Domain: Maison Benjamin Kuentz

Benjamin Kuentz describes himself as a “French whisky publisher”. The reality? What he does is very similar to what you might expect of a publisher: they decide which writers they wish to collaborate with, in order to create a coherent collection with a specific style. He works on the other side: he is inspired by the art of consumption, depending on mood, season and even time of day. Once an idea has been committed to the written word, he moves on to the recipe, and the assembly. The producer then goes back through the process, calling on French distilleries to select exactly the right distillate for him, which he matures for several years in bourbon barrels, Pedro Jimenez barrels, ex-cognac barrels, and so on.
Driven by a belief that France houses all the components necessary to make very good whiskies - we know how to distil, age and blend to an excellent standard - Benjamin Kuentz likes to dream about this question, “What if the French had invented whiskey?”. Today, his single malt range includes five permanent whiskies and several limited editions.