Whisky Live Paris, 28-30 September 2024, Parc de la vilette

https://www.whiskylive.fr/

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The 2024 Whisky Live Paris is a special one, as its celebrates now its 20 anniversary, a remarkable anniversary. The event takes place over 3 days, with the first two days (Saturday and Sunday) reserved for the public and the Monday for the trade. I attended the last two days and Sunday was rather quiet during the first hours, with the stands getting rather crowded from 16h00 onwards.

More detailed tasting notes from the whiskies covered below will be provide over the next months.

Le Parce de la Vilette where the event took place

My first whiskies were from the Edinburgh-based distillery of Holyrood, with a nice oily, spicy, Ambir, combined with some dried fruits, orange, vanilla and slightly mineral flavours. Very well-made! The other one, the Embra, was a different whisky, with a lovely rich aromatic peat smoke, some chocolate, bourbon, with a rather oily-dirty body, but as well some dry peat smoke. Holyrood single malt have an “old-style” of flavours that I enjoyed very much and this is the result of combining different types of malts, yeast and type of casks. For instance, for the Ambir, 7 types of malts are use, such a spring barley, chocolate malt or caramalt, 10 types of yeast (distillers, brewers and wine), and a mixture of ex-bourbon and oloroso casks.

My first two whiskies from the show, at Holyrood distillery, with the composition described in the leaflet in the front of the photograph

The next stop was at Roe and Co, the Irish brand owned by Diageo. For the French market, three expressions will be available, the Blended Irish whiskey, which was nicely round, malty, smooth, and with a pleasant rather fruity and bold side. Balanced and enjoyable. The Solera Single Malt Edition 1 was a rather rich, fruity, spicy, rather intense and moderately oaky single malt, distilled at the Roe & Co distillery built in the old electric station from the Guinness brewery in Dublin. The Solera system they use is rather unique, as they start the initial in ex-bourbon cask, heavily charred virgin oak, chestnut and then sherry casks. The chestnuts gives a nice nutty side to the whisky and works well with the dried fruits from the sherry. Finally, the Flor 14 Single Grain is a lovely round and bold grain whisky, with a surprisingly heavy body, but also nice sweet juicy and flavours, including some peach and apricots.

The selection of Roe & Co Irish whiskies

Moving to another Irish stand, I tasted the new Redbreast 18, a lovely expression of that distillery, with nice rich dried fruits, treacle, toffee and orange peel flavours, which are nicely balanced with the fruity distillate. The 18 YO is made to fill the gap in terms of prices between the 15 and 21 YO. Talking to the master blenders (the new one and the retiring one), the Irish distillers portfolio consists now from other 50 expressions (between Jameson, Redbreast, Green Spot, etc). One brand that I enjoy very much is the method and madness, which is produced at the small scale distillery mainly for experimental purposes. They are maintaining a small production from that range, and some might be released here and then, but one cannot exclude this brand to phase out.

The new Redbreast 18 YO

I tried a new Japanese single malt, called Ontake, a distillery located on the south of the mainland (Honshu), with was very smooth, with nice juicy oranges, some tropical fruits, nuts paste and cocoa. Nicely fruity and remarkable complex, but rather pricey (329 euros) for a whisky distilled in 2009.

The Ontake single malt

At Ichiro’s Malt, I tasted the Ichiro’s Malt Double distilleries, which is made with a rather fair proportion from the remaining Hanyu stocks vatted with Chichibu single malts. This malt whisky is nicely complex, rich, fruity, slightly smoky, with nice grassy flavours and ripe fruits. The Chichibu On They Way floor malted is a nice grassy and creamy Chichibu, with some aromatic peat, some aromatic herbs and various fruity and winey flavours. The Paris Edition 2024 had a similar profile, although slightly more spicy and aromatic. Two products of high quality.

Two of the Chichibu I tasted

Fuji Gotemba made its first participation to the Whisky Live, with 3 expressions, a single blended whisky, made with a grain and malt whisky distilled at the same distillery. It is a nice smooth, grainy and malty whisky, with light notes of porridge, cinnamon and vanilla, which is very fairly priced and popular in Japan. The single grain is nicely round, on porridge, nice creamy flavours and cooked cereal, while the single malt share also aromas of porridge, but with more oaky flavours and spices. It remains a very smooth whisky, with the cereals flavours rather present.

The Fuji range

It was time to go back to Scotland with Murrray McDavid (MMD), who is now expended its range with new entry levels whiskies at very good value. I stayed however with the Mission range, starting with a 15 YO salty and very round Inchgower, slightly grassy, some orange, tangerine, vanilla and sea brine. It was finished in Pacherenc wine cask, giving a nice sweetness to the whole. Over the years, the “finish” at MMD move from a handful of months to periods of 3 to 5 years, thus more a second maturation than a finish. It was followed by a 32 Braes of Glenlivet matured in ex – Margaux wine cask, giving a mixture of grapes, red fruits, cocoa, nice grassy, slightly floral and aromatic whisky. The wine influence is well present, while the character of the distillery has been maintained. Very good. I

Some of the Murray McDavid range

then spent quite some time at the Benriach/Glendronach/Glenglassaugh stand. A quick tour revealed the same expressions of Benriach as last year, although these might be from the new batch or release. Glendronach has repackaged its whole range, to appeal to a younger public, while retaining the same proportion of PX vs oloroso in their 12, 15 and 18 YO single malts. I haven’t tasted recently these whiskies, so I cannot compare if other changes, such as the composition of 1st fill or refill casks has changed. The master blender Rachel Barrie was there, but unfortunately, some persons monopolized her for a long time, thus I could not get a confirmation on that, as the 12 YO was rather spicy and oaky, more than I could remember. The 15 YO was more mellow, less spicy, but also more complex, with lots of berries and some cocoa. The 18 YO was more on dark chocolate, tannins (leather), drier than the 15 YO, and slightly more complex. Two rather different whiskies, that I enjoyed both very much.
I tasted the core range of Glenglassaugh last year, but I could taste two rather young single cask from their Rare Cask Release. They have put this collection on hold temporarily to focus on their new range, and once it has been established and stocks sufficient, we might see them again. The 2009 Cask was rather chewy, round, on fudge, dried fruits and orange, as well as on berries, while the 2021 was also grassy, lighter and with a nice mild aromatic peat smoke.

The new packaging of Glendronach

The Orcadian malt Scapa range has been recently changed, with a 10, 16 and 21 YO. The 21 YO will be released on October 10th, and it will be filled at cask strength (50.5%). The 10 YO was a rather clean, malty and oaky whisky, on sea brine and a fair amount of oak spices, while the 16 YO was more mellow, with some light exotic fruits and honey. Finally, the 21 YO was surprisingly light and fresh, subtle, slightly salty, with a fair dash of fresh exotic fruits, honey and vanilla. I enjoyed its balance very much.

The new Scapa expressions

Switzerland, or more precisely, Graubünden made its first appearance at the Whisky Live, with Orma, a swiss distillery located at over 2800 m above sea level, on top of the mountain called Corvatsch, which is one of the skiing domain from St-Moritz, where the hotel Wadlhaus am See and the swiss whisky retailer worldofwhisky.ch is located. Claudio Bernasconi is one of the pioneer in Switzerland with sales of whisky and over the years, he established good connection with the whisky industry. Thus, for the 25ht anniversary of his whisky shop, he managed to have a Royal Salute 25 YO Cask Strength made for him, which I will review soon. In addition to some excellent Speyside (Macallan) bottled for Signatory, I tasted there a Whitlaw, an extremely rich and chewy Orkney single malt, with lots of toffee, chocolate, orange and sultanas, without any off notes.


I tasted quite a few Orma when they were released several years ago, and I found most of them too much dominated by the wine casks used for the maturation or the finish. So, it was time to taste them again and to see that they have nicely progressed. The X (ten) is a 10 YO swiss single malt matured in ex-Pinot noir butts with a finish in a 40 YO maple syrup cask. The use of large wines casks allows for a more subtle influence from the wine, to prevent dominating over the distillate and the maple cask brings cocoa, toffee and surprising nutty flavours of chestnut and pecan nuts, with a lovely round mouthfeel. A nice surprise. Original and well-made. The In Lain is finished in Swiss stone pine wood. Stone pine wood typically grows in the Swiss alp at rather high altitude with a very slow growth and often used for furniture in these regions or as planks for Chalet. Due to its slow grow, it has lots of knots and its influence on the whisky is clearly noticeable, with sappy tree flavours, some warm nutty flavours and treacle. I like this profile very much, as it works very well with the smooth and elegant distillate.

The Swiss Orma single malts for tasting at the show

After writing about maple syrup, it was time to taste a Canadian whisky, the Smaller Hero from Wiser under the Ex Libris range. The whisky was mellow, complex, well balanced, with aromas from various cereals, some vanilla, maple syrup, oak spice and starch. My oldest Canadian whisky so far and a good one.

The Canadian Hero

In the Artist range, they have several expression of Glen Rothes and Benromach. As the event was getting towards its end, I focused on Benromach, with a slightly peated 19 YO, light and fresh, with little influence from the cask, with maybe a touch of sweetness coming from the sherry cask. The 20 YO was a rather peated expression, with a lovely aromatic peat smoke, spices, some pepper and rather oily flavours. Very nice.

From Skye, Torabhaig has released its Legacy Chapter 3 Cnoc Na Moine. Compared to the previous edition I tasted, the strength has been reduced to 46%. This is a vatting of ex-bourbon, PX and oloroso sherry cask resulting in a light, salty, medicinal whisky, with a round and sweet light and slightly medicinal peat smoke. Rather young and light to my liking.

Lagg is the sister distillery of Arran, on the island of the same name. The rang is composed of two products, the Kilmochy edition matured in ex-bourbon cask. The whisky smooth, was on aromatic peat smoke, some sea brine and green malty flavours. Rather young and bold. The Corriecravie edition is the same as the previous one, with a finish in sherry cask and bottled at a higher strength. The sherry and the higher strength gives more complexity and depth to this whisky, with rich, sweet and chewy flavours of berries, leather and sultanas. With this whisky, it was time to go to the hotel to drop my luggage and to get my first proper meal of the day.

The Lagg from the Isle of Arran sister distillery

End of Day 1

Day 2 Monday was reserved for the trade and press. The difference was clearly noticeable as the first stand where I stopped, the House of Suntory, where the core range was replaced by some casks samples from the Hibiki component, such as very good Yamazaki Mizunara, with round flavours of tree sap, orange, tangerines and soft spices. The Suntory Tsukuriwake range is composed of 4 single malts from Yamazaki and Hakushu and the two non-aged statements, the Yamazaki Golden Promise and Islay peated could be tasted. The Golden promise was very malty, bold, slightly creamy and rather oaky, with oak spice, some grist and nice sunbathed barley flavours. Suntory is normally using Japanese peat for their peated expression, but this time, they used malt coming from Islay (Port Ellen maltings or Bowmore distillery?), giving a maritime twist to the whisky, with a lovely maritime peat smoke, some roasted bread and a touch of seaweed. These two whiskies are based mainly on components aged of around 11 years.

The Suntory whiskies available for tasting on Monday.

At Ardbeg, I was unsuccessful in tasting the new Anthology 14 YO the day before, so I was keen on trying that one. After asking, I was kindly proposed a different tasting, starting with the new Traigh Bhan 19 YO, an excellent expression of Ardbeg, with a lovely elegant and subtle peat smoke, seaweeds, some disinfectant and dried fruits. The finish was rather long, elegant and peated, reminding me of the old style of Ardbeg. The new Anthology 14 YO is a vatting of ex-bourbon and ex-madeira casks. The whisky was heavier than the 19 YO, with round winey flavours of Madeira, grapes, cherries and dried fruits. To conclude the tasting at Ardbeg, I was offered the 25 YO, a mellow and mildly peated whisky, rather smooth, slightly medicinal and mineral. Good, but I personally enjoyed the 19 YO better.

The Traigh Bhan 19 YO, a very enjoyable expression of Ardbeg

At Bowmore, they had the new Bowmore Sherry Oak casks, with a rather misleading name, as I thought they were fully matured in ex- sherry oak casks. They are instead the same as the core range, but with an extra finish in sherry casks, the 12 and 15 in ex-oloroso casks and the 18 YO, with a mixture of ex-PX and Oloroso casks. The 12 YO was rather spicy, oaky, with a certain softness, probably due its reduction to 40%. The 15 YO was more complex, mellow, intense, on cocoa, dried fruits, toffee and balanced. The 18 YO was even more complex, but with more dark chocolate, leather and red fruits. Two different profiled for two good products. The 21 YO was at above 50%, but rather bitter, on dark fruits, tannins and liquorice. I haven’t enjoyed it much.

In the VIP area, I moved to the Douglas Laing stand to taste an excellent Springbank 1992 XOP, with waxy-oily flavours mixed with lovely slightly sour fruity flavours, a touch of smoke, aromatic herbs and tree sap, as well as sea brine.

An excellent Springbank from Douglas Laing in their XOP range

At Elixir distillers, I could taste another excellent whisky, a Laphroaig single cask 27 YO Director’s Special from their Single Malts of Scotland range, with a complex, intense, smoky, peaty and maritime flavours, as well as seaweeds. The finish was long and complex, with a mild to moderate complex and subtle peat smoke.

A very nice Laphroaig at Elixir distillers

It was then time to go to my tasting at the Diageo Old and Rare stand, where we started with a rather light, sweet, mildly spicy Mortlach 20 YO, with soft spices, orange, some tangerine and sultanas. It was followed by a very fruity Benrinnes from the Special Release 2024, matured in different cask types. The whisky was rather light, with a light fruitiness, some grape sugar, grapes, light orchards fruits, some vanilla and yellow fruits. A positive surprise. The Talisker had a long mild peat smoke, some sea spray, light mellow fruity flavours and a touch of pepper. Very nice. We also had the Glenkinchie 27 YO from the Special Releases 2023, that I tasted previously. To close the tasting, we had a few drops of the Singleton of Dufftown 1966 54 YO, a whisky with a lovely complex nose, lots of dark fruits, dark chocolate, cocoa, some old peat smoke and high grade leather. On the palate, the old style of Dufftown was immediately apparent, with lovely dark fruits, before the tannins, including some bitter tannins and liquorice appeared. Too tannic to my liking.

The Singleton of Dufftown 1966 54 Years Old at Diageo Old & Rare

Next to it, was Gordon & Macphail’s, with an impressive selection of whiskies. I was very happy to taste the Ardmore 1985 from their Private Collection as Ardmore is a whisky that I enjoy very much. This expression had a nice mild aromatic peat smoke, with aromatic and some austere flavours, including some pine wood, which can make this whisky challenging, but a whisky that I enjoyed very much, as it was very complex and you could keep in the mouth for minutes trying to identify the layers of flavours. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I move then to the MacPhails 30 and 50 YO, which are two single malts from the Speyside from an undisclosed distillery. The 30 YO was rich, slightly floral, with sweet and fruity sherry flavours, on orange, cinnamon, various soft spices and underlying floral flavours giving a nice freshness to the whisky. Very good. The 50 YO was slightly drier, more on leather, dark chocolate and light rooty flavours, while keeping a similar fruits, spicy and floral profile. The Tamdhu 1989 Connoisseur’s choice was a nicely floral whisky, slightly spicy and with some slightly acetic and aromatic flavours.

Two undisclosed Speyside single malts from Gordon & MacPhail

Next to Gordon & Macphail’s (G&M) was the Cairn. The Cairn is the distillery recently built by GM in Granton on Spey, that I had the pleasure to visit last year. I started with the oldest whisky I ever tried, with the CRN57° (the latitude of the distillery) 70 YO, a blend of a Speyside and a highland malt. The whisky was surprising rich and fresh on the nose, with round fruity flavours of orange peel, sultanas, figs, some tree sap and various spices. On the palate, the tree sap flavours are well present, together with the round fruity flavours, some aromatic herbs, cinnamon, some nuts and cloves. The age is showing off with the sappy flavours, but without the dry or bitter tannic flavours that I was expecting. The CRN57° 57 YO was much darker, with a similar flavour profile on the nose to the 70 YO, with also sappy flavours on the palate, but also with some high grade rubber, roots and dark tannins. A good one, but I preferred the 70 YO. While stocks of the Cairn are building up, they have an age statement range from 12 to 30 YO blended malts. The 25 was a lovely, rich, intense, spicy malt, rather floral, on orange, sultanas, some cinnamon, nutmeg and cocoa. Very good. The 30 YO was slightly bitterer and more tannic, with some light rubbery flavours, slightly less to my taste than the 25 YO.

The two oldest whiskies I tasted during the show, a 57 and 70 years old blended malt from the Cairn

Later, at G&M, I could taste a delicious, mellow, smooth and fruity Glenburgie 1965, a slightly tannic and bitter Glen Grant 1958 from the George Collection and of my favourite of the show, a 1991 Caol Ila Private Collection, with a nice complex peat smoke, nice maritime flavours, some phenols, light medicinal flavours and a rich thick sherry on fudge, chocolate, dates, figs and dark berries. Impressive. Kudos to the Gordon & MacPhail for giving the opportunity to whisky fans to taste such old whiskies and for such a friendly staff!

I moved then to The Spirit Shop Selection to taste a nice citrusy, round, moderately waxy and rather fruity Clynelish 1997 (very good) followed by two sister casks of 1965 blended malts, which were rather too tannic and bitter to my liking, with a heavy dry style of sherry that should appeal to sherry freaks.

Most of the Spirits shop selection

At one of La Maison du Whisky (LMDW) stand, I tasted an excellent Penderyn 20 YO, with lovely custard flavours, light exotic fruits and a most enjoyable creamy and bold mouthfeel, including some ripe yellow fruits. The Hellyer’s Road 21 YO was rather oaky, spicy, with some vanilla and light oily flavours. The wood started to show off. They had several Chichibu single casks, and I opted first for the peated cask, a nice rich oily and moderately spicy Chichibu, with a light aromatic peat smoke. The peated malt was drier, with a more intense and dry peat smoke, some aromatic herbs and a nice balanced. Less subtle than the peated cask, but also lighter with a more complex peat smoke.

At Berry Bros & Rudd, the Daftmill summer batch 2011 was a very malty, rather creamy Daftmill, with gooseberries, yellow fruits and some exotic fruits. Very good. Then I tasted two Caol Ila BBR from 2010, a lovely rich and sweet oloroso, with lots of dark berries and dried fruits, cocoa, fudge and leather. The PX version shared a similar style of thick and chewy sherry, but more on dark chocolate, leather, dark chocolate and old leather. It is not often than you can taste such thick sherry whiskies, when the sherry gives a lot of depth and structure, without dominating too much the distillate.

Two Caol Ila from Berry Bros & Rudd from two different type of casks and a nice Tasmanian whisky from Lark distillery

At Rest and Be, I tasted my first single malt distilled at the InchDairnie distillery in Fife, Scotland. For the unpeated production, the brand is called Finglassie. The whisky was light and smooth, very fresh, with a light peatiness and surprisingly fresh and rather strong green pineapples flavours on the finish with a dash of pepper. The peat is coming from ex-peated casks used in the vat and the pineapple freshness from the ex-Jamaican Rum. Then I tasted an elegant Port Charlotte 15 YO, with a clean distillate, with little cask influence from the bourbon cask, so the elegant maritime peat smoke could shine. The 19 YO was rounder, sweeter, mellower, with some dried and fresh fruits, mainly sultanas, orange and some berries, with a mellow peat smoke. Very nice. With time, the peatiness in the Port Charlotte declines, but the peat smoke becomes also more elegant.

Two Port Charlotte from Rest & Be

For the 20th anniversary of the Whisky Live, a 20 YO Bunnahahbain from Signatory vintage was produced, with a thick, very heavy, rather bitter and tannic with a fair load of burnt matches and rubber. A whisky for sherry freaks only.

It was time to taste again some French whiskies and I tasted most of the Elsass whisky range from Lehmann, starting with a light, smooth, rather young and slightly peated Rendez-vous, before moving to a clean and very malty Origine, with some sugary winey flavours and vanilla custard. The Gold has the same base as the Origine, but with some maturation in ex-Sauternes casks, giving more body and complexity to the whisky. Pretty good. Finally, I tasted the Premium, bottled at a higher strength and matured exclusively in Sauternes casks, if I remembered correctly.

The Elsass whiskies from Lehmann

I tasted also Galaad single malt, with the Origine with a well-made, round and malty whisky, and the Chef edition, which had more complexity and spices.

My next stop was at Drumshanbo, an Irish distillery established over 10 years ago. Their Single Pot Still is approximately 7 to 8 years old, with a nice bold malty body, as you would expect from a pot still, with a good intensity, spices and ripe orchards fruits. Very nice. Moving to the their single, there is a sharp contrast, with a sharper whisky, lighter, but also slightly smoother, slightly oaky, with more vanilla and creamy flavours. A very nice clean, fresh and well-made single malt.

The Drumshanbo single malt and pot still

Back to the VIP area, I tasted a nicely grassy, complex Tormore 33 YO from Signatory with light round floral and orchards flavours, which was bottled from a previous Whisky Live, as well as a very nice green, fresh, grassy and fruity 23 YO Allt-a-bhaine from Signatory too.

At the Nectar, the excellent Bowmore 20 YO from last year was available, as for the 29 YO Isle of Jury. Thus I decided to taste their new Miltonduff, an extremely well balanced whisky, very round, rather grassy, with some ripe yellow fruits and some spices. Very enjoybale. I was then offered to taste their Jamaican Rhum, a Clarendon from 1984 and a 1983 Hampden. The Clarendon was an excellent Rhum, with lots of esters, on pineapples, some cane sugar and a very nice freshness, without any bitterness or dryness that you could expect from such an aged product. This tour de force was also present in the Hampden, with some initial “pneumatic” flavours (air blowing out from a tyre), green pineapples, some sap, with a lingering slightly acidic fruity flavours (slightly green pineapples). Really impressive. I kept thinking about this Hampden all the way back home, as it is very complex, with elusive flavours.

The single malts at the stand of the Belgium from The Nectar

Time was running, so I went for a walk outside, but since the queue at the Burger stand was so long, I went to Glen Scotia to taste the 25 YO, that I heard a lot about it, without being able to taste it. The whisky was mellow, nicely oily, with some mineral oil, but also with ripe Mirabelle, round fruity flavours (mixture of mango and cooked orchards fruits), as well as some marzipan. Very nice.

At Boann, I tasted the Single Pot Still PX cask, which was pretty good. It had a nice body and seemed rather young, with the PX rather heavy and tending to take over the distillate. I will need to taste an ex-bourbon version next time.

I had a very good time at Kyrö, a Finnish distillery. They are producing only malted rye, as rye is a cereal often used in Finland. Using malted rye instead of unmalted rye (as typically done in the USA), the flavours are getting slightly less spicy, but provides also additional flavours. They also proceed with a very long fermentation. The Kyro malt was round, well structure, with nice round rye flavours, some cinnamon, vanilla and some tree sap. Well balanced, rather intense, without any harshness. The Oloroso version gave sweet fruity flavours of dried fruits, mainly red berries, making it more gentle. The woodsmoke is made with rye dried with wood used typically used in Finland for smoking salmon and gives an unique nutty flavours to the whisky, with some tree sap and woodland flavours. The Peat smoke was another different whisky, with a nice subtle aromatic peat smoke, and the whisky seemed lighter in body, with the peat working together with the rye. Rye whiskies tend to be spicy and slightly bitter, as ex-bourbon casks tend to work in synergy with the spicy side of the rye. So, by using other types of casks, you can smoothen the spicy spice to have more complex flavours. Finally, I tasted the Sauna version, a limited edition finished in ex-Rum casks, with the rum giving an interesting sweet -sugary influence to the whisky, making this rye whisky accessible to a wide range of customers. I was asked at the end, which one did I like the best and it was a very challenging question, as all these whiskies had a rather different flavour profile. I would recommend to taste first the Kyrö Malt and then the Kyrö Woodsmoke to get an impression of the flavour range, and then to continue with the other expressions.

The selection of Kyrö Malt available for tasting

My final whisky was the Tsunuki 2023 edition, the lesser known distillery of the Mars distillery group. The whisky was fresh, light, fruity, with nice light fresh floral flavours, including some jasmines flowers and some elderberries flowers. With that, it was time to leave the event to take my train home.

It was a great event and I enjoyed both days very much, with the Monday being the most crowded day. I am not sure if the exhibitors made special efforts this year as it was the 20th edition or a consequence of the slowdown in the market, but my impression is that the choice of premium or super premium whiskies was particularly high this year. In addition, I found the exhibitor more open and friendly than previously. One aspect that I love at the Paris whisky show is the range of brands and types of whiskies that you can taste and since you don’t have to pay per glass, you can taste as many whiskies as you can (with moderation) and thus making your own opinion of the whiskies for their intrinsic qualities. I also enjoyed very much the atmosphere and space available, as it was very easy to move between the stands. The organisation was flawless, with staff running all the time bringing water and emptying the spit toons. And congratulations to the Whisky Live Paris. Twenty years is a long time and this events is getting more international recognition as before. I was surprised to see the number of visitors coming from Asia, UK and other European countries (e.g., Poland) and North America. Since my fist participation to the whisky live almost 20 years ago, the event changed of location several times, the number of references kept increasing and moved from a whisky to a distilled spirits event. Let’s see how it will develop but I hope this show will continue for many years. The number of reference I tasted over 2 days is pretty high, but I could not event taste all the new products or visit all the stands. So, it is definitely worth taking a ticket for the whole week end if you can.