Eure: The De Sutter brothers’ whiskey is one of the best in the world!

In Gisors (Eur), the artisanal brewery of the brothers De Sutter, Antoine and Frédéric has become a benchmark in the field of beer in its twelve years of existence. What is less well known is that the two brothers have branched out into whiskey (as well as rum and gin), creating the Société des alcools à papa last year to distill their own spirits. “We have been thinking about this for a while. There is a form of logic, because behind the brewery it makes sense to have a distillery,” sums up Antoine de Sutter.

And they are obviously very talented. With the support of Liam, their full-bearded Scottish cellar master, they have just won a bronze medal in the blend category at the acclaimed World Whiskey Awards 2023, which brings in producers from all over the world.

“We wanted affordable whiskey”

“We are brand new, so we are very humble in the distillery world. In the end, it’s a nice surprise because we didn’t really know where we were going, but we wanted to see what we stand for among all these references,” continues the trained agro-engineer, happy to have seduced the demanding jury with this “original Grandchamp ”, the fruit of mixing two whiskeys chosen by them to stand on the deep end. “We started distilling our own whiskey from French barley, usually from the north of France. But you have to wait three years in a barrel before you can use it and sell it.” Thus, their “house” whiskeys will replace, from 2025, those that were chosen (one in France, another abroad) to create their own bottles, that is, a total of 10,000 bottles in this first year.

“We wanted to have an affordable whisky, with a pleasant length in the mouth, balanced… We also wanted to emphasize the grainy side, because it’s clear that’s what we like,” continues Antoine De Sutter. A quality French “blend” at a relatively affordable price for hobbyists, since a bottle in the De Sutter brewery shop or their distributor network costs around 38 euros, and this prestigious award should expand it.