Pricy, but worth it (?) Part 2: A contender for whisky of the year - and it’s not a Scotch!

Throughout this series, I’m taking a look at whiskies that are on the pricier side of the scale of what I’m comfortable paying for (usually: whiskies sitting around the €100 mark,  give or take a €20 in either direction). I’ve picked Kilkerran 16 as my benchmark  as I feel it’s delivering very good to excellent quality, justifying the asking price (in this case, around €80-€85).  So that’s the ‘TLDR’ version of what I talked about at length last week.

Before even  going through my cabinet of bottles and my boxes of samples to pick the whiskies I wanted to review for this series, I already sort of knew I would be talking about today’s whisky, a recent arrival in the form of a sample, generously offered to me by  Greg’s whisky guide. It’s French, from  the region of Brittany on the west coast of France, and it’s coming from the oldest whisky distillery in France.

Warenghem, named after founder Léon Warenghem,  has been around since 1900. ‘Warenghem’ doesn’t sound particularly French, and that’s probably to do with the fact that the family’s roots are to be found in the northernmost region of France, close to the border with Belgium. Borders often being a ‘volatile’ thing over the course of history, the region of Flanders (now located in Belgium), historically stretched out across both the French border in the south as the Dutch border in the north, which probably explains the Warenghem name. Initially, the Warenghem distillery  focused primarily on producing ‘Elixir d’ Armorique’, a price winning spirit, which is still made at the distillery today. An ‘elixir’ is a liqueur spirit enriched by (usually) local botanicals and herbs, and “d’Armrorique” obviously refers to the Armorik coast in Brittany (Bretagne), where the distillery was (and still is) located. In the 1980’s, the distillery changes hands as Gilles Leizour,  the son of a partner in the distillery gained sole ownership, and it’s under his guidance that the distillery  goes through some substantial changes, whilst also remaining true to the origins and heritage. In 1983, distillation of what is to become the first ever French whisky commences, and 4 years later, the ‘WB’ brand (short for ‘Whisky Breton’) is launched. Take this with a pinch of salt, as part of that whisky was sourced from elsewhere, but in any case, this first ‘experiment’  must have planted some seeds. In 1993 they expanded the existing distillery with another distillery, solely aimed at producing whisky,  and another 5 years down the road the ‘Armorik’ brand of single malt French whisky was born.

Armorik 15 year old (2023 release). 46% ABV, ex-bourbon and sherry cask matured, 1500 bottles, app. €75-€95

In 2016 I visited the region on vacation, but as we were there with a 2 year old toddler and my wife very much pregnant with our second , we (or rather, I)  didn’t really bother trying to visit the distillery, nor the equally nearby Celtic Whisky Distillery (or Glann Ar Mor, as it was still named at that time). Luckily, I did ‘discover’ there and then the wonderful whiskies of both distilleries and brought a few bottles back home with me. Regardless of potential distillery tours, the region of the Armor coast and the neighbouring department of  Ille-et-Villaine is very much worth a visit, with breathtaking coast lines, a wonderful cuisine and beautiful historic cities like Saint-Malo, Saint -Brieuc and Dinan.

Today, Warenghem distillery is considered the torchbearer for French whisky, and rightfully so.  They’ve grown from strength to strength, and worked hard to settle and improve the reputation of their brand (and with them, probably  French whisky as a whole). So much so, they’ve managed to have both their Fine Bretagne (cider brandy, quiet akin to the  more famous calvados from the neighbouring Normandy region) and the whisky from Brittany recognised as an AOC (Appelation d’ Origine Controlée), an abbreviation you probably recognise from some wine labels . It’s a certificate  granted to agricultural products, identifying and recognising the specific regionality,  know-how,  and craft that goes into it, establishing the specific stages of production  and processing as well as the specific techniques. Essentially, geographical,  biological as well as technical specifics used to craft a certain product are described and protected by it (notice how I went through some length to avoid the dreaded  T-word here). Whereas until a few years back,  it was often difficult to find Armorik outside of France or even the region of Brittany, today they’re appearing on more and more people’s radars. The fact that their 10 year old recently did pretty well in the 6 nations tasting hosted by Roy illustrates this just nicely. In any case, recently Greg did a very thorough review of this, going into much more detail on the history of the distillery and their whisky provenance. So by all means: go and check that out!

Nose

Rich and fruity, with distinct notes of apples and white fruit (banana and melon) and tropical fruit. A  sweetness runs through it all, in the form of  caramel and marmalade (from red fruits like plums and berries, likely the sherry casks doing their bidding), fruit syrup, vanilla and sugar. A hint of wood charr and wood polish with a  subtle coastal salinity. Very engaging, very inviting!

Palate

Lovely deep and full arrival. There’s this  oak charr  note which is now up front and centre, bringing that old varnish-leather note, even hinting towards an ever so soft smoky note. This means the sweetness from the nose with all the fruit and the spice is  still there, only less outspoken. The mouthfeel is medium full, while the palate is dominated by the (sherry) casks, but it’s delivered and executed wonderfully harmonious! The bourbon casks shine through with gentle pepper and spices, while the oily-estery elements from the spirit are also left intact, and overall both casks and spirit are lifting each other up to a whole other level. This is simply gorgeous!

Finish

Long, warming with some coastal salinity.

Final thoughts

Excellent on the nose, even better on the palate! In my experience, it’s often the other way around. An absolute delight in any case. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a showstopper. I tried this at Spirits in the Sky in Brussels in November last year, but unfortunately my palate was already oversaturated by the time I reached the Armorik stand. I only remember it being quite lovely, but couldn’t really take any trustworthy notes at the time. Needless to say, I’m super grateful for the opportunity to give this another go.  I’ll argue that this is already one of the best drams I’ll have  all year and even though it’s still only March, I’m already foreseeing that there will be very few able to surpass this. Oh la la la, c’est magnifique!