The rise of French whisky

By the mid-2010s, momentum was building. The world was slowly waking up to France’s potential as a whisky-producing country. In 2016, 25 distilleries and eight bottlers banded together to form the Federation du Whisky de France. Fast forward to today, and the consortium is working on an established definition, or Geographical Indication (GI), for French whisky, that, in legal terms at least, would put it on a similar footing to Scotch, Irish whiskey and American single malt. French whisky has arrived – and drinks lovers in the know are lapping it up.

It was against this backdrop that I undertook a trip to Provence’s smaller whisky distilleries, curious to see how flavour was being crafted, harnessed and interpreted by distillers slightly off the beaten track. In Haute Provence, in the shadow of the Southern Alps and the dominion of ski resorts, it is clear that there is a commitment to push forward distilling expertise that runs generations deep.

‘My parents first produced raspberry liqueur,’ Jérôme Million Rousseau tells me, as I step inside Distillerie Lachanenche. Whisky-making is a relatively new phenomenon here, pioneered by Jérôme and his brother Benoit. The pair took the reins in 2019, continuing a commitment to organic, additive-free spirits production. Their first move? To start using the decades-old, Armagnac-style outdoor alembic system to make French whisky. In the south west, it would be a fairly common sight to see these nomadic stills wheeled around smaller producers at harvest time. But I’ve never seen it used for whisky before.

Lachanenche partners with a nearby brewery to source its wash, which is made from local barley and transported fresh up the mountain just before a distillation run. Jérôme takes me outside to see the distillation setup, surrounded by alpine wildflowers. The only sound is horses grazing nearby. It’s too hot to run the vats and a small column still on the day I arrive, so they use it to cook sausages instead. ‘It’s traditional,’ he says in explanation.

What isn’t traditional is the maturation regime at Lachanenche. We hop in his car and head back down the mountain, past the same section of road that induced the heady vertigo. But we don’t stop at warehousing. Instead, a disused railway tunnel houses the ageing casks. There are finishes with Madeira and Nebbiolo, among others. We sample both straight from the cask: young, vibrant whiskies awash with stone fruit and succulent honey notes. Then I’m allowed to sample a Sauternes cask, the very first one filled in 2019. It’s a special moment.

Lachanenche’s only commercially available release at present is a single malt called Laverq, named after the valley where the tunnel warehouse burrows underneath the mountain. It’s bursting with apricot and pear notes, young but full of promise. Jérôme and the team are ambitious. There are plans to build a small maltings in the area, a cooperative-type project supported by a cohort of local brewers. When that arrives, they’ll explore making their own wash. There’s a lot more to come from a distiller already doing things its own way.

If Lachanenche is informed by an ancestry of fruit-spirit distillation, then Les Chineurs de Malts, a distillery set up in 2020 just a stone’s throw from the town of L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, is steeped in wine. Founded by former Châteauneuf-du-Pape oenologist Jean-Yves Pomaret and business partner Loïc Puviland, it’s a distillery that wears its vine know-how as a badge of honour. The pair embarked on a tour of Scotland to understand distilling and spent time studying in Cognac, too. Learning ‘was our first job,’ Jean-Yves tells me.

‘The distillery isn’t big but it’s perfect for us,’ he says as he takes me from the visitor centre round to the production area. While 80% of what they make is unpeated, crafted from barley harvested from a nearby plot and malted locally, sacks of imported Simpsons Malt provide the peated grain. But it’s after the tiny 2,500-litre mash tun that things really get interesting.

Along one side of the distillery is a series of oak wine barrels. These are not for maturation but to serve as fermentation vessels. For three to five days, depending on the time of year, these vessels hold the fermenting wash. Once complete, the barrel-loads are combined in a metal tank prior to distillation to protect it from bacterial contamination. ‘We have a lot of respect for Scotland and it’s the model for Les Chineurs de Malts,’ Pomaret explains. ‘But I’m using my wine story too.’

This grape-based philosophy continues in the still house. The space is unveiled through a set of double doors with a flourish: centre stage is a cobalt blue-clad Cognac alembic and worm tub condenser with 20 years of service under its belt. Pomaret tells me the still head was made new, the shape a signature for the distillery.

‘I think we are too young to say there’s a signature style,’ he acknowledges, with Les Chineurs de Malts less than five years into production. But he’s excited about the possibilities. ‘We test after we produce all new make – it’s crazy because there’s loads of mango and passion fruit.’ He’s excited to see how it develops with age.

During spring and autumn, the distillery makes about three barrels a week, with all of them maturing on-site. We dive into some cask samples before tasting through the core range, which spans inaugural release Réal with its elegant floral notes, experimental range Insulae, and one-offs bottled under the Magic Cask range. The warehouse holds ex-bourbon, some Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry butts, but most notably an array of biodynamic French white wine barrels, almost exclusively from the Rhône Valley. There’s even a barrel that previously held wine that Pomaret made. It feels like a full-circle moment as we try the young spirit from it.

‘For us, it’s all about singularity,’ he says. Les Chineurs de Malts is about distinctiveness; a sense of place that’s unique to the maker but also undeniably French. There’s an evident sense of pride in both these producers that speaks to a growing confidence within the country’s distilling community. Your next favourite whisky? There’s every chance it could come from France.

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