bllygthrd Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Had the opportunity to try this French "Hand Crafted Whiskey" this evening. States that it is "Handmade and Finished in French Limousin Oak Casks". The attached tag states "Bastille 1789 is produced from barley and wheat from northeast France and water from Gensac Spring. Distillation takes place in alembic pot stills. The resulting whisky is aged for 5-to-7 years in a combination of Limousin oak, cherry wood and Acacia casks."Light, sweet, no finish. Somewhat unremarkable ... not bad, just unremarkable ...Anyone else tried it? Comments?BTW ... how does on hand make whiskey? ... really nice bottle though ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restaurant man Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Tried it. Aged in 5-10 gallon barrels. Lots of color. Not much on taste. 80 proofer iirc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portwood Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Tried it. Aged in 5-10 gallon barrels. Lots of color. Not much on taste. 80 proofer iirc... probably not exclusively from the wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 The French have great artistic flair but elan escapes them when it comes to Bourbon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theglobalguy Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 Picked this up on sale for $23 recently. I had a bottle of Brenne (another French whiskey that popped up in the USA market this year), enjoyed it as a great "chilling after mowing the lawn" whiskey as it's very sweet and reminded me of Angel's Envy. Expected this to be different, and it is:Nose:- Light wheat, fresh made toast, and really not much elseMouthfeel:- Kind of syrupyTaste:- Raspberry jam, grass, smokeFinish:- Almost none, all i get is burnt toast taste in my mouth after.At $23, glad i tried but don't expect i'd get it again. Just reminds me to much of a young Islay and that it's worth paying a little more for something that's been better aged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Somehow I get this uneasy feeling the French are throwing their leftovers in the still and calling what runs out whisky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighInTheMtns Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Somehow I get this uneasy feeling the French are throwing their leftovers in the still and calling what runs out whisky. Bonjour, you cheese eating surrender monkeys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXWhiskey Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 A friend bought a bottle of this and really enjoyed it. I tried it and was surprised to find it was pretty unique. For about 20 bucks I would encourage anyone interested in the nuance of whiskey (and why are you here if you're not) to give it a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeti Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 I did not care for it. A fellow taster commented that it reminded him of Drambuie, and while an esoteric comparison I could see the similarity when prompted. Definitely light, but a little sharp and sweet before waving the white flag and retreating. More spirit than whiskey to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bllygthrd Posted October 5, 2013 Author Share Posted October 5, 2013 I did not care for it. A fellow taster commented that it reminded him of Drambuie, and while an esoteric comparison I could see the similarity when prompted. Definitely light, but a little sharp and sweet before waving the white flag and retreating. More spirit than whiskey to me.We have a couple of mutual friends that love this stuff ... I'll draw an analogy ... Some like mild cigars, others like fuller bodied in-your-face sticks ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry in WashDC Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 (edited) While looking for something to "finish up" prior to dinner tonight (i.e., bottles that have hung around and won't leave unless I force them to), I found an almost full bottle of "Bastille 1789" 80 proof French whisky. Since there is no thread for "What French whisk(e)y are you drinking tonight?", I decided to resurrect this old one, especially since most of the comments fit what I think about it. It is not bad for a French-made clone of a lowland blend of scotch. After all, the French have been distilling things for hundreds of years and aging them in casks for almost as long. Hence (he asked hisself), how bad can it be? ANSWER: ok. BUT, just because it is 80 proof and has no zingy flavors jumping around your mouth, don't think you can drink it like water - it is, after all, an alcoholic beverage. I did some searching to see if I could find out more about it while I was sipping and cleaning out my email inbox (two tasks that, for some reason, really fit together), and about all I found were a few blog posts that suggested its profile changes radically from batch to batch. Maybe if I vat it with my Woodford Reserve Classic Malt . . . Edited December 28, 2015 by Harry in WashDC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megawatt Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 Odd whisky. Tasted more like liqueur to me. I thought I read that some strange casks were employed, like cherry wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 14 hours ago, Megawatt said: Odd whisky. Tasted more like liqueur to me. I thought I read that some strange casks were employed, like cherry wood. Yes, French oak, cherry and acacia of all things. A nice review of it here. A blend of barley (malt I presume?) and neutral grain wheat spirit is what he reports. Has been a while but I had the chance to try it without buying one and am glad I did. I didn't like it as much as Josh seemed to and found nothing particularly promising about it. A lightweight 80 proofer blended whisky that was kind of sweet in a rather bland way that didn't really seem to be worth the bother it took to bottle to me. Get a bottle of the Compass Box Spice Tree instead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thig Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 I like to try something a little different every now and then, that's why I have a Brenne Single Malt, Nikka Coffey Grain, Glenfiddich Bourbon Barrel Reserve, Tullamore Dew Phoenix and a few rums. I never cheat too much and end up back up Straight Bourbon but I do like to try them all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 43 minutes ago, Thig said: I like to try something a little different every now and then, that's why I have a Brenne Single Malt, Nikka Coffey Grain, Glenfiddich Bourbon Barrel Reserve, Tullamore Dew Phoenix and a few rums. I never cheat too much and end up back up Straight Bourbon but I do like to try them all. As do I! And I will certainly take the occasional liquid leap of faith (ok, maybe more than occasional!) but if it is something about which I have read some less than inspiring information and I have the opportunity to try it first I certainly will make use of that opportunity. In the case of both Bastille and Brenne it saved me from adding yet another bottle to the shelf of misfit liquor. Although neither bottle would have been lonely on that shelf! There for example several different Woodford Master's Collection bottles to be found there before I finally earned that lesson... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry in WashDC Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 Along this line of thinking -- I did, indeed, mix some of it 1:1 with some of my Woodford Classic Malt which it sits next to. In the back. I now have a third average-tasting blended whisky without edges or identifiable flavors sitting on the shelf. In the back. Thank goodness I have some relatives who like blended whisky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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