Michel Couvreur Overaged Malt Whisky 52% France 700ml

Story

Michel Couvreur had a very personal, and truly revolutionary vision of what whisky should be: more than terroir, more than the distiller’s touch, it was the maturing in oak casks that truly helped the grain spirit become whisky. From 1978 on, having settled in the French region of Burgundy, he decided to make it his life’s work and to dedicate his research toa process which he once compared to cross-fertilization.

Michel Couvreur whisky’s style is acquired by years of long contact with Sherry or other different impregnated wine casks. The cellars is situated in a little village, Bouze-lès-Beaune, it look like a cave which is15 meters deep with some 150 meters of galleries dug in limestone but giving humidity, silence, calm and depth. Michel Couvreur whiskies are incredibly flavorful, intense and soft all at the same time. Style and nobility are acquired following many years of ageing. They keep a very special attention to the choice of barrel, spending a lot of time and money looking for the most unique barrels down all over Europe. Each bottle needs particular care— they are hand-corked, hand-waxed and hand-labeled.

Michel Couvreur passed away in 2013; his son-in-law Cyril Deschamps and his cellar master Jean-Arnaud Frantzen, with the invaluable help of Michel's devoted wife Marthe and his daughter Alexandra, follow to the letter the philosophy and the motto of the house: Virtute et Opera .

This Overaged Malt Whisky 52% is incredible elegance and nice balance. Vatting of single malts aged between 12 and 27 years in Pedro Ximenez oak casks and resulting from a cognac (double) distillation method with a mash exclusively made of Malt (germinated barley). It has kept the 52%alcohol by volume, the original cask strength.

Tasting Notes

Bright brown color

Fragrance nose with intense dried flowers, flaxen tobacco, sherry, roasted almond and a touch of smoky notes

Fruity, powerful and lingering on palate. Aimed at a balance between new pure young malts and complex maturity of older ones. Sherry roundness enhanced by as lightly smoked. 

Fabulous, nice balance between the nervous young single malts and the mellow older.