“Yesterday When I Was Young”
Whisky Review # 871
Country: France
Region: Cognac
Brand: Brenne Cuvee Speciale
Type: Single Malt French Whisky
Age: NAS (Around 7 Years)
Age: NAS (Around 7 Years)
Alcohol By Volume (ABV): 40%
Maturation: Fresh French Limousine Oak Barrels + Cognac Cask Finish
Chill Filtration: Yes
Price Range: US$ 55-65 (May 2020)
Price/Quality Ratio: 👎The price does not justify this Young, Thin, Bland Malt
Buying Advice: 😒This does not work for me at all I'm afraid.
Colour:
Chardonnay (Artificially Coloured)
Nose:
You immediately smell the Fresh Oak, so common in West-European Whisky. It is also quite usual to find a Varnish note when nosing this type of Whisky and it's present here as well. Other than that the Nose is Young, Light, Thin and a bit Artificial. Not really unpleasant but nothing remarkable as well. It's different when you compare it to Scotch Whisky but that's perfectly okay of course. The Alcohol is quite present.
Main Aromas:
Sweet Barley, Toast and Margarine, Vanilla, Grass, Apples and Pears, Fresh Oak, Floral Soap, White Wine, slightly Sour Berries, Tutti-Frutti, Varnish and Banana Ice-Cream.
Supportive Aroma Accents:
Heather-Honey, Caramel, Toffee, Coconut, Fresh & Dried Herbs, Milk-Hazelnut Chocolate, Lemon-Infused Cleaning Agent and PVC Pipes. I also get an Aroma that I can't pin down exactly but it's a mixture of Bakeries and Butcher shops. Extraordinary!
Palate:
Young, Thin, Sugary Sweet and slightly Edgy. The Alcohol really spoils a bit of the fun. A few Sour notes as well.
Main Flavours:
Sweet Barley, Toast & Margarine, Vanilla, Grass, Hay, Tutti Frutti, Milk-Hazelnut Chocolate, Apples and Pears, Sour Berries, Floral Soap, Fresh Oak, Banana Ice- Cream, Licorice and Pepper.
Supportive Flavour Accents:
Heather-Honey, Toffee, Coconut, Nougat, Lemon, White Wine, Cinnamon, Melon & Cherry-Flavoured Cough Syrup.
Finish:
Short/Middle-Long and Sugary Sweet. The Alcohol remains very present. It's all quite Light, Young, Thin and a little Rough. Some Bitter Oak notes as well. It doesn't feel sufficiently matured. I find Sweet Barley, Caramel, Toffee, Vanilla, Nougat, Tutti Frutti, Toast and Margarine, Milk-Hazelnut Chocolate, Coconut, Herbs, Apples and Pears, Banana-Flavopured Ice Cream, Pepper, Licorice and Cherry-Flavoured Cough Syrup.
Drinking Advice:
You can carefully add a few drops of Water to get rid of the slightly aggressive Alcohol. But be careful as this Malt is already quite Thin as presented.
Rating: 71
Nose: 20 - Taste: 17 - Finish: 16.5 - Overall: 17.5
Drinking Experience Neat: Below Average
Conclusion:
Brenne was launched in 2012 by a former professional ballerina named Allison Parc. She formed a partnership with an unknown farm distillery in the Cognac region that has been producing eau de vie since the 1920's. Allison's dream is to introduce terroir to the making of Whisky. The Brenne projects uses two types of heirloom Barley, grown organically in the fields around the distillery. The yeast is a strain owned by the distillery and already in use for generations. The Spirit is then distilled twice in Alembic Charente Stills, normally used for the Cognac production. The Cuvee Speciale then matures for around 5 years in new French Limousine casks before being finished for around two years in Cognac Barrels. After maturing each bottle is drawn from a single cask.
I'm not impressed by this Cuvee Speciale. There's nothing special about it. It's Young, Thin and a bit lifeless. There is some promise in the Spirit though and I'm curious to try a well-matured Brenne. There's already a 10 Years on the market and that should be better than this not fully-matured Cuvee Speciale. So while I enthusiastically support any new projects and understand the need for cash I refuse to pay US$ 60 or so for a not fully matured thin Single Malt. Je suis desole!
Cheers!
Jan van den Ende May 4, 2020
Maturation: Fresh French Limousine Oak Barrels + Cognac Cask Finish
Chill Filtration: Yes
Price Range: US$ 55-65 (May 2020)
Price/Quality Ratio: 👎The price does not justify this Young, Thin, Bland Malt
Buying Advice: 😒This does not work for me at all I'm afraid.
Colour:
Chardonnay (Artificially Coloured)
Nose:
You immediately smell the Fresh Oak, so common in West-European Whisky. It is also quite usual to find a Varnish note when nosing this type of Whisky and it's present here as well. Other than that the Nose is Young, Light, Thin and a bit Artificial. Not really unpleasant but nothing remarkable as well. It's different when you compare it to Scotch Whisky but that's perfectly okay of course. The Alcohol is quite present.
Main Aromas:
Sweet Barley, Toast and Margarine, Vanilla, Grass, Apples and Pears, Fresh Oak, Floral Soap, White Wine, slightly Sour Berries, Tutti-Frutti, Varnish and Banana Ice-Cream.
Supportive Aroma Accents:
Heather-Honey, Caramel, Toffee, Coconut, Fresh & Dried Herbs, Milk-Hazelnut Chocolate, Lemon-Infused Cleaning Agent and PVC Pipes. I also get an Aroma that I can't pin down exactly but it's a mixture of Bakeries and Butcher shops. Extraordinary!
Young, Thin, Sugary Sweet and slightly Edgy. The Alcohol really spoils a bit of the fun. A few Sour notes as well.
Main Flavours:
Sweet Barley, Toast & Margarine, Vanilla, Grass, Hay, Tutti Frutti, Milk-Hazelnut Chocolate, Apples and Pears, Sour Berries, Floral Soap, Fresh Oak, Banana Ice- Cream, Licorice and Pepper.
Supportive Flavour Accents:
Heather-Honey, Toffee, Coconut, Nougat, Lemon, White Wine, Cinnamon, Melon & Cherry-Flavoured Cough Syrup.
Finish:
Short/Middle-Long and Sugary Sweet. The Alcohol remains very present. It's all quite Light, Young, Thin and a little Rough. Some Bitter Oak notes as well. It doesn't feel sufficiently matured. I find Sweet Barley, Caramel, Toffee, Vanilla, Nougat, Tutti Frutti, Toast and Margarine, Milk-Hazelnut Chocolate, Coconut, Herbs, Apples and Pears, Banana-Flavopured Ice Cream, Pepper, Licorice and Cherry-Flavoured Cough Syrup.
Drinking Advice:
You can carefully add a few drops of Water to get rid of the slightly aggressive Alcohol. But be careful as this Malt is already quite Thin as presented.
Rating: 71
Nose: 20 - Taste: 17 - Finish: 16.5 - Overall: 17.5
Drinking Experience Neat: Below Average
Conclusion:
Brenne was launched in 2012 by a former professional ballerina named Allison Parc. She formed a partnership with an unknown farm distillery in the Cognac region that has been producing eau de vie since the 1920's. Allison's dream is to introduce terroir to the making of Whisky. The Brenne projects uses two types of heirloom Barley, grown organically in the fields around the distillery. The yeast is a strain owned by the distillery and already in use for generations. The Spirit is then distilled twice in Alembic Charente Stills, normally used for the Cognac production. The Cuvee Speciale then matures for around 5 years in new French Limousine casks before being finished for around two years in Cognac Barrels. After maturing each bottle is drawn from a single cask.
I'm not impressed by this Cuvee Speciale. There's nothing special about it. It's Young, Thin and a bit lifeless. There is some promise in the Spirit though and I'm curious to try a well-matured Brenne. There's already a 10 Years on the market and that should be better than this not fully-matured Cuvee Speciale. So while I enthusiastically support any new projects and understand the need for cash I refuse to pay US$ 60 or so for a not fully matured thin Single Malt. Je suis desole!
Cheers!
Jan van den Ende May 4, 2020
Allison Parc, Founder of Brenne
No comments:
Post a Comment