La Guilde du Chardon × Benjamin Kuentz
You were there.
You voted, or you opened your sample bottle on 12 June at the same time as everyone else. You created this bottle.
The full composition
24 January, in full.
If you were in Paris that day, you will recognise yourself. If you were not there, this is what you missed and why we will do it again.
Six months and seventeen days.
7 July 2025: La Guilde opens without a single member. Autumn 2025: Hervé meets Benjamin Kuentz at Whisky Live Paris. He then writes to him to organise a small Christmas celebration for La Guilde, a gesture for the members, nothing more.
24 January 2026: twelve of us on rue de Bellechasse, spending a day nosing, debating, laughing and voting.
12 June 2026: two blends, thirty-one samples sent out, a live tasting, an almost unanimous verdict.
« I have something much better to suggest: what if you made your own whisky with me? »Benjamin Kuentz, autumn 2025
Thirty-two first names.
The label was designed by Gaëtan, the second member to join La Guilde, a professional graphic designer and unstoppable when a creative storm strikes. He did not answer a call for tenders; he raised his hand and was there.
The full composition.
Outside the club, we talk about the casks — Cognac followed by Chablis from Château de Béru — because they shape its character, because they are rare and because we are proud of them. We do not disclose the distilleries or the proportions. Here is what stays between us
| Style | French blended malt |
| Creator | Benjamin Kuentz, French whisky editor |
| Base | Two distillates from the Rozelieures distillery in Lorraine, blended with a Breton distillate |
| Supporting component | A supporting whisky that brings dried fruit, light smoke and vanilla |
| Maturation | Initially matured in an ex-Cognac cask, then finished in an ex-Chablis cask from Château de Béru |
| Strength | 45 % vol. |
| Age | NAS — no age statement. Matured for between 5 and 7 years. |
| Format | 70 cl bottle |
| Release size | 600 bottles, including 150 reserved for members |
Keep this to yourself
The names of the distilleries and the proportions of the blend do not appear anywhere on the public website — this is a choice, not an oversight. What you voted for belongs to you first.
The profile, as we recorded it.
Colour
Pale yellow, almost straw-coloured.
Nose
Mineral — flint, gunflint, earth, a hint of iodine, with light smoke providing structure.
Yellow and white fruits — roasted, buttery peach, apricot, poached plum, cherry, mirabelle plum, white flowers.
Rich and creamy — honey, honeyed muesli, a buttery, almost creamy character: a diacetyl marker, the hallmark of a high-quality Chablis.
Sweet spices — vanilla, cardamom, light cinnamon, liquorice.
Palate
A saline, rich opening, taut and balanced. Indulgent, complex and clearly defined: pear and white peach.
Finish
Long and persistent, driven by excellent aromatic depth.
Indicators
Light bitterness · light acidity · no to light astringency.
A first milestone, not a first attempt.
The goal has not changed: to become an independent bottler, then to establish a distillery. A distillery owned by its community. In July 2025, Hervé put that at least ten years away. A whisky was released in six months.
N°2 from the tasting on 12 June is not dead. The chosen direction: longer maturation, bottling at a higher strength, for a future cuvée. Nothing is set in stone, we will discuss it together again, as always.
Those who join us today will never be mere spectators.Hervé Chevalley
Your price is waiting for you.
150 bottles have been set aside for members, out of the cuvée’s 600.
Pre-orders are not open yet: the Guild is in the process of incorporating as a company, and sales will not begin until that is complete. Alcohol and the law are no laughing matter.
You do not need to do anything. You will be notified directly, before the public announcement.
What you want to know.
Why are pre-orders not open?
La Guilde will be incorporated as a company on 25 August 2026. From then on, it will be possible to complete the process for obtaining authorisation to sell alcohol. Taking payments before the structure is in place and without authorisation would have accounting, tax and legal consequences that we would rather avoid. A few weeks’ wait so we can start on a sound footing.
How will I be notified?
Directly, through the Guild’s usual channels. Members come before the public announcement.
My first name is not on the label. Why?
The label captures the thirty-two members who were present during its creation, between the vote on 24 January and the tasting on 12 June. There were thirty-two of us that evening, and today there are thirty-six. If you joined later, the next cuvée is yours.
How many bottles can I buy?
As many as you like, within the bounds of common sense and fair sharing among all members.
And N°2?
Kept for a future cuvée, after longer maturation and bottling at a higher strength. We will discuss it again live.
Do I have to be 18?
Yes. Sales will be strictly restricted to persons aged 18 and over. Proof of age may be requested when ordering and on delivery.
One last word
We did it.
Soon, you will drink it.
Six months and seventeen days between a blank page and a whisky signed by Benjamin Kuentz. No one was expecting us. That was probably the advantage.
A good whisky is made for sharing.