WHISKY LIVE Looking to capitalise on the potential of engaging directly with customers beyond the nascent technology of ‘email’, in 1995 Benitah hosted a tasting event for customers attended by some 1500 people. Fast-forward to 2004 when La Maison du Whisky took on the Whisky Magazine licence, and launched the rebranded Whisky Live Paris to staggering success. In 2023 close on 50 000 people attended this landmark spirits gathering, celebrating spirits and mixology in a dynamic event focused on growing the premium spirits category. “It’s not only an event, and it’s not only about tasting,” says Thierry. “It’s about creating more experiences. It’s about quality. Some people have been coming since 2004, but we also need to attract new customers to the category. Whenever we see an opportunity and we see there is value we want to meet this opportunity. It’s about product and people.” 13 THE NAVIGATOR | FEATURE A TREASURE TROVE OF KARUIZAWA Over 30 years in the business he has enjoyed countless encounters with rare and remarkable whiskies, but for Thierry one missed opportunity stands out. “I visited Karuizawa before it closed and it was amazing. There were so many single casks. Single casks everywhere in the cellar. For me, it was a kind of treasure.” In 2005 La Maison du Whisky began importing whisky from Karuizawa distillery, driven by belief rather than demand. “It was not selling, but we were sure it was going to be something big. So we took our allocation each year and little by little we started to grow our volumes of Karuizawa.” And then, an opportunity: 360 casks of old Karuizawa being put up for sale. While Thierry was negotiating a price to buy the entire stock, in February 2011 the tsunami and nuclear disaster at Fukushima temporarily collapsed global demand for Japanese whisky and saw the sale draw to a halt. “It was a disaster for Japanese whisky,” he recalls. “People thought that Japanese whisky was radioactive!” Nine months later the crisis was over, but an intermediary had snapped up the barrels. But after tasting more than 100 casks in the Chichibu distillery, Thierry was invited to purchase a portion of the stock. He finally walked away with a third of the original Karuizawa treasure trove. It’s a fantastic tale, but Karuizawa is also just indicative of the ethos behind La Maison du Whisky; of a passion to share the world’s most remarkable spirits with a global audience. “We take risks. We have a real passion for quality whisky, and this is what drives us,” says Thierry. “We push, we make it happen, to influence the market and grow the category. We are not shy. For us to buy amazing whisky, to select amazing whisky it’s never a risk, because the quality is there. We always bet on quality.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTg2Mzc2MQ==