cascode
Rozelieures Origine Collection
Single Malt — France
Reviewed
February 23, 2019 (edited July 14, 2022)
Nose: Cereal, pear (lots of pears), banana, hazelnut, chestnut, dried fruit, a little citrus and an infinitely small hint of smoke and vanilla.
Palate: Young, sweet gristy cereal arrival. The development brings out the sherry influence with grape and mild fruit influences and an oily hint. There's an interesting mezcal-like vegetal fruit note, like green mango. An OK texture, maybe a touch watery, but a it's a very "young" profile.
Finish: Short. A little spirity on the aftertaste, but crisp, sweet cereal remains.
NOTE: Let this whisky sit in the glass for a while before tasting - for a young expression it responds very well to a little rest.
This is a young and vigorous malt but it's by no means bad. You can, however, easily tell that it's a crisp and cereal-driven distillate given just a few years in very bright, fresh casks. It's surprisingly reminiscent of some young Australian whiskies, particularly Hellyer's Road. They share the same young cereal, lactic, gristy profile.
G.Rozelieures started production in 2003 and are now the largest whisky distillery in France, but like many young distilleries they are still settling in and finding their voice (interestingly some young distilleries, like Wolfburn, seem to bypass this phase and go straight to creating magnificent whisky). They are doing as much as possible in-house, including their own maltings, and are energy sustainable. Good for them.
Nice stuff, but I prophesy that this distillery has really only just taken it's first tentative steps. Watch them, in a couple of decades they will be doing some amazing things - just wait until they get their hands on some good ex-armagnac casks.
This expression is fair value, selling here in Australia at prices that pit it against mid-shelf blended malts, and it puts up a good fight.
"Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)
62.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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hell of a review my friend...wish I could get it where I am. cheers
@Scott_E - lol, you know I’m just breaking your balls, my friend.
@LeeEvolved lol. Trying guys. It’s tough when you only drink on weekends and of that only get to one sample.
@PBMichiganWolverine - I’m ready whenever you are, but this would have to renamed to the FDT wouldn’t it. Plus, we still have to wait on @Scott_E to finish SDT 1 🤣
@Addendum: Down past the neck on this bottle now and as it has oxidised the profile has become less young and "nervous". There's a banana and butterscotch note to the nose and palate now that is very pleasant.
@cascode hey @LeeEvolved sounds like SDT 2 is calling
Oh, there's heaps - this years' Malt Whisky Yearbook lists 27, and there's probably more than that. Here's a fact that will blow your mind - at last count there are 144 whisky distilleries in Europe - that's more than in Scotland - most are smallish boutique distilleries, but some are pretty big, and they are all making stuff that is pretty good at the very least.
Never heard of them as well...didn’t realize there were any French aside from Brenne
Great review. Never heard of these guys but then again there are so many new distilleries popping up, hard to keep up!