Domaine des Hautes Glaces is a small farm distillery in the French Alpes. The name suggests is a winery or someone producing armagnac, but they’ve been producing whisky. Not for long though, since everything is only being released as a spirit. Actually, the name suggests they’re high up in the mountains and there is a lot of ice (hautes glaces = high ice).

They do have a nice variety of products available from different batches and probably also different grains, since I find it highly unlikely to produce only a rye spirit in Europe. The website has some information on their single malt spirits too.

Secale is latin for rye, by the way.

Secale, Malted Rye Spirit. From Hell

Sniff:
Not sure what’s happening here. Lots of very over ripe fruit, ginlike spirit and sweet barley. Also yogurt, vanilla, and fruit, and fruit, and fruit salad. Then, a massive burst of licorice root.

Sip:
Sharp and dry with again fruit and yogurt. The licorice root is even bigger than on the nose. Fruit salad, star fruit, vanilla and hints of rubber. It’s turning nasty.

Swallow:
WHAT. THE. FUCK.

It took my five minutes to get past that. The finish suddenly has massive hints of burnt plastic and rubber. Some glue too, and lots of licorice root. This is very, very nasty.

While the nose on this one started out not too bad (nothing special too), after that it took a dive like a Stuka bomber. The finish is absolutely atrocious. One of the worst things I’ve ever tasting in a whisky.

This needs much more time in a cask and I doubt even that will salvage this trainwreck of a whisky. I just cannot explain properly how awful the finish is. If you’re up to it, I still have some left in my sample bottle.

Secale, Single organic malted rye, 56%, Domaine des Hautes Glaces. € 68 from the distillery website.