Distillery Combier, Saumur

We booked an English tour, but upon arrival at the distillery we were informed that the tour would need to be exclusively in French, as both French and English speaking guests had booked this time slot. It wasn’t clear why both languages couldn’t be spoken during the tour, or why preference was given towards native French speakers when we had booked an English tour. Fortunately the French guests were bi-lingual and told our guide that an English tour was fine for them. As it all worked out, still giving this tour five stars; but I would have been disappointed had the tour been in a language we didn’t understand. The tour itself was fascinating — we learned a brief history of Combier, the liquors and syrups produced, and the process of distilling triple sec. The original stills from the late 1800s are still in use! Our guide, Elise, was friendly, informative and interesting. She spoke fluent English & French. The tasting was also fun — it included their 4 most famous liquors (which are excellent), and she also offered us a taste of 2 others we were interested in trying. The tastes were small (maybe 1.5-2 ounces across all 6 tastes in total), which allowed us to enjoy them all responsibly. Overall, I’d highly recommend! The only thing that could have made this better was avoiding the initial confusion of our ‘English tour’ needing to be performed in French. While it all worked out (and Elise was kind enough to not charge us the 6€ fee as a result), I hope that Combier finds a way to ensure that all future guests get the tour in the language they signed up for.

Very disappointed. As someone who works in the tourist industry, I am always on a look out for new things to recommend to our guests, so we decided to try the original triple sec distillery in France. The website said that tours were in both English and French. Upon arrival we were informed that they are not. Most of our group didn't speak French. We were handed a little pamphlet and told that the girl giving the tour says exactly the same thing. Which was not the case at all. I spent the entire tour translating what I could while following along. The distillery visit lasted perhaps 15 minutes. The guide was very soft spoken and didn't bother to talk towards me, only including the native French speakers. The tasting was just as quick. The tasting glasses were the size of a medicine/pill cup. We were given barely enough to cover the bottom of our glass with no way to rinse our glasses or cleanse our palettes between each tasting. As a family who have visited many distilleries around the world, it was by far the worst tour we have ever experienced. Not worth your time.

Delicious spirits and liqueurs made locally. Very friendly staff that helped us make some great choices. A must do if you're in Saumur!

Very good distillery and tour. Excellent selection of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks. Very helpful staff. While you can buy many of the products at local supermarkets it was good to buy direct from the producer

Amazing tour. Tour lasted 30 mins - tasting session lasted 30 mins. The idea obviously worked as we went home having bought a bottle! The tour was in French but there was a leaflet in English. Recommended