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REGIONAL HISTORY

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Alsace is a region in eastern France, part of “Grand Est” administrative district, at the border of Germany and Switzerland. It is well known for its food and beverage high quality production.

• Wines: you may have heard about the Gewurztraminer sweet wine, and its late harvest expressions, praised everywhere “vendanges tardives” or “grains nobles”
• Bier: Alsace if the first producing region of France, boasting 60% of the country production, or 1.1 billion liters per year
• Food: Choucroute and foie gras are local specialties there
• Cooking: Lots of excellent retaurants led by a three-star Michelin; the region is also hosting some prestigious names of best sommelier of the world.
• Fruit liqueur: The region is known for the quality of their fruit liquor since the XVth century,

THE ROOTS

It was obvious that whisky was missing from the picture in Alsace! Founded by Tharcis Hepp in 1972, the distillery initially specialized in fruit liquor decided to enter in the whisky world in 2007.

The family story started in the XIX century: one of the Hepp ancestor was an itinerant distiller! He would go from orchard to orchard and offer his rolling still to distill the newly harvested fruits.

Below is a representation of how it looked like at the time: quite an amazing business isn’t it?

After modernizing the distillery in 2000 and producing their first whiskies in 2007, the Hepp distillery gained the IGP “Whisky Alsacien“. You may see on some of the bottles the three letters AWA “Authentique Whisky Alsacien” (Authentic Alsace Whisky).

IGP means litterally “protected geographical indication”. This is like Tennessee Whiskey that requires to go through a very rigorous way of making, in a geographical limited area (Lincoln County Process within Tennessee). For the “whisky Alsacien”, it means no colouring at all (like caramel used in other parts of the world), no GMO barley and many other parameters to guaranty the highest quality of the spirits.

THE DISTILLERY

Passion, hard work, high quality and … cleanliness. Key words for the master distiller and owner Yannick Hepp.

  

The three stills are in shiny copper and after two distillations, they produce a New Make Spirit that is already drinkable after dilution: quite promising!

 

Maturation is critical in the process. Each cask is stored on transport palette making the handling very easy. Casks of many origin are there, interacting with the spirit to create the future Hepp whiskies. Which origin? Shhh, this will be a surprise (nice of course!).

    

Yannick Hepp checking on the evolution of the maturation in a cask. A delicate exercise that requires years of practice.

The full process from wash to bottle is monitored locally, allowing the highest level of control and quality.

The Master Distiller has many secret recipes to create unique whiskies; the next chapter will show why these secrets are well kept: they work beautifully!

THE WHISKIES

All the whiskies are Single Malts.

JOHNNY HEPP 40% ABV

THE MAKE: Matured three years in ex-Bourbon and ex-Burgundy white wine casks. 100% malted barley

NOSE: Sweet, round and a bit oaky.

PALATE: Sweet with some hint of vanilla ; fruity notes appear at some point, then vanish

FINISH: medium-short, lightly sweet and ending dry

MY TAKE: A young single malt, that would pair well with some soft cheese

 

THARCIS HEPP 42% ABV

A tribute to the whisky distillery founder, Tharcis Hepp.

THE MAKE: Matured in sherry butts from Xeres (Oloroso and Pedro Ximenes) and ex-Bourbon casks, for six to seven years. 100% malted barley

NOSE: Fruity and smoky notes

PALATE: Soft, sweet toffee and spice, a hint of smoke

FINISH: medium-short: the sweetness fades away to end on a dry note

MY TAKE: A balanced single malt that could well be suited to pair with chocolate dessert like brownie.

 

AWA – CERISE A L’EAU DE VIE 40% ABV

   

The first thing you notice is the beautiful packaging: local, unique and… the label is wooden made! It is a thin sheet of wood engraved. The pleasure starts with the eyes.

THE MAKE: The basis is the Tharsis Hepp whisky that is finished in a cask that previously contained cherry liquor. 100% malted barley

NOSE: Very sweet, with liquor notes.

PALATE: Nice, sweet with cherry and almond, complemented by citrus notes

FINISH: medium-short: sweetness and almond are lingering a bit.

MY TAKE: An interesting whisky, very pleasant, that should be tried at the end of a meal or together with a dessert

More at: https://wp.me/p9kuPg-nU

 

QUOCUNQUE 48.6% ABV: A REAL GEM!

  

The last and not the least. This whisky is a tribute to the Isle of Man. The three feet illustrate the latin moto: “Quocunque jeceris stabit”, which means “whithersoever you throw it, it will stand”. A beautiful reference that fits perfectly well to this proud distillery.

THE MAKE: Matured in three types of casks: two high-end burgundy wines: Puligny-Montrachet and Gevrey-Chambertin, and bas Armagnac. 100% malted barley

NOSE: Light, delicate, floral and sweet.

PALATE: Incredible! Very nice mouthfeel, as if the palate is nicely covered by the spirit. It is soft, sweet, and then, comes…the rose. You get an amazing and unique rose aroma in the mouth. You want it to linger forever. It is well wrapped by some toffee, vanilla and light spices.

FINISH: Long: the rose and the sweetness linger nicely in the mouth, and while the finish has a good length, two things come to mind: pleasure and need for more!

MY TAKE: A wonderful gem! A blessing for the senses, a nice balance, and a uniqueness that goes with freshness. For this one, not sure if you want to pait it with food. Just enjoy as is!

BAD NEWS: it is no longer produced, so I am the lucky one who owns a bottle

GOOD NEWS: Yannick Hepp is in the verge of recreating it! It is already ongoing, but the golden rule in the whisky making: you cannot save time. Time is just a slow but very helping friend. Let’s be patient, it is worth waiting for.

 

THE PLACE

The distillery and the shop are located at the heart of Alsace, at the center of a diamond where the apexes would be Frankfurt and Stuttgart (Germany), Basel (Switzerland) and Metz (France).

CONTACT

If you come in the area, you should pay a visit (highly recommended!). Make sure you take an appointment.

Distillerie Hepp
94, rue de la Walck
67350 Uberach
Tél. : +33-3 88 07 71 07

http://www.distillerie-hepp.com/accueil/

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