As warm Spring weather quickly approaches, we asked Christine Cooney, co-founder of Heavenly Spirits Imports about the topic of French inspired Spring cocktails and here is what she had to say.

No other category offers such diversity of flavor and innovation. So don your pith helmet and charge into the world whisky wilderness.

Thirty years ago, you could count all the whisky producers in France on one finger. Today, there are at least 120 distillers at some stage of serious production, each with their own story and dreams of making the next great grand whisky.

The Quest for Elegance with Heavenly Spirits French Whisky Collection

Did you know that the French drink more whisky a year than any other country?

Many whisky fans may be surprised to know that France produces almost all the barley used for European malt whisky production and that they have been distilling spirits longer than any other European country

Daniel and Christine Cooney have been promoting quality French Spirits for over twenty years. Recently we spoke with Daniel about his company’s Celtic connections.

Read more on pages 36-37

Scotland may have put single malt on the map, but in the past few years, more and more countries are embracing the style, curious to see how different climates and techniques can impact flavor. As a result, whisky drinkers have even more ground to cover when exploring and educating themselves. Here, we survey the global single malt landscape to determine where the next great single malt is most likely to arrive from.

A global community of distillers is transporting single malt whisky to new places, literally. By adding their own creativity and local techniques, resulting in exciting flavors and geographical styles, the single malt world is changing quickly. Because I sample and evaluate whisky blind, not knowing the identity of what I am tasting, I can tell you that Japan is not the last nation that will surprise us by joining the big leagues of single malt.

“This assessment is a decision-making tool. We already know that, thanks to two or three projects, we will improve our carbon footprint,” rejoices David Roussier, who did not wait for the latest IPCC report to take climate change into account. “Our Armorik brand has already gone organic in recent years. »

“Today, any increase in our production capacity will be correlated with a reduction in emissions. » It is in this dynamic that David Roussier, the general director of the Lannion distillery is in the process of structuring the investments planned during the first half of 2022.

With the use of French barley and water sourced from a natural spring known as Rest Avel (meaning “dwelling of wind”), Armorik aims to incorporate traditions as well region specific advantages to create a product distinctly recognized as their own. How very Celtic.

2 Must Try French Cocktails For Bastille Day By Bartender Rory Caviness

Organically produced spirits such as cognac, whiskey, and calvados were practically unheard of a few years ago. But that is all changing with small, French-owned craft distilleries playing a big role in this healthy transition.

Celebrated for champagne, claret and cognac, the French are not known for their savoir-faire in producing whisky, but that could be about to change.

The French are seeking to exploit their wine-making expertise to produce whiskies with a distinctively Gallic range of aromas.

#6 - Armorik Double Maturation

France has quietly been making some exciting whiskies, and keeping most to itself. Fortunately, Warenghem Distillery in Brittany exports a number of single malts, which it has been making for over two decades.

Known the world over for their fines wines, Cognacs and Armagnacs, we don’t tend to associate the French with whisky. So when Peter Cullingford was offered the chance to try a single malt distilled in Brittany, naturally he jumped at the chance…

It may come as a surprise to learn that the world’s top consumer of Scotch per capita isn’t the U.K. or the U.S., but France. And the French are distillers, too. One of the earlier outposts of French whiskey is Warenghem, a 117-year-old fine Bretagne distillery that branched out into whisky in the late 80s. They released their first single malt, labeled Armorik, in 1998.

Warenghem’s Armorik Breton single malt is made with 100 percent French malted barley, and the clear granite-tinged waters of nearby Rest Avel. It doesn’t hide its proximity to the area’s famous orchards: heady notes of unfiltered, cloudy apple juice are apparent throughout, and rounded up by savory aromas and a soft smokiness. It's a robust, elegant whisky that points straight to bacon and sweet sausages.

Famous for world-class wine and fine cuisine, France adds whisky to its repertoire.

Could this be the golden age of French whisky? Marion Sauvebois investigates the meteoric rise of the ‘oui’ dram.