[Review] Glann ar Mor - Kornog Taouarc'h Kentan 15 BC 46%

For the very first one, I decided to go with a French whisky, more specifically a Breton whisky. I know, the fact that I am French has probably affected my decision, but Scotland does not have the monopoly for good whisky. 
As I mentioned in my welcome post, I do like strong flavours in whisky, peat and smoke in particular. After having tried and discovered some of the key peaty whiskies (Islay bottles in particular) I decided to research French whisky to see whether I could also find expressions of my favourite taste back home too. My research confirmed what I already knew (France isn't a major whisky producer despite being a major whisky drinker) but also brought to my attention a handful of distilleries, mainly located in Brittany. The one which particularly caught my eye was the Glann ar Mor distillery (glann ar mor meaning by the sea in Breton), located in Pleubian on the North coast. The distillery was created in 1997 but started being fully operational in the mid-2000. The founders Jean and Martine Donnay decided to created a craft distillery where authenticity and tradition are paramount. This is the reason why they use wooden washbacks for their fermentation, live flame to heat their two small pot stills in a slow distillation process, and worm tubs for condensing the spirit. At the end of the process, we get two expressions from the distillery: the unpeated Glann ar Mor and the peated version called Kornog (meaning the West wind in Breton). 
I went to Brittany over the summer and even if I didn't manage to make it to Pleubian, I still managed to get hold of a bottle of Kornog, the 2015 edition, and here it is:


As I mentioned earlier, the authentic methods the Donnays are following to produce their whisky means that it is obviously not chill filtered and the very pale yellow colour is natural. Kornog is bottled at 46% ABV.
Now here goes my first tasting note:

Nose: iodine, sea-weed, peat, farm, marzipan and a hint of vanilla. To me, it smells like walking through a vegetable patch right by the sea!

Palate: more smoke than peat, coal

Finish: ash and peat, quite long

With water: Much sweeter. Fresher nose, more fruity with hints of fresh laundry. Marzipan much more apparent on the palate with some vanilla.

A very good whisky if you like the peat.

The last interesting fact regarding Glann ar Mor distillery is that Jean and Martine Donnay are currently in the process of building the 9th distillery on Islay in Gartbreck, due to open in 2016. Same methods involved, so watch this space!

Glann ar Mor official website

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

[Review] Wormtub - 10 years old 56.8%

Image
  Celebrating ‘Try January’ today,  with something new from the guys at Atom brands and their Wormtub 10 year-old release. No nonsense here with a Speyside single malt aged for 10 years, finished in Sherry casks and bottled uncoloured, unchillfiltered and at the natural cask strength of 56.8% No info on the distillery apart from the fact it uses worm tub condensers and there aren’t actually that many distilleries left which use them… (personally, I'd be tempted to think Mortlach...) I cannot wait to dive in! My tasting notes: Nose: Fresh, spicy and fruity. Vanilla pods, oak spice, raisins, ginger (fresh & crystallised), orange, white peach, dark chocolate, hints of walnut, slight toffee & cinnamon, honey, jasmine tea. Slightly metallic too. Palate: Dark, chewy, rich & spicy. Liquorice, walnut, chocolate, oak, candied orange, spicy prunes, black pepper, wood polish, caramel, crystallised ginger & candied grapefruit bitterness. Finish: Walnut, bitter chocolate, dri
Read more

[Review] Bowmore - 10 years old Aston Martin partnership 40%

Image
Probably one of my favourite collaboration today, linking Islay whisky with Aston Martin. And this is courtesy of the Bowmore team, who sent me the bottle for free! I have had a mixed experience with Bowmore and I put this down to one main key factor, the presentation of the whisky. Not the box and label, but the abv and filtration. The standard bottles released at low abv (40%) have not really been that great, butI have really loved the 48%+ releases. Now this 10 year-old is part of a new Travel Retail range that Bowmore have released in conjunction with Aston Martin. You’ll find a 10, 15 and 18 year-old, The 10 years old is aged in a mix of sherry cask and bourbon casks (40%), the 15 in first-fill bourbon casks (43%) and the 18 in a mix of Oloroso and PX casks (43%). The whisky has also probably been coloured and chill-filtered. So let's get stuck in and see what this one is like... My tasting notes Nose: Sweet and smoky, dried fruit, ash, smoke, tropical notes, mango, caramel,
Read more

[Review] Glenfarclas - 21 years old 43%

Image
Before starting with today's whisky, I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year, hoping 2018 is full of good things for us all! I would also like to thank you for following my whisky journey on the blog as well as on my Instagram page @themaltcask. My resolution for this year is fewer bottles but more from independent bottlers and older ones if I can! So let's start the first post of the year with a slightly older whisky from a distillery I have not really reviewed on the blog: Glenfarclas and its 21 year-old single malt. Glenfarclas have got quite a following as it is one of the only distilleries in Scotland still family run. They also focus essentially on ex-Sherry casks for the maturation of their single malt and these casks are laid to rest in one of their 28 on-site warehouses.  I have tried a few Glenfarclas in the last few years, but none really struck me apart from the 15 years old which I really enjoyed. The 12 wasn't bad, the 105 was okay too but th
Read more