What a strange timing : tomorrow we’re about to have a French Twitter tasting (no idea what the whiskies are) arrange by @LaCaveDeCobalt (so keep your eyes peeled tomorrow for the #frenchWhiskyTT).Anyways, I’ve been meaning to try this whisky for quite a long time, and only got to it the other week. I’ve heard great things about it, and seriously, any 
French whisky that is good is worth trying (some bad stuff also). I guess I should write a few lines about the origin of this whisky, and how it came to being, a rather interesting story worth telling. The woman behind this whisky is indeed Alison Patel (@whiskygirls) :
Allison Patel and her husband Nital shared a passion for food and drink has immersed them in cultures all over the world. Making an effort to visit local markets, wineries, and distilleries in their travels, they have developed an appreciation of great taste experiences, especially with their favourite category: whisky. Years ago while on a slew of international business trips, Nital would frequently call his wife (often waking her up in the middle of the night due to time differences!) to tell her about all of the amazing whiskies he tasted. After failing to find many of these “non- traditional” whiskies in the US, Allison took into own her hands and started setting up an import/ export company for this sole purpose.
While exploring the world whisky scene for something “new”, Allison encountered a third generation Cognac producer who had started distilling a unique Single Malt at his farm distillery in the heart of Cognac, France. At that time, a majority of the oldest whisky was around three to four years old in new French Limousin oak barrels. Upon tasting it, Allison immediately knew it was something special. She and the distiller collaborated over a span of three and a half years to refine the aging spirit and continue laying down more barrels as each year’s crop of barley was ready to be harvested. A breakthrough occurred when Allison decided to incorporate his previously used Cognac casks in the whisky aging process. This stimulated the whisky in a beautiful way; ultimately creating a new profile within the Single Malt category that became Brenne Whisky.
Brenne Whisky is crafted from seed to spirit in the heart of Cognac, France in very limited batches. Allison’s first expression, Estate Cask, has no age statement as every barrel is bottled in single barrel releases and the aging time on each cask may vary slightly.
After intense work, Allison is honored to share Brenne with the world, introducing an incredibly smooth, approachable, and fruit-forward French whisky that reinvigorates the category. Brenne officially launched on October 1, 2012 . And here are my tasting notes:
Brenne Single Malt, 40% , NAS (~7 yo) , ~$60.
Nose: Fragrant from the get go : with florals galore: I’m no expert on flowers aromas but lilies and one rose petals are here for sure. It’s rather fruity as well with lots of barley sugar, lemon curd and fruit: pear and apricot and a hint of raisin peel and banana.
Palate: Sweet and creamy. With Creme brûlée. Candy and milk chocolate. Gentle and not very woody. But floral too over here. Banana and apricot in sweet whipped cream.
Finish: Bitter cocoa. Chocolate. Banana.
This is a yummy little dram! really gentle,yet sweet and enticing with the right balance of wood, fruit and floral aromas. Really gentle too. I’ve heard some people saying this is a whisky for women. I do not think so. It’s just for anyone who can appreciate a nice gentle and rounded dram. Well played. Now let’s wait for the CS version 
Availble in many US online stores (Binny’s,Caskers,etc), not sure if it’s available in Europe yet.
Score: 86/100
Many thanks to Alison and Johanne who sent samples, you rock ladies.