities. They oversee every stage in production, from work on the vines and soil to fermentation and ageing. Keen to shake off Armagnac’s old school image, they produce Armagnacs designed for a more trendy, mixology-based setting in their range 3-12-21. Armagnac is back!

Maison M

Hailing from Savoie in France, Philippe Bodon and Roxane Mengoli founded the Maison M distillery in their hometown in 2020. Throughout the year, they harvest and grow the wild fruits and plants they need to produce their spirits (génépi, liqueurs and gin). These local resources enable them to create original spirits that vary from harvest to harvest. Each batch is therefore unique, developing according to the season.

Selvatiq

Founded in 2019 by Valeria Margherita Mosca and Charles Lanthier, Italy’s Selvatiq is a travelling spirits producer. Moving every six months in search of local raw ingredients around the country, they distil their crops (wild harvests) in various regions. Everything they produce is therefore a natural limited edition.