La Maison du Whisky, Version Française, and Everything About French Whisky
I love "visiting" new countries through the podcast. Granted, France we had technically touched before through Brenne, but I'd heard that there was so much more to learn about the French culture of drinking and spirit production - so who better to talk to than Marion Attardi and Matthieu Acar, of La Maison & Velier and La Maison du Whisky, respectively.
Marion and Matthieu are subject matter giants in whiskies generally, but both bring a special expertise to French whisky. While long a top market for Scotch single malt (drinking more per capita than any other nation), France has only recently begun distilling its own whiskies and single malts (~1983 is a general starting point). Yet despite starting domestic production around the same time as the earliest American craft distillers, French producers have remained mostly small and independent. Only the oldest and largest - Armorik, for example) have made it to the US market, and many haven't made it outside of France or the EU at most.
So, why do an episode about French whisky if you can't taste much of it? Because soon enough you'll be able to - and I guarantee you're going to love it. Whether it's a distillery that grew out of a brewery, one doing their own take on peat, one using local wine casks from Bordeaux or calvados from Normandy, the variety is astounding and delicious.
Three Version Française expressions are available in the US, with more on the way. You can also shop through La Maison du Whisky, The Whisky Exchange, and many other international retailers to find gems from all over France.
This was just the opening conversation - there will be many more! Especially if Matthieu's compendium on the first 40 years of French whisky gets an English translation...
Thank you to Marion and Matthieu for entering the Whiskey Ring!
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Version Française & La Maison du Whisky