Sustainable Producer, Innovative Bottler, Creative Wine & Spirit Merchant
SPIRIT RANGE
Two centuries know-how and heritage
FSP’s founder ancestor created a distillery in the North of France, in Wambrechies, called Distillerie Claeyssens, in 1817. This very traditional distillation process that is now more than 2 centuries old, is still actual. From this know-how and heritage, our company legitimately created a range of spirits, starting from Calvados, Cognac, French brandy and Whisky.
FRENCH WHISKY
SINGLE MALT made in France
The new generation of wine-makers, breweries and spirit lovers started to distillate grains and malt, since 20 to 30 years in France. Some trendy and high-class French whiskies appeared, blended and single malt, from different regions. Bretagne and Alsace regions are already classified as IGP Whisky. Today we count around 35 distilleries in France producing Whisky. Greatly inspired by Irish and Scottish whiskies, most French whiskies are produced using malted barley. In 2002 however, the Menhirs distillery, located in Plomelin in Finistère, caused quite a stir by launching the first French whisky produced from buckwheat. It represents a new style on an equal footing with single malts, pure pot still spirits, rye and bourbon. Such innovation has not been seen since the 19th century with the birth of blended scotch.
With two hundred years of know-how of distillation of “eaux-de-vie” in the Claeyssens family (FSP founder ancestor’s distillery), and with the experience and vision of wine-making and wine-ageing, we decided to launch a Whisky range with a special French touch.
FSP, as an “Artisan Distillateur”, created a Premium Single Malt Whisky range “The Frenchies”, tailor made, distilled and matured in Alsace for at least 3 years with different ageing using the best selected casks from Europe and North America. Carefully controlled malting, distilling and maturing under our Master Distiller's supervision. First and last bottlings of exquisite and elusive Whisky, matured in premium cask, individually selected by our master blender. A unique foretaste of French malt whiskies, born from a long know-how and distilling tradition since centuries. Rare Collection - small batch release. Our selection of French Single Malt Whiskies is composed of a Peated Edition aged in American Oak, a Bourbon Cask Edition, and a Sherry (Jerez) Cask Edition. This is a new step for FSP into the world of Spirits!
SCOTCH WHISKY
Single Malt, Single Grain & Blended Whisky from the heart of Scotland
The story of Scotch begins as early as the 15th century. The earliest documented record of distilling in Scotland occurred in 1494 in the tax records of the day, the Exchequer Rolls. There are three types of Scottish whisky – single malt, single grain and blended. Single malt is made using malted barley. Single grain is typically made from corn with a bit of malted barley. And blended whiskies are made by combining the other two. There are five recognized Scottish whisky regions – Lowlands, Highland (including the Islands), Speyside, Islay and Campbeltown – and each is known for producing Scotch with different characteristics, due to the natural conditions of the region.
Speyside is the most densely populated whisky region in the world. It’s home to the River Spey and fertile glens, and the distilleries there are famous for producing whiskies that are low on peat, but full of fruit, and they’re commonly matured in casks that were previously used to make sherry. Lowland whiskies are known for being soft and smooth, with a gentle flavour that makes them perfect for pre-dinner drinks, while Islay tends to produce fiery, heavily peated whiskies that leave a smoky taste on the tongue. Both Campbeltown and Highland whiskies are recognized for being quite varied. The Highland region in particular covers such a large area that it produces both light fresh whiskies and salty coastal malts.
TWEEDDALE 28 YEARS
The latest and oldest Tweeddale to date, a luxury blend of classic Speyside single malts and a quality Lowland single grain, with the youngest component whisky being 28 years old. The evolution is among the very few luxury blends aged over 25 years on the market.
IRISH WHISKEY
Single Malt Single Grain & Blended Whiskey from the heart of Ireland
The word “whiskey” originated from the Gaelic phrase uisce betha, which means “water of life”. This is translated from the Latin phrase aqua vitae, a term used to describe distilled spirits throughout the Middle Ages.
The art of distilling originated in the Mediterranean countries, although it was used for perfumes. Irish monks brought the technique of distilling back to Ireland around 1000 A.D. and modified the technique to create drinkable spirits.
The early years of Irish Whiskey were largely unregulated, with techniques and records passed down through oral tradition. The oldest known written record of Irish Whiskey is found in the Irish chronicle, Annals of Clonmacnoise from 1405. By the mid 1500’s, whiskey was on its way to becoming incredibly popular. The word “whiskey” originated from the Gaelic phrase uisce betha, which means “water of life”. This is translated from the Latin phrase aqua vitae, a term used to describe distilled spirits throughout the Middle Ages
Old Bushmills Distillery is the oldest surviving Irish whiskey distillery in the world. King James I granted a license to distill in 1608 to Sir Thomas Philips, landowner in Bushmills, Country Antrim. In theory, whiskey distillers were required to register and pay taxes to the British crown, however these laws were rarely enforced. The law introduced two terms for Irish whiskey: Parliament whiskey, whereas the distillers payed their tax, and Poitín, Gaelic for “small pot,” a reference to the small pot stills used by illicit distillers. Poitín Irish Whiskey has become a popular marketing term in recent years, despite being very legal and regulated.
THE QUIET MAN 12 YEARS
Triple distilled in traditional Irish pot stills, non-chill filtererd, entirely aged in ex-bourbon barrels. Soft and smooth with a pronounced malty character. Flavours of tropical fruits, honey, citrus peel and gently spicy oak.
JAPANESE WHISKY
Pure Malt & Blended Whisky from the heart of Japan
Whisky has been produced in Japan since the 1800’s, however, it’s said that they became commercially available in the 1920’s, around the time Suntory’s Yamazaki distillery opened. The industry was truly driven by two whisky houses (Suntory and Nikka) and more specifically two men, Shinjiro Torii and Masataka Taketsuru.
Masataka Taketsuru was born into a family of sake makers and thus developed an interest in spirits at a young age. Shortly after WWI, Taketsuru was chosen by his company to travel to Scotland and study whisky and the craft of distillation. Taketsuru began studying chemistry at the University of Glasgow and applying for apprenticeships with whisky distilleries. After a number of years of study, he returned back to Japan and connected with Shinjiro Torii, an entrepreneur who had started his own alcohol import company.
Together they started Yamazaki Distillery (which opened around 1923/1924 on Japan’s main island Honshu) under the company name Kotobukiya. Now over the years, Taketsuru and Torii began to have disagreements with the way in which the whisky was produced and in 1934 Taketsuru left the company and started his own company, Dai Nippon Kaju, and built Yoichi distillery in Hokkaido.
Kotobukiya became Suntory (which became Beam Suntory in 2014) and Dai Nippon Kaju became Nikka.
Japanese whisky continued to grow throughout the 1900’s but was predominantly consumed domestically. It wasn’t until the 2000’s that it began to boom internationally thanks to some key award wins in the Whisky Magazine Awards, International Spirits Challenge and Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible. Today, Japanese whiskey has become an international sensation with a number of brands becoming available all over the world in the last few years.
JAPANESE WHISKY
FRENCH BRANDY & COGNAC
Brandy & Cognac produced in Charentes Maritime
Cognac, celebrated throughout the world for centuries, is a brandy made from distilled white wine and produced in the French region of the same name. Protected by an ‘Appellation d’Origine Protégée’ (AOP) since 1936, Cognac is divided into six sub-categories to highlight the various terroirs: Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bons Bois and Bois Ordinaire.
Another sub-appellation, Fine Champagne, designates blends of Petite Champagne and Grande Champagne. Distilled in double distillation pot stills, nowadays cognacs are usually blended to convey the finesse and elegance of its base wines.
FSP also offers an elegant selection of French Brandy made in the region of Cognac.
COGNAC HORS D'AGE GRANDE CHAMPAGNE 1ER CRU
An orignal blend of the finest, rarest and oldest eaux-de-vie. This exquisite Cognac Hors d'Age is distilled and bottled in the most prestigious region of Cognac: Grande Champagne
First Growth (Premier Cru).
The numerous eaux-de-vie used to elaborate this Hors d'Age Cognac have been precisely distilled and carefully preserved in oak barrels, most of them for several dozen of years.
The extraordinary maturity, the complexity, the delicate aromas of fig, plum, old aged leather, warm scent ofvanilla and cinnamon, gives a rich and balanced taste.
It symbolises the excellence of this area. Due to the rarity of the chosen eaux-de-vie, this collection is extremely limited
in term of quantity.
The carafe is displayed in an individual gift box.
Apple distillation
FRENCH CALVADOS
Distilled from cider or perry (poiré), Calvados is made in Normandy. It has come to be better-known internationally than in France, and benefits from a simple PDO system that guarantees its quality and unique character. Within the one generic Calvados AOP appellation, there are three sub-appellations associated with specific ter- roirs and techniques. ‘Pays d’Auge’ applies to brandies distilled in pot stills solely from cider; ‘Domfrontais’ applies to those distilled in column stills from a base containing at least 30% perry; and finally ‘Blanche de Normandie’ denotes un-aged brandies. For each of these appellations, the apple orchards are made up of at least 20% local varieties, about 70% of bitter or bittersweet, and a maximum of 15% of acidic varieties.
CALVADOS MANOIR DE PLASNES
As a cocktail, on the rock or straight, the perfect drinks for party & summer
BRANDY, GIN, RUM, VODKA
Rum from French West Indies only benefits from the appellation "rhum vieux" (aged rum) when it has spent at least 3 years (and up to 40 years) in oak barrels. These barrels have sometimes contained other alcohols such as whisky or cognac, which gives a particular taste to old rum. During its stay in the cask, the liquid is enriched with tannin and thus gives an old rum with a woody flavor. This type of rum has an alcohol content starting at 40% and this can go up to 75%, as for Over Proof type rums. Gin is a flavoured eau de vie made from grain or molasses. The flavouring process can be natural, by infusion or maceration of the spirit with spices, aro- matic plants and herbs, or artificial, by the addition of natural or artificial gin essences. The juniper berry, from which gin takes its name, is an essential ingredient. The minimum alcohol content of gin in Europe is 37.5%. Its flavour and appearance may be adjusted by the addition of sugar and colouring. There are various sub-categories of gin: ‘gin’, which can be flavoured; ‘distilled gin’, produced by the redistillation of a spirit in which natural flavourings have been macerated; ‘London dry din’, a distilled gin, to which no artificial ingredient (flavouring or colouring) may be added, except for sugar, in strict proportions.
RUM SPECTER
