Kornog Breton Peated Single Malt Whisky 750 ml

Peated Breton single malt whisky from Glann ar Mor and the same good peoples who are behind Gartbreck on Islay. Made with wooden washbacks, slow distillation and direct-fired stills, worm tubs, and maturation by the sea.

This is the long-awaited peated French single malt from Brittany’s Glann-ar-Mor distillery. The Scottish malted barley used to make Kornog has been peated to around 35pmm, meaning it should be pretty smoky. This is the third release of Kornog and has been bottled from a single ex-bourbon barrel. Named “EUROPEAN WHISKY OF THE YEAR” by Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible in 2016.

“On the windswept Northern coast of French Brittany, the old farm that houses the Glann ar Mor distillery has sustained life and faced the sea elements since around 1668. Closer to Plymouth than to Paris, this small distillery makes peated and unpeated whisky. Follow the road from Paris, through Le Mans, Rennes and Saint-Brieuc until it ends by the coast.

Here you will find the small little distillery established by the Celtic Whisky Compagnie in 1999. Their first unpeated single malt was released in 2008 under the Glann ar Mor label. Glann ar Mor translates from “ By the Sea” in the Breton language.

Kornog Breton is the peated expression of the distillery. It is peated at about 35 – 40 ppm of phenol. Kornog translates to “West Wind” in Breton. Compared to the Scottish distilleries, Glann ar Mor is a small distillery with only 2 stills. Maturation takes place in ex Sauternes casks and ex-Bourbon barrels.

Nose:

big, rich, nutty, and sugary with prominent citrus and brooding smoke in the background; softens to Jujubes and Lifesavers.

Palate:

big, nutty, sugary, salty, and oaky; there is a firm base of chewy-grassy malt, firm but yielding smoke and bright citrus; more Jujubes and Lifesavers with building spice and almond brittle.

Finish:

big, bold coating and long; the sugary, malty smoky tones linger longest with more bright citrus.