In the heart of the French Alps, between the cliffs of Vercors and the peaks of Écrins National Park, in this “haut pays” surrounded by the Trièves mountains, sits the world’s oldest organic whisky farm & distillery: Les Hautes Glaces.

It is above all about a return to the land. Les Hautes Glaces was born out of a sense that something had been lost and needed to be restored – while grain is undoubtedly the starting point for this exceptional spirit, the whisky industry seems to be so focused on the optimisation of its production processes that it has lost sight of its agricultural roots and forgotten its connection with the land. It is Frédric, founder and CEO of Les Hautes Glaces, believe that therein lies the magic of spirits (literally “purveyors of a spirit”): they have the power to convey the genius of the place, to elevate the humble grain, and, as a result of our senses and emotions, to give us a direct and intimate path to reconnect with the natural world.

That was the background to the creation of Les Hautes Glaces in 2009. With a desire to explore the sensitivity of our terroir to the changing seasons and aware of pursuing unexplored paths, we reinterpret skills and adopt new practices from field to bottle in order to create whisky that showcases the very essence of a rich and vibrant land.

Based on four elements – grain, water, yeast and energy – The Hautes Glaces wants their spirits to transport us to the centre of a vast landscape and to the very heart of the environmental and social challenges we must face.

Here, the ecological approach and the pursuit of flavour are one and the same: to make the finest whiskys with the fewest resources possible.