Skip to content
  • Home
  • Whisky Top 10
  • Tasting Notes
  • About Thijs
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Whisky Top 10
  • Tasting Notes
  • About Thijs
  • Contact
logo
brenne cuvee speciale

Brenne Cuvée Spéciale (2018)

22 June 2020 0 comments Article Brenne, France, Tasting Notes

Brenne has been on my radar pretty much since its inception in 2012, yet I’ve never got around to try it. Until now. This French single malt brand was founded by American entrepreneur Allison Parc and reviews of it haven’t always been kind so far. Yet, Brenne seems to be a success and is sold across the United States and Europe.

Made in the French Cognac region, Brenne is not your everyday single malt. Most everything about it is local. The two types of heirloom barley are grown in the fields surrounding the distillery. A proprietary yeast strain is applied for fermentation.

Most interestingly though, Brenne single malt is twice-distilled in an alembic Charente still, an interesting distilling apparatus that’s designed to process fermented grape juice instead a barley mash. French Limousin oak and ex-Cognac casks are then used for maturation.

Quite unusual indeed…

Brenne Cuvée Spéciale (40%, OB, 2018)

Nose: Shy and fruity with a malty touch and whiffs of aniseed. The fruity notes (peach, banana) are somewhat artificial and candy-esque, not unlike bubblegum.
Taste: Not good. Sweet cough syrup and strawberry flavoured tooth paste for kids. It’s funky, but not the good kind. There are some spices lingering in the background and there’s even a touch of raisins.
Finish: Rather tannic and spicy. Medium in length.

Score: 68

Very hard to judge because there’s not much to compare it to. It doesn’t fit into any flavour camp and rather is an entire category on its own. Please do try it when you get the chance, but don’t expect anything that resembles whisky as you know it.

Photo: Master of Malt

Thijs Klaverstijn Kingairloch 3
Thijs Klaverstijn

Thijs is a spirits writer and accredited liquorist from The Netherlands. He runs the blog Words of Whisky and contributes to a number of Dutch and international publications.

Tags: brenne, cuvee speciale, france, NAS

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Tumblr

Most popular posts

  • Glendronach cask (flickr ti yab) GlenDronach Is A Lot Older Than The Label Says
  • caol ila 2008 12yo torsten paul rogers whisky company Caol Ila 2008 12 Years (Roger’s & Torsten Paul Whisky Company)
  • tamnavulin sherry cask edition Tamnavulin Sherry Cask Edition (2020)
  • waterford single farm origin ballymorgan 1.1 Waterford Ballymorgan 1.1 (2020)
  • double-v first release Tomatin 2011, Miltonduff 2008 & Ledaig 2009 (Double-V)

Recent blog posts

  • Upcoming: Blind Tasting Competition
  • Sexism & Misogyny in our Whisky Community
  • Monologue: Waterford’s Mark Reynier on Biodynamics & Terroir
  • Why The Whiskybase Gathering Should Be On Your Bucket List
  • Visiting Ballindalloch Distillery: Tradition & Patience in Speyside

Copyright Words of Whisky 2018