Our Story

The family’s story began with Louis Giraud, who was born into a winemaking family but started a career in spirits. First, he worked at the Drouet cooperage, making casks for over 30 years before joining a maison de cognac in 1910. There, he became an expert in production, blending, and aging. Before his retirement, he trained his son, Alfred Giraud, beginning a family legacy that would last over 80 years.

Alfred Giraud worked alongside his father, Louis, at the Drouet cooperage and joined the maison de cognac with him in 1910. Alfred left the company to serve as a soldier for France in World War I, where he was captured by German soldiers and held as a prisoner of war until 1918. Upon his release at the end of the war, Alfred returned to the maison de cognac as cellar master, a position he would hold until retiring in 1954. He remained with the maison de cognac for six more years to train his son, André, who would become the cellar master in 1960. The whisky is named in his honor.

Following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps, André Giraud first trained as a cask maker before joining his father, Alfred, at the same maison de cognac in 1940. After his father retired, André became the new cellar master in 1960, and he oversaw a period of significant transition for the maison, championing the use of technology in the cognac cellars to improve production and quality. He held the position for 30 years, becoming one of the most respected cellar masters in Cognac. In 1990, André retired to Limousin, a region in France renowned for its forests. Today, he supplies wood for the new whisky casks from his family’s forestry operations and uses his extensive network to source rare casks for aging the whisky.

Jean-Pierre Giraud was the fourth generation to join the maison de cognac. He held several positions in the company, including Managing Director from 1986 to 1992. Then, he moved to Reims to become the President of a group of renowned champagne houses. After retiring, he embraced his entrepreneurial spirit, developing companies and co-founding Alfred GIRAUD French Malt Whisky with his son. Today, he serves as the company’s Production Director.

Philippe Giraud began a new chapter in the family’s history when he left France in 1995 to join a renowned producer of Scotch whisky. There, he developed a passion for whisky and a deep understanding of the business, which led him to found a spirits distribution company in 2004. Philippe continued to work with and appreciate fine whisky, ultimately deciding to combine his knowledge of the whisky business with his family’s cognac expertise to create a new legacy for the family, Alfred GIRAUD French Malt Whisky.