It is the 3rd time this year that I try a world whisky, and this week it is from France. It is the Armorik Millesime 2002 single malt whisky. The Warenghem distillery is located in Lannion, in Brittany. They have been distilling quality liqueurs and spirits since 1900 when Leon Warenghem founded the distillery and created the Elixir d’Armorique.
Since then, the distillery has created a small range of unusual fruit and plant-based liqueurs, honey liqueurs, apple brandy, beers and whiskies. I looked on the map and noticed that it was about an hours drive away from another French whisky distillery Glann Ar Mor.
Glen Ar Mor distillery produces Kornog. But where Glann Ar Mor is situated on the peninsula facing the rough sea, Warenghem is more inland. The sea is about 9 km away.
In 1987 the Warenghem distillery started creating blended whisky, and in 1998 their first single malt was released – Armorik. It was the first single malt in France. Armorik uses 100 % French malted barley.
The weather in the region is similar to the Scottish Highlands but slightly warmer. The angel’s share is around 3.5%. The water is from Rest Avel which translates to ‘the wind’s dwelling”.
Armorik uses a majority of refill bourbon casks made of American white oak and some refill sherry butts made of Spanish oak. They also make use of Brittany oak casks made from trees of the Cranou and Brocéliande forests. These casks bring their natural sweetness and delicate woody notes.
The core range includes Armorik Classic, Armorik double maturation and Armorik Sherry finish, all of which are available in South Africa.
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Armorik Single Malt Whisky Review
John picked this bottle of Armorik Millesime 2002 up on one of his travels. It was distilled in March 2002 and bottled in May 2013. It was matured in cask No. 3300, with an outturn of 728 bottles. The Armorik Millesime 2002 is bottled at cask strength and was matured in Bourbon and Oloroso Sherry casks. I have bottle 90 /728
COUNTRY: France
ABV: 56.3%
COLOUR: Copper
NOSE: Fruity sweetness, toasted malt, hints of vanilla, sherry, toffee, honey. Even at the high ABV, there is no alcohol burn on the nose.
PALATE: Without water, there is heat, burnt toast, ash, fruity notes and malt. Adding water softens the heat and a cascade of flavours come through. The burnt toast and ash changes to darkly toasted bread with heaps of fresh butter, the fruit become sweeter and hints of honey and sherry come through. Vanilla sweetness and smoky, nutty hints.
FINISH: After adding water, malty goodness and honey.
RATING: EXCELLENT
When I had a first sip of the Armorik Millesime 2002 without water, I thought, ” oh hell no”. Then I added a (fair) bit of water and all the discordant notes softened into a beautifully balanced, coherent unit.
A great balance between the sherry notes and the bourbon vanilla with lashings of malty goodness. I certainly need to try more from this unique French distillery.
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