Michel Couvreur : Very Sherried 2023 Edition 1998

Characteristics and Tasting Notes for the Very Sherried 2023 Edition 1998 Michel Couvreur

Tasting

Colour
An amber hue with ruby highlights, characteristic of extended ageing in pedro ximénez casks. Its colour is entirely natural, developed solely through interaction with the wood, without any addition of caramel.

Nose
The initial floral impressions are balanced by subtle woody notes. With aeration, the profile evolves and becomes more complex, revealing aromas of plum, brown caramel, raisins and forest fruits. Gentle oak notes then emerge, accompanied by hints of cinnamon, nutmeg and delicate garden herbs.

Palate
The palate opens with honeyed, waxy notes that gracefully evolve towards nougat. The texture is silky, revealing a perfect harmony between the spirit and the wood. Dried fruits, candied fruits and fresh almond can be detected, enriched by oxidative nuances of tobacco, leather and old oak reminiscent of damp cellars. The finish is remarkably long, unfolding with great spiced complexity.

Food Pairing Tips and Tasting Moments
This complex spirit pairs beautifully with dark chocolate desserts, whose bitterness and spice it enhances, or with a crème brûlée that echoes its notes of vanilla and caramel. It also pairs perfectly with a medium to full-bodied cigar, its notes of leather and tobacco blending ideally with it. Conceived as a great digestif, Michel Couvreur used to recommend savouring it in silence. Adding a few drops of water allows the tasting experience to evolve, revealing new aromatic facets as the minutes pass.

Mixology
As this is an exceptional and extremely rare product, we recommend enjoying it neat, without any embellishment, in order to fully appreciate the complexity it has acquired after a quarter of a century of patient maturation.

Other Characteristics
Bottled at its natural strength of 50.5% ABV (cask strength), this spirit undergoes no cold filtration. It may therefore develop a slight natural haze when exposed to cold, a true testament to its authenticity. This is a very limited edition from a single cask.

A great Scotch whisky matured in Burgundy by Michel Couvreur

The Michel Couvreur house: a pioneer of ageing in Burgundy

Founded in 1978 by Michel Couvreur, this singular house revolutionised the approach to Scotch whisky by relocating the art of maturation to the heart of Burgundy, in Bouze-lès-Beaune. Convinced that the essence of a spirit's quality lies in its ageing, the founder had 150 metres of underground galleries dug into the limestone rock to provide his casks with perfect humidity and temperature. Today, his son-in-law Cyril Deschamps and cellar master Jean-Arnaud Frantzen lead the estate. They carry on this visionary legacy with undiminished rigour, meticulously selecting old casks in Andalusia to elevate every drop, in keeping with the family motto: Virtute et Opera.

The meticulous crafting of the Very Sherried 2023 Edition 1998

The Very Sherried 2023 Edition 1998 embodies the very archetype of the house's philosophy. This exceptional Single Malt is the result of a distillation carried out in Scotland on 16 June 1998. It then travelled to Burgundy to begin a long and patient maturation lasting exactly twenty-five years.

This whisky was matured in a section of the underground cellars with moderate humidity, in a pedro ximénez cask that had previously held Malaga wine. This rigorous selection of wood, imbued with oxidative compounds and residual sugars after more than twenty years of use in Andalusia, gives the spirit a deep and irreplaceable aromatic identity.

Bottled on 16 June 2023, this flacon is presented in its most authentic state, with no reduction of its natural alcohol strength. The care given to the packaging reflects the rarity of the liquid: each square bottle, hand-sealed with wax, is individually numbered and presented in an elegant wooden case. This limited edition is a true collector's item, testament to an artisanal craftsmanship in which time and wood do their work with complete transparency regarding its traceability.