Wine for sale: La Rouget de Lisle

La Rouget de Lisle

Once again we’re off to Jura, but for once, we’re here to discover the craft brewery founded by Bruno Mangin in 1994, making it a pioneer in the region... and France in general, at a time when the beverage failed to find the same popularity it enjoys today.
These days it produces some 15 beers released in two different ranges, Rouget and Abbaye de Beaume-les-Messieurs. Originally embarking on the adventure alone, he now employs some 20 staff with whom he shares his passion (through a large number of tastings) and his desire to work by hand. “It’s the brewer who is in charge, machines are just a tool,” the site explains. Today, four brewers work together to produce some 30,000 hectolitres of beer every year.
After a first distillation by a home distiller in 1999, Mangin decided to move into whisky production. In 2002, the brewery was moved to Bletterans in the Jura department of France. After buying its first (Armagnac-style) still in 2010, it was then equipped with a Holstein still in 2017, which it uses to produce malt whisky, bourbon and rye.