My friend RvB often goes to the Morvan region of Burgundy in France for holiday reasons. In Autun, there’s a rather awesome bottle shop that has an extended whisky selection. So, every now and then a bottle comes this way, and they tend to be Couvreur things, since that’s a sort of local bottler there.

This Pale Single Single is supposed to be matured in a Fino sherry cask, although the Fino part is not on the label. And yes, they get to say ‘produced in France’, since the finishing is done locally. It also doesn’t say it’s scotch, although it it. Couvreur has good relations with Highland Park, Laphroaig, Glen Garioch and one distillery I cannot remember. And of course, they just might pick up the odd parcel of booze from other distilleries.

Sniff:
Funky sherry with steeped barley, almost oatmeal like. Pear, buttery chardonnay, soft oak. A minor chalky note in the background. Notes of apple start to appear after a few minutes.

Sip:
Gentle on the arrival with a pastry sweetness. Some vanilla, but also slightly funky on the dry sherry notes. Cork, tree bark, oak sawdust.

Swallow:
The finish has a surprising bite, but mellows quickly. Baked pear, tree bark, mulch, dry sherry.

They call this a Floral Malt Whisky, but I’m not necessarily picking up on direct notes of flowers. Although there might be flowers that smell like the things I did find… Anyway, this is a very decent whisky that is thoroughly enjoyable, even though it might not be fantastic.

85/100