Frédéric Revol, farmer-agronomist
Isère whisky distillery Domaine des Hautes Glaces celebrates its 15th anniversary with a beautiful book written by its founder, Frédéric Revol. The credo remains the same: to produce local spirits using virtuous agricultural practices.
at 15, it's obviously not time to write a memoir. " We're still teenagers, but it's a milestone, a stage in a story in motion ", suggests Frédéric Revol, describing the fine book dedicated to Domaine des Hautes Glaces, which he founded in 2009. Whisky de montagne : la terre, la graine et le goût (ed. Terre Vivante) retraces an important part of his own life as he himself passed the milestone of turning 50. Trained as an agricultural engineer, after a first life as a consultant on the economics of natural resources, he decided one day to work the land of the Trièves mountains, on the borders of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes, to produce original spirits. Not just under any conditions: " Our proposal is to establish an organoleptic link between the finished product and the raw material, which represented a singular approach fifteen years ago. We were launching the world's first organic whisky farm, even though the whisky industry has centuries of history behind it. "
While a few other distilleries have taken this route - such as Ireland's Waterford or, in another way, Scotland's Bruichladdich - France is more open to the notion of terroir, thanks to its winegrowing heritage of identified origins, the famous appellations d'origine. Here again, we must be careful not to overuse the word: " It's a bit of a cliché, and it's not always put into practice," insists Frédéric Revol. For us, terroir goes hand in hand with respect for the natural environment and related farming practices ."Les Hautes Glaces combines organic cereal growing (to the extent of replanting old varieties) with plot selections - a singular approach in the whisky world. singular in the world of whisky -, and ageing methods adapted to the search for the terroir effect and the link with the raw material. The wood used in the casks varies according to the variety of grain used in the composition.
Spring 2025 sees the launch of two new products in an already diverse range. The " Epistémè " exploratory collection will be enriched with a new cuvée to taste the typicity of a well-identified parcel. The " Les Intemporelles " collection will also feature a new opus, this time a blend of several cereals to appreciate the aromatic diversity. Domaine des Hautes Glaces is open to the public, and each year sells volumes that are still confidential, sold almost entirely in France, with two forays into neighboring Switzerland and the very connoisseur Japan. With its attractive portfolios and original technical illustrations, Whisky de montagne is another approach to a distillery that will soon be reaching adulthood without having renounced its convictions.
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