Bellevoye French Whisky Range
Today, I’m going to be looking at a whisky range slightly different to what we usually cover here at GreatDrams. Today, I’m going to take you over the Channel, to France, to learn about Bellevoye French whisky.
Bellevoye is an artisan French whisky brand created by two friends named Alexandre Sirech and Jean Moueix. They wanted to create a brand that celebrated whisky, yet was authentically French at its heart. They certainly did that.
Using whisky from 3 distilleries: one in Lille, one in Alsace, and one near Cognac, they created their own unique whisky brand. They named that brand Bellevoye, which means ‘The Beautiful Path’ in Old French.
Here’s a look at the amazing whiskies in this range.
Bellevoye Orange
Bellevoye Orange is a non-peated, triple malt whisky with a rum finish.
Primarily aged in French oak casks for between 3 and 5 years, it spends the last few months of maturation in ex-rum casks, where it takes on the sweet and spicy characteristics you’d expect from a fine rum.
At 40% ABV, this is very smooth expression. As the name implies, it has a gorgeous orange amber colour that looks very appealing.
On the nose, you get those rum notes straight away. In particular, caramelized banana, vanilla, and a hint of nutmeg are all present, tied together perfectly with the aroma of roasted malted cereals, bourbon, and maple syrup.
On the palate, this is a whisky you could sip over and over. There’s plenty of honey notes, combined with vanilla custard cream, sticky dates and molasses, sugar cane, vanilla, and a touch of candied almond.
The finish as smooth as you can get, with notes of tropical fruit, sweet oak, bonfire toffee, and macadamia nuts.
Bellevoye Blue
I love how this whisky looks right from the onset. The blue label contrasts the yellow gold colour of the whisky perfectly. It just looks classy and sophisticated.
Bellevoye Blue is a silver-medal award winning, triple grain, non-peated, fine grain finish whisky that spent between 3 and 8 years aging in French oak casks, coupled with a secondary maturation phase of 9 – 12 months in French new ex-oak casks. Needless to say, if you like your whisky oaky, this is the dram for you.
On the nose, I was amazed to find very few oaky aromas. Oak has a distinct aroma yet I really had to work hard to detect it in this stage at all. What you will find however, are plenty of honey and sweet spicy aromas, tied together with wild flowers, roasted cereals, and a touch of vanilla.
On the palate, you get stewed golden apple, a sprinkling of tropical fruit, gingerbread, baking spices, sweet vanilla, and sweet oak.
The 40% ABV, the finish is surprisingly long and is rich on ripe orchard fruit notes with more sweet oak lingering in the background, desperate to be discovered.
Bellevoye White
Here at GreatDrams, we know a thing or two about producing a gold-medal award winning whisky. We therefore know just how much work goes into the process. That’s why we can really appreciate just how well Bellevoye worked to create this award-winning whisky.
Having won gold at the Wines and Spirits competition for the USA in 2019, along with gold at the 2020 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, this non-peated, triple malt whisky features a six-month SAUTERNES finish. Sauternes, incidentally, is a sweet white wine often enjoyed with a dessert. Usually, whisky is finished in red wine casks, so I found this dram especially intriguing.
This 40% ABV has a rich caramel hazelnut colour. Just one look at it lets you know it’s going to be a special dram.
The nose is fairly shy, with plenty of sweet notes dominating the senses. Dried fruits such as apricot, grapes, and dates, work well with aromas of caramelized hazelnut, vanilla, and sweet baking spices. Smell again, and you should pick up ginger, honey, and cloves. There’s a lot to keep your nose busy here, so don’t worry if you don’t pick up every note. I’ve read reviews from some people picking up strong notes of almond, but I struggled to find these.
On the palate there are heaps of fruity notes to be had. Apricots are the star of the show here, as well as sweet almonds, golden syrup, sticky dates, vanilla, orange blossom honey and sweet oak.
The finish isn’t too lengthy and offers up a great mouthfeel, with plenty of honey, apricot, almond, and hazelnut. There’s a touch of ginger powder lingering at the end too.
Bellevoye Red
Bellevoye Red is one of the most frequently purchased Bellevoye whiskies outside of France. It too is an award-winning whisky, and I can see why.
An intriguing selection of blended malt whiskies, this particular dram spent 5 – 10 years in French oak casks before an additional 6 months in ex-Grand Cru casks. Everything about this whisky just screams High End! It’s also slightly peated and has an amazing deep crimson amber colour.
At 43% ABV, it’s slightly stronger than a lot of the other expressions in this range.
The nose should reveal a plethora or aromatic fruity aromas with hints of morello cherry, amaretto, floral lavender, creamy malt, vanilla, toasted almond, and lightly charred oak.
The palate is warming and complex, offering up notes of sticky toffee and date pudding, toasted oak, crème brulee, honey roasted nuts, summer berries, and a light hint of fresh spearmint leaves.
The finish is medium in length and is rich in brown sugar, orange blossom, clove and nutmeg, and a very light earthy, smoky hint of peat.
Bellevoye Black
Whereas the Bellvoye red, or Rouge, as it is known in France, was very slightly peated, this next expression is a dram that’s heavily peated. If you like your Islay whiskies, this is the perfect whisky for you.
This peated triple malt blended whisky spent 5 – 10 years in French oak casks before being transferred, post-blend aging, to French new ex oak casks. This wood and grain offers the whisky a very unique characteristic that other casks just can’t seem to impart.
At 43% ABV, this caramel honey coloured whisky has an amazing mouthfeel, with just enough burn to remind you you’re drinking a peated whisky. Having won gold on four separate occasions, it’s clear Bellevoye to get the peaty notes just right. Take it from us, that’s no small feat.
On the nose, you get those peaty notes straight away, with plenty of smoky, charcoal aromas combined with burnt buttery toast. The peat influence then gives way to sweeter undertones as there’s a direct scent of apple and cinnamon pie, clove, and nutmeg, combined with oak and liquorice. A lot going on here.
On the palate, there’s a unique salinity to this dram, with notes of sea salt and caramel, sweet vanilla, honey, charred oak, and golden syrup flapjack. There’s also a fair amount of floral smoky notes from the peat here.
The finish is rich and lengthy. The tannins from the oak give this whisky a rich and oily mouthfeel. The smoky, peaty aromas coupled with the aromatic spices and honey provide an amazing finish. This is a dram to be savoured.
Bellevoye Plum
I love the label on this bottle. A rich, deep, plum purple, it accentuates the roasted honey colour of the whisky inside the bottle perfectly.
Non-peated, this triple malt whisky has been aged for 3 – 8 years in French oak casks before enjoying a post-blend aging in ex-plum brandy casks. At 43% ABV, it’s much smoother than I would have imagined at first.
On the nose you should pick up plenty of apples, pears, and grape scents. Those should quick dissipate however, giving way to aromas of ripe, stewed, sticky plums, couple with golden peach and sweet apricot.
On the palate, those fruity notes continue to shine through. The plum brandy and wine influences are there straight away, particularly the sweet, ripe plums. There’s also more than a touch of lemon and lime zest, tied together with caramel and honey, prune, golden syrup sponge, and sweet summer berries.
The finish is lengthy and refined, providing plenty of fruity notes, along with almond and creamy vanilla fudge. If you’re looking for a whisky typical to what you may find in Speyside, you’re going to love this dram.
Bellevoye Green
Finally, we have Bellevoye Green.
Apples and pears are the order of the day here, as this triple malt whisky is finished in CALVADOS casks after spending 3 – 5 years in French oak barrels. It’s also very lightly peated.
The whisky, which again is 43% ABV, is a rich golden amber colour.
On the nose you get more smoke than I was expecting from something so lightly peated. The smoke quickly gives way to the aromas of crisp apples and poached pears in a red wine, star anise, cinnamon, and nutmeg poaching liquor. There’s also burnt orange peel present, as well as caramelized pineapple. I could smell this dram for hours.
On the palate, there’s more apple and brandy notes, combined with spicy walnut and a touch of sea breeze. A second sip should reveal hidden layers of sweet caramel, toffee apple, pear drop sweets, honey and thyme, and a touch of charred oak.
The finish is lengthy and lush. There are more Calvados apple influences here, as well as oak, BBQ smoke, and whisper of peat.
If you love whisky as much as we do, be sure to head on over to GreatDrams.com and take a look at the huge range of whiskies we have available.
We offer a wide range of exotic, rare, award-winning, and unique whiskies, primarily Scotch, that you can’t find anywhere else. We also have an extensive array of whisky blogs where you can learn more about your favourite drams from here, and all over the globe.
Greg
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