HISTORY

After having spent the statutory three years in casks, the first French whisky was born. Named WB for “Whisky Breton” (or Whisky of Brittany), it is a blend of 25% malt whisky and 75% grain whisky. It was intended for mass distribution and was the only French whisky for over a decade.

If 1998 was a memorable year in many respects, it was particularly so for the birth of the first French single malt, still in Brittany.
Indeed, the Warenghem distillery continues to lead the way with the first whisky made from 100% malted barley. Called Armorik , it is aimed at a public of amateurs and will gradually spread in the assortments of Breton wine shops.

At the turn of the millennium, only 7 whisky distilleries are active in France, and only two of them market their products.
The other distilleries do not yet have sufficiently aged stocks to be able to claim the whisky appellation, which requires a minimum of 3 years of ageing.
They include Glann Ar Mor , Distillerie des Menhirs and Warenghem in Brittany, Gilbert Holl and Lehmann in Alsace, Wambrechies in Nord Pas de Calais and Domaine Mavela in Corsica.

If the French whisky epic began in Brittany, it quickly spread to Alsace. The region is teeming with small brandy producers and distillation has been culturally established in the region for over five centuries.
At a time when traditional brandies are losing ground (the French are already beginning to turn away from digestives), whisky appears to be a relevant growth factor. Especially since many French consumers drink it as an aperitif.
Gilbert Holl opened the way in 2004 by bottling Lac’holl, the first Alsatian whisky.

Between 2000 and 2010, 13 whisky distilleries have opened in France. At that time, French whisky was still confidential. The annual market represented 215,000 bottles, which were consumed regionally, mainly in Brittany and Alsace.

In January 2015, the two main whisky-producing regions adopted a PGI and published specifications for the labels “Whisky Breton” and “Whisky Alsacien” respectively.
Largely motivated by changes in legislation (at that time the European Commission was preparing to ban all geographical indications on labels if the products concerned had neither a PGI nor an AOC), the creation of these PGIs also reflects a desire for transparency and structuring on the part of producers.

As the number of distilleries reaches 50, the European Commission publishes the Decree n° 2016-1757 of 16 December 2016 on the labelling of spirit drinks. From now on, “only whiskies made exclusively from malted barley mash, in one and the same distillery and by simple discontinuous distillation may bear the designation single malt.”

In just 8 years, sales of French whisky have multiplied by 5.
This dynamic shows a growing craze for local production. The number of distilleries continues to grow (10 more distilleries over the year) and we are witnessing a boom in independent bottling. In 2018, there are about twenty breeders and refiners working on whiskies brewed, fermented, distilled and aged in France.

France produces 2 000 000 litres of pure alcohol per year.
If this figure seems significant, it corresponds to the volume produced annually by a single medium-sized Scottish distillery.
Although French whisky is growing rapidly, it is still a craft industry.
Most of the French production is made up of malt whisky intended for a public of well-informed amateurs, but we can already measure how far we have come since the WB of 1987!
The idea of the Version Française range was born in the spring and the very first bottlings were released in the autumn, on the model of the independent Scottish trade and bottling, allowing the provenance of the products to be seen in all transparency.

History continues to be made as we approach the 100 distillery mark, to which we must add some fifty independent bottlers.
The Version Française range continues to grow and for the first time includes a selection of armagnacs from small producers.