Next up a French Whisky, that seems utterly French, since it was finished in casks that once held truffles, yes a fungus! The Whisky itself (before it is finished) turns out to be a 12yo Scottish Single Malt brought in by the Perigord distillery to finish for several weeks in the aforementioned special casks. Alas the source of the Whisky is confidential. Just to clear one thing up, the casks previously didn’t hold truffles, but were used for ageing a spirit (Vodka) with truffles infused in them. Distillerie du Perigord has a website, at the time of writing, only in French, which show the distillery is known mainly for its fruit spirits and liqueurs and some French specialties like Pastis and Poire William, and now this French-Scottish Whisky.

Color: Orange gold.

Nose: Creamy and fresh. Light and fruity. Lots of yellow fruits with hints of menthol. Fruity sweetness with hints of oak. I braced myself for so thick and earthy fungus smell, but nope it’s not like that at all. Its fresh and fruity, Light and quite elegant, with a tiny hint of burning candle and pine. That part reminds me of christmas. Simply a nice smelling Whisky. Give this some time to breathe (believe me, this does need a lot of time to breathe) and yes, a whiff of mushroom does pass by. Remember the smell when cleaning champignons? It may not only be the smell of the mushroom itself, but also from the earth its growing in. Sure it has that, but don’t expect to get a lot of it. I already used more words about the mushroomy bit, than is actually noticeable, but it is noticeable. If nosed blind, the mushroom would be considered a part of the wood aroma I guess. Remarkable change when it breathes, more and more towards the christmassy bit I described above. Even more earthy, dry and more and more candle wax, boiling water and dry pine. Mocha coffee. The pine is integrated, it’s not overpowering the smell at all. Very interesting nose.

Taste: Light, creamy, watered down oak and cardboard, no yellow fruits but there are some red fruits in the finish. Quite malty and in a way it has aroma’s of porridge and old beer. This probably has been reduced too much to show off its aroma’s in the taste. Slight hint of oaky bitterness in the finish, and for me there is no truffle in the taste. It’s all in the nose. Tastes like a blend.

The nose is more than all right. Give it time and it will show you its special. A good nose you get from wood aged spirits. Not really a mushroom Whisky though. Taste wise it’s too thin with quite a short finish. Not something I would run out to buy, but an education and experience nevertheless.

Points: 70

Merci à Richard pour la bouteille.