Whisky could soon be France’s national drink

Source: The Telegraph

Saffron Alexander

17 March 2016

Not long after the Scots were left reeling when Canadian whisky was named the best in the world, another country has laid claim to Scotland’s reputation as the home of the world’s best whisky: France.

According to a report from retail consultants Bonial, whisky has quickly overtaken wine and cognac as the country’s most popular drink, with the average person drinking an average of 2.15 litres a year – more than any other country.

The report found Uruguayans drink the second most whisky, consuming 1.77 litres a year, while Americans get through 1.4 litres each.

The French Federation of Spirits also found that whisky accounts for almost 40 per cent of the spirits market in France, compared to 25 per cent for pastis and only 0.5 per cent of cognac.

While 90 per cent of the whisky sold in France still comes from Scotland, experts suggest that the surge in popularity could force makers to start perfecting the French whisky trade.

Nicolas Julhès, head of the Distillerie de Paris, said: “Within 15 years the world’s best whiskies will be French.

“We will be able to stop copying the Scots to bring a real French style. We have the greatest specialists on the ageing [of alcoholic drinks] who have always worked in wine and cognac.”

He added that French specialists are now working on their own whiskies “and that is going to change everything.”

In 2014, whisky expert Jim Murray said the emergence of high quality international whiskies should be a “wake up call” for the Scottish industry, who have always been thought of as the world’s number one.

At the time he named a Japanese Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask as the world’s best whisky and said it was “a single malt which no Scotch can, at the moment, get anywhere near.” He tasted over 1000 whiskies and said he was left wondering: “Where were the complex whiskies in the prime of their lives? Where were the blends which offered bewildering layers of depth?”