Spirit Alsace
interview
Simone Nagel*, can you explain us the DNAof your distillery?The distillery dates back 1850. Since 5 generations, our savoir-faire is transmitted from father to son. Current owner and distiller Yves Lehmann took it over in 1982 and perpetuates the family inheritance. We adapt our products to our times by presenting them in modern bottles.
Our distillery got the French EPV** label. This governmental label is a distinction for French companies who master a rare and ancestral savoir-faire of excellence.
A product of excellence starts with the selction of the fruits or the raw material that have to be of irreproachable quality. The water also is of great importance. It has to be pure, so we distill our products with spring water stemming from the Vosges.
We use copper Charente-style stills. We do double distillation. We only keep the cœur de chauffe [the middle part of the distillation] that is aged at least 3 years in various containers (demi-john, vat, stoneware jar, cask ...) according to the sought-after quality and typicality. During this slow maturation at the rhythm of the season our eaux-de-vies and whiskies take on the purity and bouquet that build the fame of Lehmann.
Ou William Pear represents an important market share, followed by the Raspberry and the Marc d'Alsace Gewurztraminer. But since a few years now, our range of Single Malt Whiskies meats great success with our customers.
We distilled whisky for the first time in the 2000s, and in 2007 we marketed our first Single Malt Whisky ORIGINE 40% proof, aged 7 years in white Bordeaux wine barrels. One year later we launched the whisky PREMIUM 50% proof, aged 8 years in Sauternes barrels, since March 2014, the range has been complemented with the Whisky Single Malt OR 40% proof with 7 years of ageing in casks (6 years in white Bordeaux casks and one year in Sauternes casks). It has been sold after it received the first gold medal at the General Agricultural Contest of Paris. It was the first time ever that French whiskies were tasted.
Simone Nagel & Yves Lehmann
In Alsace, we are lucky to have a rich and generous terroir for the barley which is our raw material of our whiskies, a pure water coming from the Vosges and above all master distiller Yves Lehmann who keeps a savoir-faire transmitted since 5 generations. I think these are the essential elements to make a noble and quality product. When enjoying our whiskies, one can find these different qualities that define our region: deleciousness, mastery, richness, generosity, nobility, gastronomy ...
ORIGINE and OR can be served for the aperitif and after dinner. PREMIUM is better after dinner. These different whiskies also are much appreciated by the ladies!
* Companion of Yves Lehmann and marketing manager.
** EPV: Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant
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