Alfred Giraud Heritage French Whisky Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

One of the things anyone who loves Scotch Whisky or follows world whiskies should know: France is the second largest market for Scotch Whisky in the world. They love the stuff, single malts in particular, and it therefore follows as something the above folks should never forget is that the French make their own whisky too.

Alfred Giraud is the creation of the Giraud family, who for a century have been engaged in distilling and coopering as part of making Cognac. This background is something that plays very much into Giraud’s whisky-making, because their whiskies are aged in their own used Cognac casks for the most part. However, as they also function as their own cooperage, they also use some new French oak casks as well.

But all of that is for use in the future. Giraud began making whisky several years ago, which would have been sufficient in American terms, but is hardly so for anyone in Northern Europe following the Scotch Whisky model of production. Heritage is a triple, vatted malt drawing on Rozelieures and Warenghem  (two French distilleries we are familiar with here at The Whiskey Reviewer), plus a third unnamed source in Cognac.

The Whisky
Bottled at 91.8 proof, Alfred Giraud Heritage has a golden look in the glass. The nose smacks of the
open field, with straw and heather in the main, but also a faint, sweet trace of sugar maple.

It is on the palate that Heritage really develops its identity. A base of malty honey is seasoned with generous helpings of cinnamon and sandalwood. A trace note of sweet pipe tobacco is there from the outset, but it develops into something fruity, but non-descript on the back end. Despite this being the not-peated whisky from Giraud, I found the finish turned a bit ashy.

The Price
Alfred Giraud Heritage is priced at $155 per bottle.