David Roussier
Located in Lannion, Brittany, the distillery Warenghem has been making high quality liqueurs and spirits for over 100 years. In 1900, Leon Warenghem created his first product, the Elixir d’Armorique, a distillate of 35 plants, which won awards at international exhibitions in 1902. Since then, from one generation to the next, the distillery has created a small range of unusual fruit and plant based liqueurs, honey liqueurs, apple brandy, beers and whiskies.
In 1967, Leon’s grandson Paul-Henry and his business partner, Yves Leizour moved the distillery from the town center to the outskirts of Lannion to be closer to the spring, Rest Avel. Yves’ son, Gilles carried on the distillery’s innovative spirit, by creating a blended whisky in 1987, then in 1998, France’s first single malt whisky: Armorik. Warenghem was the first and only distillery to ever produce double distilled whisky in France and today it remains the most renowned.
The distillery is currently run by Gilles’ son-in-law, David Roussier, keeping the Breton tradition of distilling in the family. They continue to innovate, including the recent release of the first single malt whisky finished in Armagnac casks (from the oldest Armagnac house, Dartigalongue).