The Bar Les Passerelles is now the place to be in Paris for those who want to discover French whiskies. Those of Maison Benjamin Kuentz have naturally found their place on the shelves and counter of the establishment, which is run, among others, by Lilya Sekkal, who is inexhaustible on the subject and who shares with the young house the taste for beautiful stories, beyond a simple story of taste for whisky. A subtle blend of gentleness, determination and energy. That’s what Lilya Sekkal, visibly injured in the leg, inspires at first sight. She jumps towards us with a smile for a little hour of conversation stolen from her busy afternoon agenda. This young woman, originally from Nantes, who arrived in Paris in her early twenties, is at the helm of Les Passerelles, the leading bar for Made in France whiskies in terms of the number of references (120 to be exact at the last count). It is housed in the hotel Le Parister, a chic and confidential address nestled on rue Saulnier in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Lilya Sekkal, despite her young age, already has many years of experience with food products and spirits in particular. She started by working as a roaster in a delicatessen, then did her “alcohol” training at 35 Tours, a bar specializing in wine and beer before spending a year at La Conserverie. This establishment will have allowed him to truly acquire the art of mixology. But it was at the Golden Promise, the bar of La Maison du Whisky, that she finally made her mark with this spirit, among more than 1000 names, as head bartender. Lilya worked more particularly with the most contemporary whiskies, understand “the most peaty or earthy” curiously and exit the age counts. Passionate and knowledgeable, she likes to recall the magnificent complexity of whisky. What he is most enthusiastic about is that “with it, we have a real expressive richness thanks to an extremely wide aromatic palette. Behind each distillery, there is a story to tell. It is easy to see why she was attracted to the Maison Benjamin Kuentz’s proposal, which was also concerned with putting a narrative project at the heart of its approach. To this young expert of national whiskies, we ask the question of their “typicity” if we may borrow this term from the world of wine. As is often the case, it begins by saying what French whiskies are not. According to Lilya Sekkal, Scottish whiskies are characterized by a sweet, fatty, peaty taste, while Japanese whiskies are distinguished by their delicacy and this “well blended, melted” aspect. We also owe it to them to have decompressed the rest of the world in the face of the historical monopoly of the Scots and the Americans and to have thus opened the breach to the French. Their paw? Lilya says: “Without doubt, a great diversity in aging strategies. He added: “French whiskies show a definite taste for experimentation. Judging by the diversity of the players who make up the French landscape, one can only agree. Between the brandy producers who are launching themselves into whisky to give a new breath to their activity, the distilleries who really want to concentrate on this production and the brewers who come to test the ground, we have the embarrassment of the choice. It is difficult to place the Maison Benjamin Kuentz in this panorama. Lilya Sekkal is coming. “Benjamin’s whiskies are something else again. A new refiner driven by the desire to tell a slightly different story. He clearly wants to break the codes of traditional whisky, to escape the “technical” to be more emotional. And by the same token, to introduce this spirit to new consumer profiles”. This is very clear with (D’un) Verre Printanier, an ode to spring, to freshness, that Lilya Sekkal understands unambiguously as an initiation whisky. Fin de Partie, on the contrary, brings back cooked fruit and slightly vinous notes. More body, for sure. The Guip reminds the head bartender of a strong draft that would make the doors slam shut. Aux Particules Vines has just been delivered to him. First live tasting, Lilya lets herself be carried away: “We’re at the entrance of a winery or in the heart of the monsoon. It leaves a veil, an impression of peach skin in the mouth. It’s soft, almost powdery. Then she resumes, with the assurance that also characterizes her: “typically an aperitif whisky”. This is enough to intrigue its customers, who willingly let themselves be guided by curiosity. Perhaps, in the end, the main characteristic of French whiskies is that they are objects of curiosity that open up other stories, in addition to highlighting new taste notes. The Passerelles menu now includes half of its cocktails created from French whiskies. We can only encourage the curious, the discoverers, the adventurers of all kinds to cross the door of this unique establishment.
