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Note: Most of the whiskies mentioned here will be tasted again in normal conditions. The tasting notes provided here were my first impressions.
I arrived on Sunday September 29th, at circa 13.10, and the queue to the entrance was huge, several hundred meters long.
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| A pretty long queue at the Show on Saturday, but they were efficient and on time to open the gates. |
After passing through the gate, I moved directly to the VIP area to taste at Decadent drinks the new Old Orkney, a rather smoky expression of Highland with round and pneumatic (new tyres) sherry influence. The Blended Grain whisky 1972 52 YO was nicely mellow, very intense, with a mixture of cooked cereals, sweet fruity sherry influence as well as some mild spices, without any tannic or bitter influence.
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| A very nice old blended grain whisky at Decadent drinks |
At Rest & Be, the Kinglassie and the Bruichladdich 20 YO were the same as last year, therefore I tried their Bruichladdich 18 YO, a version with very thick and syrupy sherry influence, on toffee, fudge, cocoa, dried fruits and some rubber.
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| Some Bruichladdich at Rest & Be |
At Silver Seal, I could taste their Old Navy rum, a blended rum with a final maturation in ex-sherry cask, delivering a rum rich in ester, well balanced, with a pleasant, round sherry influence on dried fruits. Very nice. The Demerara 28 YO distilled at Diamond distillery, was lighter, richer in esters, and also cleaner, allowing the character of the distillery to shine. Two very different styles of rum and flavours.
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| A very elegant, sweet and well balanced Rum at Silver Seal |
Moving to Hazelwood, I could taste for the first time some of their whiskies, starting with The Lowlander, a 36 YO blended Scotch, bold, floral, well balanced, with a mixture of spices, yellow fruits and flowers, as well as some porridge. Very nice and well intense. The queen of the Hebrides was a blended malt, with malts from Islay. The nose was on mellow, peaty, smoky and maritime flavours on the nose, with a lingering peat smoke on the palate, some camphor, hemp rope and medicinal flavours, suggesting some Caol Ila and Laphroaig in the vat (but I might be wrong).
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| Two very expression of aged blended whiskies, a blend of Lowland whiskies (Lowlander) and a blend of Islay single malts from the House of Hazelwood |
At Berry Bros & Rudd, I could taste the new Daftmill 15 Fife Strength, a vatting of 9 ex-bourbon and 1 ex-sherry cask. The sweet fruity influence of the sherry with its mild dried fruits (figs, dates and sultanas) was noticeable and gave a very nice complexity to this rather heavily bodied whisky, on rich malts flavours, some vanilla and yellow fruits. The Berry Bros Caol Ila 2007 was a very peaty and maritime Islay whisky, on seaweeds and a nice intense maritime peat smoke, before the chewy flavours from the Moscatel, on plums, blue and black berries and grapes took over. If you like Moscatel, then you will enjoy this whisky very much.
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| The Datfmill 15 YO and the Caol Ila 2007 Moscatel at Berry Bros & Rudd |
Murray McDavid has redesigned its packaging and the mention “finish” has disappeared from their front label, thus you need to look at the back of the label to know if it had a final maturation in a second cask, including the time spent in its final cask. The Loch Lomond 28 YO Single Graint Sauternes in an usual grain whisky, at is made of 100% malted barley, but distilled in a coffey still. As it was not distilled in a pot still, it has to named grain. The result is a nice malty and spicy whisky, on vanilla, nice round floral flavours, and a light sweet white wine influence. The Bowmore 23 YO Port Pipe finish was intense, very smoky, peaty, with round Port influence, on red grapes, peat smoke, iodine and some seaweeds. The influence of the Port in terms of flavours was mild, but it gave a rounder, thicker and slightly chewy mouthfeel to the whisky.
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| The Loch Lomond single grain is a made from 100% malted barley distilled in a coffey still. |
At one of the LMDW stands, the Komagatake 8 YO Collection Itineraries was a nice light malted Japanese single malt, with a rather mild aromatic peat smoke, some barley and a very smooth mouthfeel. It was followed by 3 different Chichibu, the Paris Edition 2025, light, fresh, on vanilla, soft spices, candied ginger and some round malty flavours. The Chichibu 2014 Collection Itineraries is a new bottling for La Maison du Whisky (LMDW), more complex, richer, with a heavier body, and nice sweet fruity flavours on sultanas, tangerine, orange, some leather and honey. The Chichibu 2017 Collection Itineraries is a peated expression for LMDW, with a nice mild aromatic peat smoke, rather heavy, on soft spices, some aromatic herbs and oak spices. The Dafmill 2011 Collection Itinéraires was a thick, chewy and syrupy single malt, with a heavy sherry influence, with some smoke meat, leather, tangerine, orange, leather and red berries. Really good. The Benromach 2002 Benromach Single Cask Collection Itinéraires was a nice, mildly peated whisky, with a lovely, complex aromatic peat smoke, light floral flavours, some ripe yellow fruits, round malty flavours and a remarkable complexity. One of the most pleasant whisky that I tasted on that day. The Compass Box “This is not a blend” is a nice, waxy, intense, slightly mustardy whisky, with light mineral flavours, and a good balance made with single malts distilled at Clynelish. Very good. Elixir Distillers has put a lot of effort into the Tormore distillery that they recently acquired, and I tasted first a 2003 Legacy, a soft and floral whisky, with nice mellow orchard fruits, while the 2002 Legacy was more aromatic, complex, with some oiliness and mellow aromatic flavours of sage.
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| Three Chichibu for the French market |
At the stand The Artist, the choice of bottles was very limited as most bottlings were emptied during the first two hours. The Artist 15 YO from Ardmore distillery was a very nice, intense, clean peated Ardmore, on aromatic peat smoke, light floral and vanilla flavours, as well a light dry mineral flavours, with little wood influence.
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| An excellent midly peated Benromach |
At Signatory Vintage, the Glenrothes 30 YO Symington’s choice was a very mellow whisky, on soft spices, tangerine, orange, sultanas, cinnamon and some honey. The Signatory Ballechin 12 YO was a very peaty and meaty expression of that distillery, with coca, figs, dates, some smoked meat and a dry aromatic peat smoke. Complex and very intense. Very nice!
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| Several expressions from Signatory Vintage |
At Nikka, the Myagikyo 10 YO was unfortunately not available, nor the Nikka 9 Decades, but I could taste a Nikka from the barrel extra marriage, a whisky with a marriage between the different casks twice longer than the traditional one, to celebrate the 40th Anniversary. A nice clean blended whisky, very smooth, with a light aromatic peat smoke, some vanilla, cooked cereals, as well as light aromas of peach and cherry blossom.
From Dingle I taste the 10 YO Single malt, with nice malty flavours, but the balance between the bourbon, PX sherry and port casks was slightly disturbing and dominating over the spirit. The Single Pot Still was bold, malty, on cereals, ripe orchards fruits and vanilla custard. Well-made and more to my liking than the single malt.
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| The core range of Dingle |
It was time again to taste some Teeling Irish Whiskie, starting with their new pot still, fresh, fruity, with some fresh orchard’s fruits. A light and subtle Pot Still whiskey. The Crystal Collection whiskey is made using crystal malt, a malted barley cooked for a longer time to give a more sugary whisky. The whisky was nice, round, malty, with lovely sugary flavours, with some treacle, orchards fruits, nice light and smooth malty flavours. Different from the core products but very enjoyable. The Pot Still Swedish Virgin oak was a nice and fresh Pot Still whisky, on fresh barley flavours, lots of vanillin, some oak spices and orchards fruits. The high abv (50%) gives a nice kick to this whisky. Finally, I could taste a lovely complex Teeling 30 YO with a final (and very long) maturation in ex-Sauternes cask, with lovely ripe exotic fruits, mild sugary-winey and slightly mineral flavours. The Sauternes influence gave a nice sweetness to the exotic fruits and mellow spices, with subtle and elegant winey flavours. Nice to taste again such an old Teeling. It was also nice to see that the produce of Teeling distillery is coming to age of maturity and that they can produce several types of whisky, and not just a lot of finishes to fill the gaps.
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| Two nice expression from the Dublin distillery of Teeling |
At Diageo, I was surprised to discover the new special release 2025 prior to the official release in a couple of days. I taste the new Clynelish 18 YO made with refilled casks, including casks with different cut points. This Clynelish was particularly mellow and light, slightly less waxy than I am used to, but with nice mustardy flavours. A very nice twist to this single malt. The Roseile 14 YO is a nice malty, floral, rather complex and mellow whisky, with various and complex spicy flavours, on vanilla, oak spices and some nice “dirty” flavours. The Oban 12 YO is a slightly maritime expression of that distillery, on sea brine, coastal influence and markedly more peaty than the 14 YO. I liked it very much. The Teaninch is probably the biggest surprise of this series, as it not only a young whisky (8 years old), but because it is a grain whisky. I never heard before about grain whiskies produced at this distillery. About 8 years ago, they produced a small experimental batch of grain whisky at this distillery. The whisky was nicely round, with a rather heavy body, with nice cereals flavours, oak spices, vanilla and nice malty-like flavours. Rather spicy, suggesting that they have used unmalted barley in the mash as the grain. In any case, a whisky showing a very nice balance and complexity, and very pleasant to drink. The Singleton of Glen Ord 17 YO was matured in refill sherry casks and with some ex-mezcal casks, resulting in a nice fresh whisky, with lots of fresh orchard fruits, some dried fruits, light floral flavours, vegetal flavours and light peppery flavours. The mezcal influence gave a very freshness to the whisky, with nice vegetal flavours and a slight pepperiness, without dominating the light influence from the sherry cask. Different to evaluate, as it is a rather unique flavour profile. The Talisker 14 YO was a nice slightly salty and maritime whisky, rather clean, with some charcoal and a surprisingly intense peat smoke. The most peated Talisker I have tasted. Very nice and intense. The Lagavulin has the typical Lagavulin smoky and maritime flavours, with some seaweeds, sea brine, light vanilla and oaky flavours, and a very clean intense peat smoke. True to its DNA with lots of power.
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| The whole range of the Diageo Special Releases 2025 reached the whisky live 3 days before the official launch |
At Cooper’s choice, I tried the Teaninich 2011 PX shery wood, a nice spicy and slightly yeasty expression of that distillery with a rather intense PX sherry influence, on dried fruits, rubber and marshmallow. Too much fresh rubber to my liking. One that will pleased the sherry freaks.
Bladnoch distillery made its first appearance at the show, and I was keen on tasting their range, as I was struggling with their Vinaya and Samsara expression, and their different wine cask combination. The Bladnoch single malts carry an Indian name, as the new owner is an Australian of Indian origin. The production is now rather hefty, with approximately 1.2 mio LPA this year, down from 1.8 mio LPA. The Liora was a rather intense spicy and oaky expression, with lots of oak spices, some pepper and vanilla. Matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and new oak casks, the influence of the wood is very strong and the distillate is good, but still rather youngish. They started to bring back the age statements in some versions in their heritage collection and the 13 YO matured in ex-bourbon cask was very good, matured, complex, with lots of exotic fruits, including mango, guava and some banana. A Bladnoch reminding me of the oldest style of Bladnoch. Highly recommended. The 16 and 19 YO were matured in sherry casks, complex and intense, with a rather intense sherry influence, taking slightly over the distillate. The Alinta is a vatting of ex-bourbon and ex-PX casks. The distillate was rather young and smooth, with a very dominant thick and chewy influence from the PX, on dried fruits and dark berries. Not a bad whisky, but difficult to recognize it as Bladnoch.
At Aberlour, I could get a wee taste to the Aberlour 18 YO Double sherry cask finish, as they were taking away the bottles. This whisky was matured in sherry casks, followed by a second maturation in other sherry casks. The whisky was complex, fresh, with some light mineral and charcoal flavours, orange, tangerine, berries and some other juicy fruity flavours. Very pleasant.
On my way to the exit, I could taste the new Jack Daniels 10 years old, a more complex version than the n°7, but also dryer, slightly more tannic and more vegetal, and also less sweet-sugary. A rather different expression and flavour profiles than the regular N°7.
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| The Sirdavis, a whisky distilled in Texas |
Finally, before I was kicked out, I tasted the Sirdavis, an American whisky distilled in Texas. As the founder (and the master blender) like the Scottish single malts, they decided to spell it “whisky” and not “whiskey”. This was is made of corn, with barley as the second grain. The whisky is different from the Bourbon-style of whisky, with richer and more malty flavours, and less fragrance. It was matured in ex-bourbon casks for approximately 4.5 years before spending either 4 months in first-fill sherry cask, 8 months in second-fill sherry casks or 12 months in 3rd fill sherry casks. The master blender is taking care of selecting casks that contain “real sherry”, and not sherry used for cask filling or xeres vinegar. I found the whisky very pleasant to drink, sweet, well-balanced, with a very pleasant combination of spice, fruity flavours and a nice, rich body.
This first day was very intense, but also very informative, with many whiskies tasted of very different flavour profiles. I was one of the last to leave the show on that day and ready for the next one, to hopefully taste some of the whiskies that disappeared after the first two hours.
Day 2:
On Monday, the trade day, I try to be there at the opening of the doors and rush to the VIP section to taste the products I was too late to taste the previous day.
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| Impressive selection of peated whiskies from Elixir distillers for the Artist range of La Maison du Whisky |
So, I started with the Artist smoke on the water selection bottled for La Maison du Whisky by Elixir Distillers. The first one tasted turned out to be one of the highlights of the show for me, with a delicious 20 years old Laphroaig, very elegant, subtle, maritime, with a very light wood influence, nice maritime flavours, some camphor and iodine. An impressive mix of balance, complexity and intensity. It was followed by a 25 YO sherry Ardbeg, peaty, intense, with pronounced, round sherry flavours, on leather, tannins, orange, sultanas and a touch of rubber, with the sherry slightly too dominant to my liking. The 30 YO was a nice mellow, elegant Bowmore, with a lovely combination of peat smoke, tropical fruits and light maritime flavours. Very good! Finally, the Caol Ila 40 YO was a mildly peated whisky, with nice medicinal flavours, some hemp rope, spearmint, iodine and seaweeds. Remarkably complex and intense for its age. The whole selection is indeed impressive.
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| The Tops, a new Blended Malt available for tasting on Monday at the House of Hazelwood. |
I had a long discussion at the House of Hazelwood with their PR manager Katy and sampled most of their range, without tasting them, therefore the tasting notes will be published in the weeks to come. House of Hazelwood is owned by the Gordon family, owners of William Grant & Sons. Over several decades, they privately acquired casks, which are being bottled for private customers. In addition, private clients can make their own blends using private stocks from the House of Hazelburn.
At Velier, I could taste their Guyana 2004 Full proof, a rich blend of Guyana rums, including some rum from the Port Mourant distillery.
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| An excellent Guyana rum 2004 from Velier |
At Redbreast, there has not been any new releases, however, I had the opportunity of tasting the rich Redbreast Single Cask Oloroso New Vibrations released last year for LDMW, with lots of dried fruits, on red berries, leather, orange and some tangerine. Very good.
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| The new range of Diageo's special releases for 2025 |
At Diageo, I could taste the Dailuaine 21, the last Special Releases that I could not taste the day before, as the bottle was emptied before I stopped there. A nice mellow, very round Dailuaine, slightly floral, on soft spices, leather, orange, sultanas and treacle, Very nice.
At Glenfiddich, I could taste the Grand Chateau, a 31 YO Glenfiddich finished in ex-red wine casks from Burgundy, a gentle and mellow single malt, with some orchard fruits, soft spices and light winey influence. The wine cask gave some extra depth to the rather fruity whisky, without taking over the distillery.
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| Some of the Balvenie available at the Balvenie & Glendiffich stand |
I haven’t tried Balvenie whiskies for a couple of years, therefore it was time to rediscover this nice gentle malt, starting with the new Luscious cask 12 YO Montilla, a whisky close to the 12 YO bourbon , clean, malty, floral, on honey and the Montilla. Montilla a region close to the sherry region of spine and its produce close the sherry de la Frontera. The wins cask gives some red grapes and red fruits flavours, however, its influence is rather mild to the ex-bourdon driven whisky. The 16 YO French oak had a partial maturation in ex red and white Pineau, a French fortified wine known for its sweee-sugary flavours. As for the 12 YO, the influence of the wine was rather mild, but the whisky was more complex and fruity than the 12 YO. The Grand Character 19 YO is also matured in ex-Pineau wines, but contrary to the 16 YO, for approximately 2 years, giving more body and fruitiness to the whisky. The whole results in a nicely fruity, rather complex whisky, with a mixture of sweet wine, honey and malty flavours.
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| The new "Ode" series at Glendronach |
Next stop was then at Glendronach to taste their new “ode” range, with the Ode to the Valley combining sherry and port matured whiskies, on a nice sweet and fruity whisky with nice flavours of black berries. The Port cask influence was selected to give bramble flavours to this whisky, a typical berry growing in the Glendronach valley. The Ode to Amber contains some medium peated whisky, giving a slight peat smoke to the whole to recreate the old Glendronach style (the old Chivas style of the 15 YO). Very nice. Finally the ode to the dark is made of Pedro Ximenez casks and bottled at high strength, giving a lot of power to the dry sherry, on berries, sultanas and leather. Very nice and close to the 18 YO, with slightly less complexity but more intensity. Finally, I received a nice little treat from Stuart, with the last drops of the bottle of Glendronach 40 YO, an excellent rich, complex and balanced whisky, with a little peat some, reminding me strongly of the famous Glendronach 1972. Great balance, great length and complexity. Simply said, a great whisky.
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| Some of the whiskies from the new Whisky Trail by Elixir distillers |
Elixir distillery has just released a new collection, named the whisky trail, with whiskies from different countries. The white peak was a nice light, malty, smooth, and rather too young to my liking. The Westland was a nice American single malt from the Seattle area, with the vatting of different vintages giving a nice balance and complexity to this whisky, with a mixture of oak spices and pleasant dirty malty flavours. Thy is a distillery located in Denmark using malted rye. This rye whisky was surprisingly smooth, slightly malty, with mild peppery flavours and vanilla flavours. Balanced and pleasant. The Chichibu is a 10 YO single malt matured in ex-IPA Japanese beer cask, with a lovely complexity, nice dirty flavours, spices, light yeast extracts and some vegetal condiment. Very good!
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| The Arndahoe Society 2024 |
At Ardnaohe, I could taste the Ardnaohe Society 2024, a small batch release for the Society members, made with some PX quarter casks, as for the Swiss exclusive. It was very peaty, intense, maritime, with nice dried fruits, berries, sultanas, leather and slightly meaty flavours. Very nice.
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| An excellent sherried Laphroaig Ian Hunter's edition |
At Laphroaig, I could join the tasting with a Spanish whisky club, starting with the Elements 2.0, a Laphroaig combining standard with very long formation, resulting in a peaty whisky, richer in yeasty and estery flavours. Then, it was time to get more power and complexity with the Laphroaig 25 YO from 2024, a lovely ex-bourbon matured Laphroaig, complex, intense, maritime, peaty and a lovely maritime smoke. It was followed by the 30 YO released in 2024 with lovely round and fruity flavours, on orange, leather and nice mellow maritime peat smoke, markedly more intense than the older 30 YO, with more oaky flavours. Very well-made. We moved then to the Hunter’s history, with the 31 YO, a smoother, mellower and more fruity version than the 30 YO, with less oaky flavours. Another excellent Laphroaig. We completed the tasting with the 34 YO Laphroaig, made with PX sherry casks, while the other versions contained ex-oloroso casks. The shift in flavour profile is very noticeable, on drier sherry flavours, with more treacle, berries, sultanas, and leather. Different, of the same very high quality. Special thanks to the Spanish brand ambassador for his hospitality and the generous serves.
At Ardbeg, I could taste the Smokeuniverse, a young, smooth peated Ardbeg made with high gravity wort, smoother and lighter than the 10 YO. A rather uninteresting Ardbeg. The Anthology 15 was more intense, peaty and complex, maritime, on citrus, some pencils having and charcoal, coming from the heavily charred ex-bourbon casks. Markedly better than the Smokeuniverse.
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| Part of the M&H whisky range available for tasting |
I tried some years ago some single malts and the first whisky bottled by the Israeli of Milk and Honey (M&H) and I was curious to taste several expressions, starting with a nice balanced, malty Classic, on yellow fruits, nice mellow malty flavours and on round vanilla flavours. The sherry cask was more fruity, on orange and dried fruits, while the Elements Peat was made with peated whisky (circa 18 ppm if I recall correctly) and unpeated whisky matured in ex-peated casks, resulting in a round malty whisky, with a light peat smoke, slightly aromatic and with a hint of sea salt. It is thus not a peat bomb, but a M&H with a twist of peat smoke. They are also producing a Terroir range, with whisky matured in different regions of Israel. I decided to taste the Dead Sea, a well matured whisky, more oaky than the classic, with more spices and also some sea salt. Finally I tasted the Pomegranate wine cask, wine made with pomegranate in Israel. I like pomegranate, but never tasted wine made with pomegranate, so I was very curious to taste this expression. By comparison to the classic, it was more fruity, but also slightly sour, with some notes of cherries, vanilla and blackcurrant. The influence was mild and pleasant.
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| The Romanian Carpathian single malt whiskies |
I tasted then Carpathian single malts, a whisky distilled in Romania in the Scottish style, with nice malty flavours, some oak spices and light floral flavours. Most of the versions were partially matured in wine casks, therefore I opted for the ex-bourbon one, which was rather smooth and young, too young to my liking. The peated one was matured exclusively in ex-Romanian wine cask, with a rather dry, earthy and aromatic peat smoke, light malty and oaky flavours, on grapes, tannins and rather sweet red wine flavours. More complex than the Bourbon and with a nice peatiness.
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| Some single malts from The Nez Zealand Whisky Collection |
It was followed by single malts from The New Zealand Whisky Company, with the South Island being the core product matured ex-bourbon casks. It was smooth, malty, with vanilla and light oaky spices. The Oamaruvian double wood was matured first in ex-bourbon and then finished in ex-French oak cask with red wine from New Zealand. The result was a very winey whisky, thick, with lots of rich red wine flavours, grapes and tannins. Too winey to my liking.
Unfortunately, because of private reasons, I had to leave the show promptly and could not carry on with tasting more whiskies. There were many French whisky brands, including several new ones, the Cocktail street, cognac and other spirits as well. Focusing on whisky and some Rum, at least 2 days are needed to appreciate all that the whisky live Paris as to offer.
In any case, I enjoyed my stay at the Whisky Live Paris. Spittoons were everywhere, often emptied, and plenty of water was available. In addition, there were some bags of bread to refresh the palate and several water fountains. Many masterclasses were organised and free, but I was already so busy tasting whiskies and enjoying other discussions.
Slainthe,
Patrick
Patrick, 01 Oct 2025