Whisky Tours · FRANCE
Distillery slots are finite and the good ones fill first. These 11 france whisky tours justify the afternoon, priced and timed so you can decide in minutes.
At Distillerie Père Magloire in Pont-l’Évêque, you’ll follow a 60 to 90-minute sensory presentation through old cellars, Normandy history, and Calvados production. The tour is offered in English and eight languages, ends with tastings, and welcomes groups of up to 15.
“The experience was first class and very informative, excellent presentation. The tasting encourage us to buy bottle.”
At un MAS en PROVENCE, you’ll walk among lavender, rosemary, verbena, and roses, then watch a still turn flowers into essential oils. Guides such as Gaspard and Sylvain explain farming, perfumes, cosmetics, and natural medicine. The one-hour visit includes a shop, café, picnic tables, and free parking.
“It was a nice experience. Thanks to Gaspard we learned more about plants today 😊 We had an opportunity to see various plants, to touch and smell them, to go to the lavender field, to see how the oil distillery plant works. At the end of excursion we watched a short movie and got an instruction with the application of each oil. There is also a shop and a small cafe on the premises. Staff over there is very nice and friendly and speaks different foreign languages. Thank you very much guys!”
At un MAS en PROVENCE near Bellegarde, guide Betty or Sylvain leads you through lavender, verbena, immortelle, and rosemary production, then explains distillation and essential oils. The one-hour English tour mixes outdoor plants, farm tools, indoor displays, and time in the shop.
“Guide très pédagogique et sympathique, ce qui rend la visite très agréable. C'était très intéressant. Apprendre les différentes variétés de lavandes ainsi que leurs vertus ou fonctions. Les autres plantes dont ils extraient l'huile essentiel, l'immortel, le romarin, la verveine citronnée. Le matériel utilisé..... Le Mas et sa fonction.... Bref je recommande pour les grands et les moins grands. La boutique permet de prolonger le plaisir et d'en apprendre plus. Merci encore.”
At Calvados Père Magloire in Pont-l'Évêque, you follow Normandy’s story from the Vikings to today while learning how apples become Calvados. Expect a fully staged visit with low lighting, smoke, sound, interactive displays, and a tasting of four Calvados, aperitifs, or apple juice.
“Great experience with very informative interactive displays. Very well thought out. I would say the tasting experience at the end was slightly odd. Felt rushed and made us feel a little like a nuisance. Other than that… excellent!”
At La Distillerie de l'Arbre Sec, an expert distiller guides you through gin styles, botanicals, tasting, cocktails, and hands-on distillation. Choose your own plants, herbs, and spices, then leave with a custom-labeled 70cl bottle made in a small group of no more than eight.
“Such a fun unique experience! Neat to learn about the distillery, excellent drinks and snacks provided. Very friendly and knowledgeable instructor.”
Meet Jérôme, a third-generation winegrower, at Distillerie Les 1309 near Cognac. In 90 minutes, you’ll visit the still, aging cellar, vineyard, and wine cellar, then taste three Cognacs and three Pineaux de Charentes in French or English.
“Jerome was excellent. He explained all about his family business and every aspect of cognac production as we toured around his distillery, cellars and vineyard. He was very clear and engaging and did the tour for us in English, which was great. We even got to take a look at the farm equipment and grape press, which no other tours seem to do. The tasting at the end was excellent. We tasted three cognacs and three pinaud de charentes, which were all very high quality and reasonably priced. The tastings were also very generous compared to other places we have visited. Highly recommended. Easy parking.”
At Distillerie Baccae Paris, you’ll tour the full gin-making operation with a team member, see the striking Müller alembic, and finish with a tasting of the house range. The one-hour English tour starts at 3 p.m. at 4 Rue Crillon and is limited to 15 people.
“I had a great time learning about Gin and tasting different flavours. The explanations were very detailed. I even bought some delicious spicy gin for my friends :)”
Tour Distillerie des 4 Vallées in English from 2:30 pm, with lavender fields, historic stills, an olfactory workshop, and a shop selling more than 300 French-made goods. You’ll learn how fine lavender, lavandin, and aspic become oils, floral waters, and everyday products.
“Nice visit, we learned a lot, it was very interesting. The young woman we visited with was very sweet, we laughed too, and her explanations (in foreign language, at our request) were very clear.”
Spend nine hours comparing Bordeaux wine and Cognac with a private English-speaking guide, possibly Jean-Luc. Visit Bordeaux chateaux, blend and bottle your own red wine, then tour two family-run Cognac estates and taste brandy and Pineau des Charentes.
“Tour was excellent and introduced us to the "art of blending wine in the Bordeaux Region" plus the methods of producing Cognac in the region. Jean Luc was an excellent Tour Guide and very knowledgeable in the art of Cognac Distillation. In addition the sites/distilleries we visited were excellent for us to gain an understanding of Cognac Production.”
At Distillerie Rozelieures, visit the farm, brewery, still room, sound and light show, and whisky cellar before tasting five whiskies. With guidance from the multilingual team, including blending host Clément, you will create and bottle your own blend during this 2.5-hour small-group workshop.
“Very nice experience, this workshop at Rozelieures. Friendly and helpful (multilingual!) guidance, beautiful tour and animations. Tasting whiskey and making your own blend super fun to do. The whole whisky is produced on our own farm and we continue to enjoy the homemade blend at home!Auto-translated”
Meet at La Distillerie de l’Arbre Sec near the Louvre for a one-hour English tour with a gin expert. Learn how two women distillers make gin, visit the urban distillery, taste their spirits, and finish with a homemade cocktail. Charlotte may lead the tasting.
“This tasting was so much fun. Just enough teaching about the process and great tastings. The gin is exceptional. The atmosphere was so beautiful. Make a point to go.”
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