Vulson White Rhino unaged rye spirit

R.I.P. - No longer made
Difford's Guide

alc./vol: 41%

Proof: 82°

Vintage: Non-vintage

Aged: Unaged

Product of: Product of France France

[Production ceased in February 2017] Vulson is a 100% rye spirit distilled at Domaine Des Hautes Glaces, a truly artisanal grain to bottle farm distillery with grains grown, malted, brewed, distilled and bottling all carried out on the distillery's estate.

Vulson is the result of a partnership between the distillery and Xavier Padovani.

Vulson White Rhino Rye is the first iteration of the brand Vulson "French Alpine Rye". It takes its name from Marcus Vulson de la Colombière, the man who, in 1616, built the castle which houses the distillery. Vulson is also the name of the area where the distillery lies, so a logical name for the brand.

Vulson was a heraldist, poet and historian but is better known for killing his wife and her lover after finding them together. This murder is the origin of the French saying 'La Vulsonnade', used to describe a man who 'kills his cheating wife and her lover'.

The label of Vulson White Rhino features a 1573 rhino drawn by Ambroise Paré, who passed away in 1590. Ambroise was a barber, surgeon, and anatomist who invented surgical instruments.

Production

Domaine des Hautes Glaces sow their own rye seeds in September, with harvest the following August. They don't plant the same type of seeds consecutively on the same field, so barley or spelt is sown after rye is harvested, with the ground left fallow every few years.

The harvested rye is cleaned, sorted, and graded according to size, using unsuitable cereals as animal feed. Rye judged suitable for distilling is chilled and stored in one of eight grain silos with capacities ranging from 5 to 20 tons. Grain from specific fields is stored separately for anything from three to four months prior to malting.

The grain is steeped in the local spring water for two days to start germination. After six days germination will have progressed far enough for the rye to be kilned to become malted rye.

Batches of 600 kilos of malted rye are ground to grist, and this is mashed to obtain 2.500 litres of sugary wort, which is pumped to a fermentation tank where a mix of organic yeast is added to start fermentation. Temperatures within the stainless steel tank are controlled and fermentation lasts 120 hours producing a 7.5% alc./vol. wash.

The wash is triple distilled in onion shaped direct wood fired copper pot stills. Once in the 2,500 litre wash still and twice in the 700 litre spirit still with head and tails recycled and added to the wash still.

The distillates are left to rest for at least a year in stainless steel tanks before being slowly diluted to bottling strength with spring water.

Vulson is hand-bottled in traditional calvados-shaped bottles.

Review and Tasting


Sampled on 10/08/2014

Appearance:

Crystal clear.

Aroma:

New make spirit, freshly baked bread, tequila-like mineralality, dusty and wet cement-like with faint citrus.

Taste:

Toasted brown bread and shortcrust pastry with pronounced white and black pepper spice.

Aftertaste:

More tequila, toasted/burnt bread and black pepper spice.

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Product Information

Barcode UPC: 3770003841005
Bottle Size: 700 ml
Closure: Natural cork stopper

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