Brenne French Single Malt Whisky Finished in Cognac Barrels

I twice tasted this French single malt whisky aged in cognac barrels before setting fingertips to keyboard, both times with a companion. The color is a very bright amber. The first thing experienced upon opening the clear bottle is a very big fruity nose, mostly apple and pear, perhaps caramel as well. The aroma is even bigger when it is in the glass (seems wrong to call it a bigger nose)! The first taste is a fruity sweetness over the front of the tongue that I have never experienced before that I must attribute to the cognac's influence on the French oak casks in which the spirit is matured for an undisclosed time, followed by a layer of soft spice that lingers on the rest of the tongue. As this is a low alcohol whisky, 40% ABV, there is no surprise to the pleasant smoothness and lack of burn as it goes down. Bring on the flavors, say I! I give it a big thumbs up for something radically different to be enjoyed when you feel like throwing your palate a sweet curveball. 

One of my tasting companions, JZ, noted the sweetness, naming butterscotch, and his assessment: good, nice, but perhaps too much flavor going on for him. The wife's take was a surprising two thumbs up. She liked the difference in the sweetness in this spirit, calling it a crisp, apple sweetness as compared with the syrupy, cloying sweetness  of many sherry casked whiskies on the market these days.