Tasting

A Breton whisky often gives itself away by colour alone. It tends to appear lighter than many Scotches, ranging from pale yellow to a warm amber, rarely as dark as a Speyside long matured in sherry. This is down to the humid climate, which speeds up the cask's effect without necessarily intensifying it.

On the nose and palate, fruit and grain usually dominate, joined by a light touch of wood with vanilla, sometimes liquorice or salted caramel. Smoke is the exception, not the rule, which runs counter to the reputation many newcomers attach to whisky as a whole.

Armorik Classic from Warenghem displays this profile in fairly classic fashion: apple, malt, and a touch of vanilla from the bourbon cask. Eddu from the Distillerie des Menhirs, by contrast, tastes quite different: softer and earthier, with a slightly nutty note that comes from the buckwheat, a note with no equivalent in any barley whisky.

Anyone looking for smoke will find it in Kornog from Glann ar Mor. With a phenol content of 30 to 35 ppm in the malt, it's noticeably smoky, though thanks to its mild maturation it never becomes as rough as some young Islay whiskies. All three show just how differently the same peninsula can interpret whisky.

For tasting, a simple tulip-shaped glass, a nosing glass, or, failing that, a small wine glass will do. It allows the aromas to gather before you nose them. A few drops of still water added to cask-strength bottlings often open up more than the raw alcohol alone allows.