Origin: Bretagne (Francia)
Type: Breton Whisky
Strength: 43%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-American and French
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Distillerie des Menhirs
Average price: € 77.00
Official website: www.distillerie.bzh
Vote: 83/100
We return to lively Brittany, cradle of many interesting whiskies produced from France, to a distillery known for its original use of buckwheat in the production of its distillate.
This time we find ourselves with a more classic (unmalted) barley distillate, which already differs in name (‘white grain’) from the main Eddu line, matured for four years in unspecified American and French casks (declared as ‘old’ or ‘exhausted’).
Tasting notes
The colour deserves a mention, a very pale yellow, a sign of decidedly exhausted casks which, at least aesthetically, have released little or nothing to the distillate. And the whisky is decidedly naked on the nose, very vegetal and cereal-like, with the sweetness of apple and pear joined by a tropical fruit salad (mango, pineapple, banana) and a faint balsamic note. Very fresh and appealing, with just a trace of acetone along the length.
All the youthfulness of the distillate emerges on the palate, with a new make intensity expressed between the fruity profiles of the nose (clear presence of white fruit) and a greater incidence of the vegetal side, with some impressions of toasted nuts. The balsamic vein becomes mentholated at times, with hints of ginger especially along the length. Good creamy texture.
Medium-long, balsamic finish of tropical fruit, nuts and vegetal notes.
An essential and elegant single grain, almost entirely devoid of asperity and with a (declared) vocation for mixology, which can be drunk for its innate and pleasant freshness without any particular depth, choosing an untrodden path with an awareness of its own limits.