Our Favorite French Whiskies To Try

Vicomte Single Malt French Whisky is twice-distilled in copper pot stills from 100% organic French barley. Its double-maturation begins in new French oak limousin barrels for approximately 6 months, before being transferred to used Cognac barrels to age an additional 8 years. The name is pronounced "vee-kownt" and used as a title of French nobility, status, aristocracy.

A farm distillery with an in-house malting floor, Domaine des Hautes Glaces is set upon the scenic French countryside in a centuries-old château with a cellar perfectly conditioned for aging barrels. They produce Les Moissons, an organic single malt distilled from estate-grown barley harvested at different seasons and malted on-site. Distilled twice in small pot stills, various types of French oak casks were used during maturation. It is bottled at 42% ABV without an age statement.

Bastille is the brainchild of distiller Jean-Marc Daucourt, whose family owns a winery and distillery in Cognac. This blended whisky is made from malted barley and wheat grown in northeast France. It's aged in French Limousin oak casks for an undisclosed amount of time.

Bellevoye Bleu is a non-peated blended malt made from three different regions--Brittany, Alsace and Cognac. All of the ingredients used in its production are French. The whiskies were aged from 3-8 years in oak. Once blended, the whisky is finished in new French oak barrels near the Cognac region for 9-12 months. Bottled at 40% ABV.

This limited-edition French single malt is made by the Cognac-producing family of Grallet Dupic, located in the tiny village of Rozelieures in Lorraine. Double-distilled in traditional pot stills from lightly peated malt of the sébastian, etincel, and esterel barley varieties, it has aged in oak barrels previously used in the production of a sweet dessert wine known as Sauternes as well as ex-sherry and ex-cognac barrels. Note: Also known as Rozelieures Red Rare Collection due to the red foil on the top of its bottle.

The Warenghem family first founded their namesake distillery in the Brittany region of France in 1900. In 1998, they created the Armorik, the first single malt whisky from Brittany. Armorik Double Maturation used a 100% malted barley mash that is distilled and aged in new Brittany oak casks before being finished in ex-oloroso sherry barrels.

The tiny village of Rozelieures in Lorraine, France is home to the Distillerie Grallet-Dupic, named after Hubert Grallet, the head distiller, and Christophe Dupic, his son-in-law and the distillery's farmer of grain. The family has been producing eau-de-vie since 1860, but in the 2000s, decided to start distilling whisky. Rozelieures Origine Collection is Lorraine's first whisky. Double-distilled from the famous French sébastian, etincel, and esterel barley varieties, this single malt has spent time maturing in sherry oak casks. Note: This is sometimes referred to as Rozelieures Blue Origine named for the blue foil on the top of the bottle.

Guy le Lay founded the Distillerie des Menhirs in 1986 to produce a Brittany version of apple brandy. 12 years later, the le Lay family decided to begin producing a whisky based on Brittany-grown buckwheat, creating the EDDU ("buckwheat" in the Breton language spoken in Brittany) brand. Their EDDU Silver Brocéliande is the world's only whisky distilled from a 100% buckwheat mash. Aged in barrels made from oak from the Brocéliande forest in Central Brittany. Note: This is currenlty only available in Europe.

Brenne is a single malt whisky produced with copper alembic stills as opposed to copper pot stills. It ages first in new Limousin oak barrels, used typically to age brandy, before finishing in ex-Cognac casks. They are bottled in batches and never blend the barrels together. Each bottle is numbered with the barrel number from whence it came. Bottle variation will occur, but on average the whisky is 7 years old.

Situated on a peninsula between the English Channel to the north and the Bay of Biscay, France's Armorik was well-known for distilling liqueurs and elixirs before they got into the whisky game in 1987.Armorik Classic Single Malt is a blend of whiskies aged in ex-sherry and ex-bourbon casks. Originally bottled at 40% this is now bottled at 46%.