Whiskies
Michel Couvreur (Scotch Whiskies) Ltd
From a background of Burgundy wine into that of making fine Scotch Whisky, Michel Couvreur started from scratch, and thanks to the help of leading Scottish civil servants of the Ministry of Agriculture in Scotland, revived ancients strains of barley, sowed it in the Orkneys, harvested it and went through the whole distillation process and discovered that:
(a) the spirit yielded by the still is never and may never be a whisky (same law all over the world including the USA)
(b) it is the cask that turns the "spirit of cereals" into a whisky
(c) the quality of the cask depends on what the said cask contained – and for how long, before hosting the spirit
(d) the best traditional Scotch whiskies were owing their formidable fame to the use of second-hand sherry casks filled with cereal spirits ("clerach" in Scottish professional jargon) after having been emptied of their sherry. Port was also convenient, also Madeira - all these wines were famous in the UK because the other wines could not face the endless sea journey during which the content was evaporating through the wood. However, it was previously-used sherry barrels which proved to be the best because of its basic tie of taste with barley from which "clerach" has been distilled.
(e) Sherry casks ceased to be used for the transportation of Sherry (and of any other wine anywhere in the world) around 1970, which progressively ruined the traditional quality of Scotch whisky.
(f) The location of Bouze-les-Beaune midway between the distilleries (Scotland’s Highland) and the sherry vineyard (Andalusia, south of Spain, west of Gibraltar) offered a unique opportunity to maintain the traditional Scotch whisky’s original quality: 1000 miles from Scotland and 1,000 miles from the Sherry vineyard. Plus unique maturation in super-damp cellars deeply excavated under the Burgundy vines famous rocks.
Michel Couvreur has become the only remaining producer of traditional whisky now that the sherry casks are no longer available in Scotland (UK ceased to import Sherry or Port in wood and replaced these casks by empty former US whisky casks lacking the formidable fragrance of the traditional Scotch).
Michel Couvreur Whisky has become progressively famous as being the number one whisky of the world.-
Grain Scotch Whisky 44% NZD $72.00
Four years in oak and reduced to 44% alcohol. Vol with Peatshill water -
Malt Scotch Whisky 43% (aged over 12 years) NZD $98.00
54-blend of whiskies aged in oak more than 12 years, unfiltered and reduced to 43% alcohol Vol with Loch Katrine water. -
Pale Single-Single Malt Scotch Whisky 45% NZD $138.00
10 years in oak, reduced to 45% alcohol Vol with Loch Katrine water. -
Special Vatting 45% (unfiltered) NZD $155.00
A blend of three Single-Single malts, 5, 11 and 15 years aged in oak reduced to 45% alcohol Vol with Loch Katrine water.