New whiskey bar in Paris serves over 1000 whiskeys
France may be best known for its world class wine and Champagne, but a new whiskey bar in Paris is single-handedly challenging that reputation. Golden Promise, tucked beneath a restaurant in an underground vault, features over 1000 bottles of whiskey.
GOLDEN PROMISE
Located under La Maison du Saké in the city’s second arrondissement, the project was spearheaded by the restaurant’s founder Youlin Ly and retailer La Maison Du Whisky, who hired local firm jbmn architects to design the space. “The main challenge for this project was to create an independent bar within an existing restaurant,” Julien Boitard, co-founder of jbmn told Lonely Planet. “The concept we developed was inspired by the speakeasy, an old metallic and rusty door giving access to this hidden place where people can enjoy whiskies nowhere else to be found.”
Since the basement was already comprised of several small rooms, the designers created “a specific atmosphere in each room, related to a specific way to drink whiskey,” said Boitard. These include a bar serving over 200 types of whiskey and Japanese tapas (care of La Maison du Saké restaurant above), a lounge with some 800 rare whiskeys for sampling and sipping, and a “Salon Japonais,” featuring exclusively Japanese whiskeys. The bar offers a range of international whiskeys hailing from Scotland, Ireland, America, India, and Taiwan, among other locales.
Originally a cellar, Golden Promise’s stone walls and vaulted ceilings are now juxtaposed with sleek, minimalist furniture and back-lit bottles of whiskey neatly displayed on each wall, creating a truly unique haven under the streets of Paris.
As originally published in LONLEY PLANET February 8, 2017
