A few years ago, Philippe Gosmand, a whisky enthusiast for 30 years, founded Spirit Paradise, a young company specialising in spirits, primarily focused on collectible whiskies and limited editions. The company incorporated the ‘Rare & Collectors Whisky Club’ into its activities. Created in 2013, the club has around a hundred members and regularly organises tastings in Paris or the Paris region, and on request in other parts of France. In 2021, Spirit Paradise launched its first bottling from a single malt cask from the Texan distillery Balcones. At the end of 2022, the company released two more bottlings from selected casks at the Breton distillery Warenghem, known for its Armorik whisky. Then, Philippe selected a whisky from Maison Benjamin Kuentz stocks that we’re reviewing today: the Esprit Libre 2017 Spirit Paradise.
Esprit Libre 2017 Spirit Paradise (2024) Review
This Esprit Libre is a single cask selected in Maison Benjamin Kuentz stocks by Philippe Gosmand for Spirit Paradise. This whisky was distilled in November 2017 by a secret distillery in the Charente region (I’ll give you a clue: its name rhymes with what I just gave you), and bottled in July 2024, after 6 years of maturation in a Bordeaux Premier Grand Cru Classé wine cask. It might have been a split cask, as just sixty 500 ml bottles were filled, at 55% ABV, without chill filtration nor added colour. Priced €89, I‘’’m not sure if there are any left available, so you’ll have to contact Philippe directly.
Colour:
Between auburn and mahogany.
Nose:
Neat: The wine maturation is immediately noticeable, as the nose features vinous aromas, but closer to rancio – with old wood, walnut oil, nougat and musty undergrowth with mushrooms – than red berries.
With water: Grapes, hints of apples and pears, lilac and a bit more mustiness.
Palate:
Neat: On the first sip, the mouthfeel surprises you, as the tannins make this whisky a bit raspy and rough in terms of texture, and slightly astringent, but it does work. Dark chocolate meets underripe raspberries, pepper, wood spices, old oak, with some black coffee.
With water: Blood oranges dusted with a bit of icing sugar, then it becomes slightly fizzy. Blackcurrant and apple flavoured Oasis drink.
Finish:
Slightly more vinous on the finish, with blood oranges, grape juice, wood bitterness and spices, for a medium-long finish.
Comments:
When I first tried this whisky in September last year, two things positively surprised me: the distillery had not impressed me before, and the cask type used for maturation usually raised concerns for me. However, talking about it with Philippe standing right in front of me as he poured a small measure into my glass, I enjoyed it. I took a sample home to review later, and here we are, about eight months on. Once again, and without Philippe’s intimidating presence (just kidding!), the surprise remains positive, as this whisky is indeed very good. But as I mentioned earlier, Philippe has extensive experience with whisky and knows his subject well, so I would have expected nothing less.