Category Archives: France

Whisky Ladies Choice – Treating the BMC Gentlemen…

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Last year, the gentlemen from the Bombay Malt & Cigar club took it upon themselves to treat the Whisky Ladies of Mumbai to an evening of Irish whiskies and cigars.

This year, it was our turn to return the favour.

We debated a range of different approaches and finally decided on a theme of “Ladies Choice.” And what pray tell did that mean to us?

We wanted to share with the gentlemen some of the most memorable whiskies we sampled together as a tasting group. They may not be the world’s best whiskies but they would be our “Choice” – ones that stood out in some kind of way.

We went about it in a democratic manner and voted, tallied up the responses to create a “short-list”, then began the efforts to source these whiskies.

Our approach was a bit flexible, in some cases we knew it would be impossible to source the EXACT same whisky. What worked was finding something from the same distillery or similar category.

The whiskies were literally sourced from around the world involving travel, friends of friends and even last minute acquisitions…

What made it into our final “Ladies Choice” list?

Japan – Akashi Red Blended Whisky 40%

  • In truth we had several Japanese whiskies in mind however the Akashi was accessible and a refreshing departure from the expensive exclusive impossible to find Japanese single malts, so figured why not!
  • It also made for a perfect ‘appetizer’ whisky to get the evening going…

Sweden – Mackmyra Vinterdröm 46.1%

  • The most enjoyable peaty Mackmyra Svensk Rok 46.1% captured our attention with its clean, minimalist yet smoky qualities.
  • So when our Swedish whisky lady went on the hunt over Christmas for something distinctly different from the distillery, this limited edition “Caribbean love affair” avatar was her pick!

India – Paul John Single Cask #1844 60.5%

  • The Paul John Select Cask Peated Batch 1 “OMG bacon!” made many Whisky Ladies swoon for more during our Paul John evening… we definitely wanted to include a Goan single malt, preferably a Select Cask or Single Cask…
  • Thankfully Michael from Paul John distilleries was able to oblige our interest – literally hand delivering this single cask a mere two days before our evening!

France – Kornog Taouarc’h Pempved 14 BC 46%

  • Kornog’s whisky from Bretagne will forever be known in our group for the comment “How did you go from being a perfect gentlemen to getting my bra off like that?” (WL on Kornog Taourac’h Trived 10 BC 46%)
  • Alas the Trived 10 BC was no longer available so we took a gamble on the newer Pempved 14 BC…

Taiwan – Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask S090102020 57.1%

  • There was no doubt a Kavalan was going to make the cut…
  • By a very wide margin, the Solist Sherry Cask topped the charts with the most votes from all our Whisky Ladies tasting experiences. So… it simply HAD to be our ‘showstopper’ of the evening!

Somehow not one Scottish whisky made it into the list. Not a single one. It wasn’t deliberate. It was simply how the votes panned out.

But that says something about how the whisky world is going…

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European Tour – Kornog Taourac’h Trived 10 BC 46%

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A year ago during a remarkable tasting evening at The Auld Alliance in Singapore, I first encountered Glann ar Mor‘s peated Kornog from Bretagne, France.

Raving about the distinctive character of the special cask strength Kornog bottled exclusively for The Auld Alliance, I put the word out to our traveling Whisky Ladies to track down another Kornog.

Sure enough, one of our lovely lasses special ordered a Kornog Taouarc’h Trived 10 BC in the UK that wandered its way home to India.

It featured as the 3rd whisky in our June 2016 European Tour…

Teerenpeli, Kornog, Danica

Kornog Taourac’h Trived 10 BC 46%

  • Nose – Banana split! Fruity, caramel, vanilla, smoke, chocolate, nutmeg
  • Palate – Peat, bacon, buttery
  • Finish – Chocolate chaser, sweet syrupy with a bacon edge

Think banana split with bacon sprinkles! Sounds strange but is actually quite delicious. The overall impression was of smokey caramel in the most delectable way. With peat hardly discernible on the nose it grew more pronounced on the palate and blossomed in the finish.

It had the most remarkable way of going from a fabulous fruity nose to dancing briefly along the palate to flounce immediately into a wonderful finish.

This Kornog lived up to my hope of a completely distinctive character – in many ways it is rather roguishly reflective of what one thinks of about Brittany. One of our Whisky Ladies lived many years in France and without a doubt, this was her favourite whisky of our tour!

Best quote of the evening?

“How did you go from being a perfect gentlemen to getting my bra off like that?”

While there are few reviews of this Kornog and no official online tasting notes from the distillery, Jim Murray rated the Kornog Taouarc’h Trived 12 BC at a whopping 95. Even if you are not fan of Mr Murray, we would agree this particular Kornog is worth giving a go!

Other whiskies sampled during our European tour included:

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Whisky Ladies European Tour – Teerenpeli, Danica, Kornog + Slyrs

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In the wake of the Brexit vote, the Whisky Ladies of Mumbai decided to go on a European whisky tour featuring:

2016-06-28 European Tour

The Teerenpeli Finnish whisky was a recent acquisition from my trip to London – recommended by the folks over at the Whisky Exchange and a rather fine addition to our evening.

The Brauntstein Danica‘s was snagged as the only Danish whisky available at Copenhagen airport!

The Kornog from France has been eagerly awaited! Special request ordered by one of our whisky lady’s prompted by my curiosity after sampling a cask strength version.

A complete bonus on announcing June’s theme was the addition of a 4th European whisky from Bavaria, Germany. I mean, who else in Mumbai other than a “Whisky Lady” just so happens to have a bottle of Slyrs 51 sitting in their whisky cabinet??

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French whisky – Armorik Classic 46%

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There was one more whisky I sampled at La Maison du Whisky in Singapore last June that missed getting into the original line-up. And I just recently stumbled across my notes…

Like the now mythical Kornog, this other French whisky Armorik was one I hoped to easily acquire and re-sample at leisure. It was one on a list of possible bottles to pick up in our trip through London – eminently more affordable than Singapore.

Alas that was not the case so here goes my quick impressions from a wee dram…

Armorik Classic NAS 46% – A single malt whisky from Breton just bursting with sweet currents, cereal and toasted nutty bread. On the palate gorgeous light fruits, cereals and spices. Finish is a light sprightly spice dance. In short – simple, spicy and delicious.

Amorik Classic (Whisky Lady)

Armorik Classic (Whisky Lady)

Armorik is produced at the Warenghem distillery in Lannion in north Brittany and is a marriage of sherry and bourbon cask whiskies of various ages.

Official tasting notes:

  • Nose: Rich and elegant with touches of nuts (hazelnut) and toasted bread.
  • Palate: A fruity attack that gradually reveals its complexity, with notes of dried fruits and cereals, highlighted by spices.
  • Finish: Long-lasting spicy and sea breeze notes.

Here’s what others have to say:

Related posts:

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Hunt for Glann Ar Mor’s Kornog

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Since June 2015, I’ve spread feelers to track down something more from the Glann Ar Mor distillery…

Heck I have a friend who works for a global company with their headquarters in Paris. Surely she could find there when on a business trip?

Or another that has a chateau in France, how difficult would it be to locate on a jaunt between there and India?

Numerous other friends who travel back and forth between Europe and Asia…

How difficult could it be to track down just one more bottle?

Well… it is…

Partly this challenge stems from questions around its continued existence. Earlier in 2015, the distillery announced it would close in August 2015. What?! No!! Say it isn’t so! With the rules on what does / does not qualify as a whisky from Bretagne, the distillery gained an extended lease on life.. however finding their whiskies? Remains elusive!

Kornog (Whisky Lady)

Kornog (Whisky Lady)

I originally tried their peated expression – Kornog – in June 2015 as part of a remarkable evening sampling 8 distinctive whiskies at The Auld Alliance.

Here is what we found:

Kornog 2013 58.7% bottled for The Auld Alliance 

  • Nose – Smooth flowers, garden greens, nail polish or varnish, very sweet – almost too sweet, smells light, bright and fresh… just couldn’t get beyond the sweet
  • Taste – PEAT as in serious peat, horses kick kinda peat, with bitter tamarind, super sour yet also rich and creamy – may sound like a contradiction yet it works
  • Finish – Smoooooth, warm, beautiful and simply delightful
  • Impression – Has a distinctly different character. Superb. We speculated that it may be cask strength

Here is what they have to say about their Peated Single Malt from Breton:

“Born from fire, raised by the wind.”

Traditional pot-still distillation without chill-filtration or caramel colouring. Peated at about 35/40 PPM, it is matured in first fill “barrique” of ex Sauternes wine and first fill bourbon barrels.

Of all the world whiskies sampled, the Kornog stood out as memorable. I resolved to explore more from this distillery.

Why mention any of this at all?

Because one of our whisky ladies has acquired a bottle! Not sure yet when we will have an opportunity to try… or even how hers will compare with its cask strength cousin… however looking forward to sampling in due course!

PS – After that teaser, we tried the Kornog Taourac’h Trived 10 BC 46% – and it certainly did NOT disappoint!

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