This expresssion is only available in France and this bottle was labelled as a Pure Malt. Uh oh... someone didn't get the memo from the SWA, it should of course be called a blended malt. The nose is sweet and malty with some young whisky notes, maybe a little vanilla as well. The taste is smooth and has toffee, fudge and lots of sweet grain notes as well before the oak spice starts to kick in. The bitterness then builds in the finish and contrasts with a maple syrup taste. Not as balanced as I would like, the sweet spirit and bitter oak seem to clash, even bicker on the palatte, a little rather than harmonize and come together.