In double distillation, from barley, whether peaty or not, and water drawn from 950 m of altitude in the Vosges mountains, it produces distillates aged in small French wine barrels. One can hardly do more Alsatian !!! The distillery is also starting to experiment with the "Small batch" that we will taste today: Welche's Whisky Small Batch#1 - Cherry Cask finish

Listen to a distillate aged 4 years in barrels of Burgundy and Sauternes wine and which finished its run in a barrel of cherries macerated in brandy for 8 months! Yes it is indeed a CHERRY cask and not a SHERRY cask - you have noticed the French subtlety! No Spanish cask, but again and again from the Ascacian.

How's it look?

From the dark bottle flows an amber liquid with almost brown highlights.

When we dive the nose we expect a single malt "perry" in the Alsatian style but we are quite surprised by the great presence of ripe red fruits (a real jam). One conceals nevertheless some vinous aromas at the end of the inspiration. All in roundness and softness, the nose is after a second passage invaded by blackcurrant pie just out of the oven with the arrival of 54.3% alcohol at the end of the inspiration.

The malt makes its timid appearance during a third passage but is quickly caught up by chocolate aromas.

It is in the mouth that this whisky reveals its strength and proves to be up to the task. The 54,3 % are there it's undeniable and they take some space. They are accompanied by a rather sweet taste of cherry. Nevertheless this last one disappears quickly enough to give way to woody and spicy notes. Then almonds pass by stealthily to give way to the slight bitterness of citrus fruits.

Once swallowed, it leaves a round hazelnut aroma in the mouth for a long time, very slightly woody. After a few moments, the rather surprising smell of a good old perfecto emerges!

I know you'll say that I'm still as chauvinistic as ever, but I must admit that it stands out from the crowd (it's quite far from the other whiskies of the range and is for me a real favourite). The only real disadvantage is that it is, as its name indicates, a "small batch" and that it has been produced only a little more than 1200 bottles and is very difficult to find. Fortunately, the experiment having been conclusive, it resulted in a batch #2 which is a little less powerful at 46.8% but just as tasty. We will still have to think about hurrying as only 2 casks were produced and there are not even 700 bottles.