Quick Take: Luxury Hotel Parister’s bar offers over 100 French whiskies plus a beautiful terrace
You might be surprised to learn that not only is whisky the most popular spirit in France, but that the French also drink more per capita than any other country (2.2 litres per adult per year!) It’s not all Cognac and Champagne around here, folks. Not only are they consuming it, but they’re capitalizing on their age-old traditions of distillation and aging to produce it as well. And, the perfect place to get a taste it? Les Passerelles bar and restaurant.
The 5 star Hotel Parister opened late last year and received plenty of press for its luxury accommodations as well as for its beautiful restaurant and bar, les Passerelles. Inside, it’s all sophisticated and stylish with a modern and clean design. But it’s the peaceful terrace that has been providing Parisians with a bucolic cocktail-lic escape.
Xavier & Lilya moved from the cool Paris cocktail bar le Distrait and took up this project to create some pretty special with a focus on French whisky. With over 100 references, and a selection of flight suggestions you can work your way around the country without ever leaving your bar stool. They are also 2 of the 3 minds behind the site whisky-francais.com, whose goal is to promote expertise, highlight the richness of french terroir, and act as meeting point for the various actors in the whisky world. Earlier this year whisky-france organized some French whisky tastings at the bar, so hopefully we’ll see more of that in the future.
In addition to whisky, their cocktail menu features their own drinks plus classics. They are currently running their springtime menu with creative cocktails like the Sultan of Swing with its Kalamata infused gin, Japanese mirin, orange blossom water, simple syrup and citrus. Up to the usual tricks, I started with my standard. They delivered an excellent martini made with a gin from Brittany, St Maudez. These days it’s not often I get a martini made with something I’ve never tried, so bonus points there. I followed up with an old fashioned, thinking that would be a good way to appreciate one of the French whiskies. Indeed, it was a very nice way to enjoy a bourbon barrel aged whisky from the same Breton distillery, Glann Ar Mor. I also appreciate the nice touches like the classy coupes of almonds that accompany the drinks. All of this at 10 to 12 euros for a cocktail is a most excellent price given the lux surrounds and service.
In short: they are they ticking all the boxes with location, service and price/quality as well as taking a current tendency for a focus on French products and making it even more relevant with the whisky niche. Really, what’s not to like‽
Les Passerelles at Hotel Parister
19 rue Saulnier
75009 Paris
