Back in 1921, in Plomelin, France, there was a second-hand pot still mean for the odd making of cider brandy, locally known as lambig. Thus a distillery starts, not with a big rumble, but with a tiny burble and the want for some brandy every so often.
The family kept up the tradition, with the son taking over from mother, then son taking over from father, and so on, and so on. The family would go from town to town with the still, distilling cider as they went.
Finally, in 1986, the family planted apple orchards, settling down and starting their own fully fledged, more “not travelling pants” version of the distillery. The Distillerie des Menhirs was started, creating the first Pommeau de Bretagne, which now can only be made in the Brittany region.
But what does this all have to do with whisky? You see while starting up this cider distillery, Guy, who used to be a math teacher, started thinking ahead. What else could they distil? A pot still was purchased in 1998, and a few years later, the local ‘black wheat’ (buckwheat) had been distilled.
So we have a buckwheat whisky, made with varying mashbills, from a cider distiller. All of which has been around for over a century, making whisky for sixteen years.
Oh, and Eddu means buckwheat in Breton. Thus the name. Thought I’d slip that in.
Pretty cool. So I have two varieties to try today. Let’s see how they taste, shall we?
Eddu Grey Rock is up first. This is a blended whisky. 30% of the whisky is buckwheat, with the remaining made up of whiskies made with barley and maize.
Price: N/A at the LCBO
Region: Brittany, France
Abv: 40%
Colour: 10Y 9/6
Nose: Orange juice, wildflower honey, cereal, mint
Citrus and nice sweetness to this. Oddly I typically buy buckwheat honey and smell wildflower honey here. And none of that store stuff either that has rice syrup in it, real honey.
Nice cereal and mint here. It’s not going to blow your mind, but nice.
Taste: Butterscotch, orange drink, oregano, raspberry
Nice taste. It’s a bit light, with the orange suffering from the lower abv.
That said, it’s fruit and caramel, like some sort of fancy simple dessert.
Finish: Mint, caramel candy, red grape, lemon drops
Finish amps up more of the flavour. Lots of grape, big sweet citrus, and caramel. It’s like a more fruity, light finish.
Conclusion: Unique, summer dram. Certainly impressed by the light nature of all of it. It’s caramel heavy, nice drinking, and orange. Not at all a bad dram to sip on, especially on a hot day.
Good entry into the Eddu line. I think I’d say buy as a daily drinker.
75/100
Eddu Silver Brocéliande changes things up from the previous offering in two different ways. Whereas Grey Rock is a blend, this is a single grain whisky, made entirely from Buckwheat. Secondly, it’s double matured.
The initial maturation is in ex-Cognac French oak casks and then moved to casks made from oak originating in the Paimpont forest. A forest said to hold Merlin’s tomb. Or at least one of them.
Price: N/A at the LCBO
Region: Brittany, France
Abv: 42%
Colour: 10YR 6/8
Nose: Pineapple, spice cake, rosemary, banana bread, papaya
Tropical fruit and nice amount of spice. It’s like somewhere between a summer dram and a winter dram. Or is that an Autumn dram? Or a spring dram?
Screw it drink whatever whenever. It’s inviting, though somewhat muted on some of the more distinct characteristics.
Taste: Raisin, butter, banana, lemon, oak
Alright, less summer, more winter on the taste. As in more butter and raisin and banana. It’s pretty straightforward on that.
Doesn’t open up too much more. It could be richer.
Finish: Cinnamon, leather, cereal, currant, nutmeg, vanilla
Spice and leather come out here. Again, more brown sugar. The spice is more distinct in the finish. Lots of vanilla here too. Any promises that the nose and taste made are better here.
Conclusion: I’m impressed by this. It’s not going to blow your mind. However, they’ve taken two different casks and created an interesting spice, leather filled raisin whisky. Mix that with the spirit and they made something unique.
The only thing hurting this is the low alcohol content. Which I understand, they have to make money, etc., etc. However I feel this will be a homerun at full strength. So get on it.
79/100
World Whisky review #316-317, France review #7-8, Whisky Network review #1446-1447
1001 Whiskies You Must Taste Before You Die review #357
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