THE VIDEO REVIEW 

French whisky is something that I need to explore more. There are over 90 whisky distilleries in France, but I’ve only had two of them make it onto this channel.

This particular example is from the French side of the alps, a farmyard grown and distilled single malt. Think of it as French Daftmill! Aged in a combination of ex-cognac, ex-Armagnac, and ex-French wine casks – Hautes Glaces Indigene is a rather special whisky, in my eyes. The bottle showcases the Obiou mountain in coloured glass with a stopper made from food-grade, agglomerated cork, and ‘spent grains’ from the production process.

Over the last year or so, I’ve been exploring flavours of other distillates that I’ve ignored. The main focuses are rum of all varieties, tequila, mescal, aguardiente, etc. The one thing that all of these spirits have had in common is this huge contrast of flavour, some of them even more so than whisky, but this particular French single malt has summarised so many of these flavours into one bottle. That is something quite special.

We have the fresh fruit notes of peach, making me think of light, grassy single malts. The herbal input of pine and resin from certain mescals, the freshness of agave in tequila reposado – all of this together with a rather incredible scent of jasmine and Lilly of the Valley, contained in a rather pretty bottle.

It is only a 50cl bottle for £60, but there are more expensive offerings in 70cl that are nowhere near as complex as this one. Cheers.