Distillerie Lehmann: Divine eaux-de-vie and Elsass Whisky

Winegrowers’ Portraits Obernai

Lehmann Distillery

Divine eaux-de-vie and Elsass Whisky

Entering in a traditional distillery means heading for an empire of essences and enchanting spirits. The ancient copper still overlooks the gleaming stainless steel vats. Demijohns and Alsatian bottles neighbour modern carafes and vanguard phials. Approved “Living Heritage Company”, this distillery
is owned by the Lehmann family since 1850, i. e. 5 generations. Run by Yves who supervises the quality with his wife Simone Nagel who has a passion for creation, both enriched the tradition with beautiful innovative products and packaging.

Since 1850, in Obernai, in the heart of the Alsatian
vineyard, the Lehmann family hands over from father to son the secrets of their know-how to make, as generations go by, divine eaux- de-vie. Yves Lehmann succeeded his father Marcel in 1982, at the age of 28.
This distillery then had a wide range of traditional brandies: Kirsch, Raspberry, Old Plum, Mirabelle Plum, Damson … The Raspberry was the most expensive and the most greatly prized. Under the control of the current heir who carefully follows the ripening, the fruits are now handled at optimum maturity to gain aromas and finesse. With an impeccable quality, they are, as from reception, crushed and vatted for natural fermenting at ambient temperature.
Genuine alchemical metamorphosis, this delicate operation is completed with a double distillation in order to keep only the Bon Goût [Good Taste] or Cœur de Chauffe, the heart of the cuvee, in which the very essence of the fruit is at its peak, the heads and tails not being kept.

Yves Lehmann and Simone Nagel

“In my father’s time, the range was limited to the traditional eaux de vie: Williams Pear, Alsace Raspberry, Wild Raspberry, Damson, Mirabelle Plum… and was composed of some twenty references. Now we have more than 120: traditional eaux de vie, rare varieties and wild berries like sloe, European mountain-ash, the Brewer’s eau de vie (distilled beer), liqueurs, vodka and whisky. We have also developed a kosher eau de vie since 4 years.”

Another technical evolution aiming at improving these eaux de vie: “The extension of the ageing time that provides them greater complexity and a new softness in the mouth: 3, 8 and over 20 years for an exceptional product, the Marc d’Alsace Gewurztraminer stemming from Late Harvest. During the harvest, I collect the grape-pomace, mainly of Gewurztraminer, with the small local wine growers. They are then destalked to remove the stems from the crushed berries and treaded to be put in fermentation before distillation. We distil from 200 to 400 tonnes a year,” Yves Lehmann explains. The ageing is operated in different containers according to the typicity of the sought-after product: demijohn, stainless steel vat, stoneware jar or oak barrel.

Other great innovations on the products side: the crafting for ten years of an Alsatian whisky, a Single Malt, the most consu­med alcohol in France. “To make a good whisky, you need a good brewer able to process malt, and a good distiller to craft it. Having the first in close proximity, I took over the distillation and the ageing in 3rd and 4th fill (White Bordeaux, Sauternes and Coteaux du Layon) barrels which provide mellowness and softness to the double distilled alcohol, like in Scotland.” This whisky is successfully exported to Germany, Belgium, Japan, and Canada… For the aperitif, choose the 40° proof, after dinner rather the 50°, more complex in aromas. “We named this Single Malt whisky Elsass Whisky as a reference to our region. I am also very proud to announce that one of our whiskies has just won a Gold Medal at the Concours Général Agricole of Paris, it will soon be marketed.”

Multiplication of the products, but also revolution in the packaging. Simone Nagel, in charge of marketing and commu­ni­cation, has re-designed the packaging of these ancestral products. And the collection Signature is born, in limited edition of 2,500 bottles. It is composed of eaux de vie of Williams Pear, Old Plum, Wild Raspberry, Mirabelle Plum, and Marc d’Alsace Gewurztraminer. They all benefit from innovative bottles, very elegant, with a trendy packaging inspired by perfume. Like Chanel who called its mythical perfume N° 5, Lehmann names its range of 8-year-old spirits N° 8. Same facelift for the whisky that is sold in a chiselled carafe or, trendier, in phials presented in a cigar box.
With distillation made work of art since it has been approved Living Heritage Company, with a long tradition of quality evidenced by the hundreds of medals won at the Concours Général Agricole of Paris since its creation, with the marriage of tradition and modernity that characterizes it, the Distillery Lehmann is worth a visit.
See you at SIAL Paris in October 2014 and SIRHA Lyon in January 2015. Marie-Caroline Bourrellis

Distillerie Lehmann

Chemin des Peupliers
67210 Obernai – France
Tél. : + 33 (0) 3 88 50 41 29
www.distillerielehmann.com