Apart if you’ve been living in a remote cave, you probably know those past 5 days brought all the best of the Wine & Spirit world to Bordeaux for the 2017 edition of Vinexpo. And guess what? I was there… And I tasted some pretty awesome stuff 😀

While probably 85% of the show was dedicated to wine and I didn’t have time to check all the 1565851426 stands, I of course chose to focus my visit on spirits, all the way to the Hall 3!

 

Here are a few personal highlights:

 

> Writers Tears Red Head – triple-distilled in oloroso sherry butts, which gives it a ruby hue, hence the moniker – Red Head. as a fan of Writers Tears consistent quality and sherried whiskies, I could only be won over by this expression 🙂

> Moon Gin – while the Moon Harbour distillery is still under construction in Bordeaux (works said to be completed by September), the team has released an incredibly tasty gin boasting some very local botanicals such as Piment d’Espelette #BasqueCountryFTW !

> Copperhead blends – Belgian gin (made with Juniper, Cardamom, Orange peel, Angelica and Coriander) and three different bottles of bitters or ‘blends’. These can be used to highlight certain aspects of the gin as well as for different occasions: Digestivum contains ginger to aid digestion after a meal, Aperitivum contains palate-cleansing angelica and grapefruit, whilst Energeticus contains plenty of guarana for a pick-me-up!

> Teeling Brabazon – The first release in Teeling’s Brabazon Bottling range, which will explore the impact that fortified wine casks have on the flavour profile of Irish whiskey. This initial bottling features whiskey drawn from six Sherry casks, resulting in big ol’ bundles Sherried deliciousness.

> Rozelieures – Rully series for Les Domaines Qui Montent : The first whisky of Lorraine (FRANCE)  was born in the early 2000s from the alchemy between an original initiative and the passion of two men.
The art of distillation was no secret for Hubert (famous for the Maison de la Mirabelle) when he suggested to Christophe, as a joke, the idea to create a whisky of Lorraine while they were harvesting barley.
Several years of research and development, investments, fermentation, distillation and ageing were necessary to reach the level of quality their whisky has now…

The series they have developed exclusively for French wine retailers Les Domaines Qui Montent, each expression finished for 6 months in different Rully wines, is to die for! French whisky is definitely getting stronger year after year…

 

And without further ado, I leave you with a small instasummary of my visit!