Before we reach our thousandth spirit reviewed on More Drams this Friday, we make a small detour to France, and more specifically to Lorraine, to explore the Grallet-Dupic distillery. Initially best known for its fruit eaux-de-vie, the house is now primarily associated with its Rozelieures whisky and its farm-to-bottle approach. In this article, we review three of their expressions: the Rozelieures Rouge Côte from the Parcellaire range, along with two single casks, one matured in Marsala and the other in ex-Coloma Colombian rum.
Grallet-Dupic Distillery
Rozelieures is the whisky range made by the Grallet-Dupic family distillery in Lorraine, northeastern France, and it is one of the most distinctive French single malt producers. The family business is older than the whisky itself: the Grallet-Dupics have been distilling and farming in the region for generations, while whisky production began in the early 2000s.
The distillery is based in the village of Rozelieures, south-east of Nancy, and it is closely tied to its own barley fields and farm setting. The company presents Rozelieures as a single-estate-style operation, with barley grown locally and much of the production controlled on site.
Rozelieures stands out because it combines French agricultural distilling with a whisky program that is deliberately terroir-driven. The distillery is one of the few in France making peated whisky, and its production uses French-grown barley, double distillation, and maturation in a wide range of casks. They’re also one of the very few French distilleries doing ‘parcellaire’ whiskies (with Domaine des Hautes Glaces for instance). Rozelieures’ parcelaire whiskies take the distillery’s farm-to-bottle philosophy and push it a step further, turning individual barley fields into the starting point for each release. Rather than presenting whisky as a single house style, the range explores how different soils shape the spirit, with bottlings grouped into families such as limestone, silt, volcanic, and clay. That makes the collection especially appealing if you enjoy whisky with a strong sense of place: these are not just limited editions, but small-scale studies in terroir, where the field itself becomes part of the flavour story.
Cask selection is central to the Rozelieures range. The whisky is matured or finished in casks that include sherry, Cognac, Sauternes, Burgundy, and other wine or spirit casks, which gives the range a lot of aromatic variety. Some releases are also bottled from specific casks or small lots, which makes the range especially interesting for whisky drinkers who like to compare influence from barrel types.
Rozelieures Parcellaire ‘Rouge Côte’ (2026) Review
Rozelieures ‘Rouge-Côte’ (specifically sourced from the plot named Rouge Côte) is a limited-edition single malt French whisky produced by Grallet-Dupic. As a true ‘Single Estate’ distillery, Rozelieures controls the entire production process from field to bottle. This expression is part of their ‘Parcellaires’ (Single Plot) collection, designed to highlight the influence of local terroir on whisky, like some of the Domaine Des Hautes Glaces Epistémè or the (unfortunately ruined by wood management and now defunct) Waterford single farms Irish whiskies.
The barley for the ‘Rouge-Côte’ is harvested from a 1.9-hectare, south-facing plot with clay-limestone (argilo-calcaire) soil. The unpeated spirit was distilled in February 2022 from a 2021 harvest of Propect spring barley, and matured in used French oak casks until its bottling in September 2025. It is bottled at 43% ABV and is widely available, generally retailing from €65.
Colour:
Russet.
Nose:
Neat: The nose is clean and highly barley forward. It opens on sweet malt, golden cereals, and some raspberry soup, slightly vinous, but it needs some aeration to really open up. As the whisky breathes in the glass, the cereal notes give way to bright, fresh fruit aromas, dominated distinctly by crisp, fresh golden and green apples.
Palate:
Neat: The palate offers a nice attack despite the low ABV. It is significantly fruitier than the nose suggests, immediately delivering rich, sweet flavours of juicy pear and dried figs, with a little bit of pepper and ginger to spice things up. The fruity sweetness is also balanced by a buttery pastry note reminiscent of Scottish shortbread biscuits. The refill casks show some presence, with toasted oak, wood spices, and a light tannic bitterness.
Finish:
The finish is quite long. The sweet fruits and biscuit notes fade to reveal a nutty hint of cashew and almonds, with some limestone minerality.
Comments:
This single-field whisky, the Rozelieures Parcellaire Rouge Côte, is very appealing, with a nice complexity for such a young whisky. Although it was matured in refill casks, they still seem to have had plenty of life left in them, as they clearly influenced both the palate and the colour – unless caramel was added, which I doubt. There is also a slight vinous edge, though I’m not convinced ex-wine casks were involved. In any case, despite the wood being just a little too prominent, this remains a very enjoyable dram.
Rating: 6.5/10
Rozelieures ex-Fût de Marsala (2026) Review
The Rozelieures Single Cask ex-Marsala is a single-cask release that focuses on the influence of Italy’s famous fortified wine. It underwent a total maturation of 5 years: it spent its first 3 years resting in an ex-bourbon cask before being transferred to a single ex-Marsala Dolce wine cask from Sicily for a lengthy 2-year finishing period. Bottled at 46% ABV, it is presented without chill filtration. Widely available directly from the distillery or through specialised French wine merchants, it retails between €63 and €66.
Colour:
Deep copper.
Nose:
Neat: The nose is rich, vinous, and pastry-like. It opens with a heavy, gourmand wave of candied fruits, raisins, quince jam, apricots and sweet orange zest. Beneath the bright citrus and dried fruit, there are distinct, sweet dessert-like aromas of frangipane, gingerbread, ripe pear, and a deep, nutty backdrop of toasted walnuts.
Palate:
Neat: The palate is silky and mouth-coating, and clearly influenced by the sweet Marsala Dolce. It delivers an immediate hit of sweet, dark red fruits, notably maraschino cherry and raisins. This syrupy fruitiness quickly transitions into richer, more robust flavours of caramelised walnuts, candied fruit cake, bitter cocoa powder, and dark honey. A gentle, warming oak spice runs through the centre, keeping the sweetness in check.
Finish:
The finish is long, warming, and slightly dry. The sweet fruit notes fade to leave a lasting impression of roasted walnuts, dry oak spice, and a very subtle hint of sweet liquorice root.
Comments:
This Rozelieures single cask, matured into a Marsala Dolce cask, shows a clear vinous influence, though it never becomes overpowering. It feels richer and deeper than the Parcellaire, likely thanks to both the extra maturation time and the Marsala cask finish. Even at a reduced 46% ABV, it retains enough intensity to stay engaging, while remaining very easy to sip. A very nice dram, especially given the price.
Rating: 7/10
Rozelieures ex-Fût de Rhum Colombien (2026) Review
Next, we have a Rozelieures Ex-Fût de Rhum Colombien (specifically aged in casks from the renowned Colombian rum brand, Coloma). Coloma rum is famous for being hydrated and finished in ex-coffee liqueur casks, meaning the barrels themselves carry a highly unique, roasted DNA before the whisky even enters them.
This single malt is initially matured into standard ex-bourbon casks before being transferred into these freshly emptied Colombian rum casks for its finishing period. Like its Marsala counterpart in the single cask range, it is bottled at 46% ABV, without chill filtration. It is available directly from the distillery and specialist French retailers, with an official retail price of €65.90.
Colour:
Jonquille.
Nose:
Neat: The nose is exotic, warm, and highly gourmand, heavily shaped by the Colombian rum cask. It opens with rich aromas of molasses, caramelised brown sugar, and overripe tropical fruits like flambéed banana and pineapple. Beneath the sweet rum notes, there is a distinct aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans and dark cocoa.
Palate:
Neat: The palate is creamy and dessert-like. It arrives with a thick, boozy and syrupy sweetness of caramel, melted butter, and ripe plantain. As it develops, the coffee influence takes over, offering deep, rich flavours of mocha, espresso, and hot chocolate with milk. A gentle, warming wave of baking spices – particularly cinnamon and nutmeg – provides an excellent counterbalance to the heavy sweetness.
Finish:
The finish is long, with the sweet tropical fruits and vanilla fading slowly, leaving a lingering, roasted aftertaste of coffee grounds, dark cocoa powder, and a final, gentle warmth of rum-soaked oak.
Comments:
This Rozelieures ex-Coloma starts off well, bursting with flavour, but the hot chocolate note soon makes it feel a little cloying. I’m sure fans of hot chocolate would be less bothered by that than I was, and might even reward it with an extra point, but for me the coffee liqueur used in the Coloma rum left such a strong mark on the rum that it carried over into this Rozelieures whisky as well. If you enjoy this kind of richness, you may be in for a treat, but for me it was a bit too much.