[Review] G. Rozelieures - Tourbé Collection 46%
After my post from September last year in which I reviewed the first bottle of Rozelieures I brought back from France, I have finally managed to come round to reviewing the second bottle I bought at the same time. This one is the Tourbé Collection. Tourbé means peated in French, and being a peaty whisky enthusiast, I thought I had to buy that bottle. This is also the single malt which won a gold medal in the 2015 Paris Concours Général Agricole.
The Tourbé Collection sits at the top of the Rozelieures range in terms of peatiness. You will also find a Fumé Collection (smoky) peated at around 20ppm and a Rare Collection, slightly peated and aged in ex-Sauterne casks. I have already reviewed a French peated single malt with the Kornog from the Breton distillery Glann ar Mor, so was curious to see how the Rozelieures compared to it (probably the focus of a future post)
So let's have a closer look at the whisky itself. Unlike their standard release bottled at 40%, the Tourbé Collection is 46% ABV. It has a lovely golden/straw colour which I would presume is natural. Again, we do not know whether the whisky was chill-filtered or not, but at 46%, I will assume it hasn't been.
Nose: Quite grassy and citrusy at first. You do not get a lot of peat on the nose. After a moment, it becomes sweeter with a nice mix of barley, oak, spices and faint sherried peat. The nose is quite fresh and young.
Palate: Sweet on arrival followed by some peat. You get some fresh barley, vegetal notes. a bit sharp too with some bitterness (young age) The mouthfeel is delicious, quite thick and tongue coating. Once again, the peat is rather tamed and subtle, nothing like an Islay malt, but very enjoyable nonetheless!
Finish: I actually get most of the peat/smoke on the finish, quite long, accompanied by a malty sweetness and some ginger spice. It is a relatively dry finish too.
With water: A few drops and a few minutes later, you get a sweeter and rounder nose, full of honey and vanilla notes and hints of raisins and mixed peel. The palate becomes sweeter too and the peat is even less present, up until the finish when it reappears and lingers for a while. Really enjoyable!
When I opened both bottles of Rozelieures last summer, I must admit I fell in love with the standard edition and was slightly underwhelmed by the peated edition. I think I was just expecting more peat but I now realise that it is not what this bottle is about. You are not looking at a Laphroaig or an Ardbeg, what you are looking at is a craft, authentic single malt, which is proud to showcase it's terroir, a whisky which in my opinion can compete with the best Scotch single malts by offering a different (and delicious) experience. Bravo!
 |
| This is the old bottle as Rozelieures have now introduced a new design for their bottles. |
For more information:
Comments
Post a Comment