Armorik – Edition Originale

Tonight, I was drinking whisky with the very people who started my obsession. They were kind enough to open their houses and to share their collection with me. Initially, I was unenthusiastic, ill and then the next time we met I was over eager and ended up with a bad hangover. Tonight it felt like we had come full circle and I was able to share my collection with them.

I can only thank them for the generosity, for starting my journey and for teaching me that a dram shared is a dram truly enjoyed!

The first of two drams that I tried tonight was a French Whisky. Pete had purchased the bottle from the distillery shop when on holiday and didn’t remember a lot about it. Despite our best (poor) attempts at translating the label, we were left with no option, but to taste it for ourselves!

Aroma: Stewed Apple, Brandy and Honey. An incredibly different nose to anything that I have tried before, in some ways more reminiscent of aromas from Liqueurs or Ciders that I have tried in the past.

Taste: I was expecting the initial flavour of this whisky to follow its nose and to be all about the apples, however this wasn’t the case. In fact it was incredibly floral and sweet. These flavours notes reminded me of wild honey, light and sweet. They placed me into summer holiday meadows, lying in long grass, with golden sun warming my skin.

As this sweetness passed toward the rear of the mouth, it was drying, wooden and lightly spicy. This was the part of the whisky that gave away its casking, the years spent in oak were really telling and evident here. There is some smoke, but only a waft in the nostrils in passing.

This middle flavour is the longest part of this whiskies flavour, but as it passes away there are oddly sweet notes, of marshmallow, and digestive biscuits. It is only in this final flavour that the apple from the nose rears its head again.

Mouthfeel: Light, Sweet and Drying.

Overall: An introductory whisky to mark a distillery as interesting. I feel like there must be better whiskies to sample from this maker, but this dram was pleasant enough. Oddly, it left me with a concerned feeling, asking the question about what a dram must be to behave as a whisky, as this liquid seemed to just not quite do that for me.

Aroma: 14

Start: 13

Middle: 13

Finish: 13

Value: 14

Overall: 67/100

More Information: Warenghem  Distillerie

Available: Shop 4 Whisky