Prologue｜Where the Road Divides

Gin is a spirit carrying the aroma of botanicals, but there is no rule about how that aroma gets there.

The classical method puts every plant into the still at the same time and distils them together. Through distillation the aromas act on one another, and they rise inseparably bound.

The other method handles the plants apart. Those that cannot take heat give up their aroma another way, and everything is joined at the end. In recent craft gin this has become the norm, because the scent of delicate flowers and leaves survives when it is kept away from heat.

One note: none of the French producers here disclose the details of their base spirit. The question of the base is set aside in this piece.

I｜All at Once

Saumur, in the Loire Valley. Distillerie Combier, founded in 1834, is held to be where triple sec began.

The distillery holds ten copper stills. They were made by Egrot, in 1848 and 1901, and they are still working. The engineers who worked on the Eiffel Tower had a hand in the design of the still room. That was in 1876.

This house turned to London Dry gin in the 2010s, and it is said to have been the first such attempt in the Loire Valley. What came of it is MERIDOR London Dry Gin.

And this gin puts all eight botanicals into the still together. They are not separated. In recent craft gin the practice of distilling the flowers apart and blending them in afterwards has become the norm, but this house holds deliberately to the older simultaneous distillation.

Among the botanicals is lemon peel.

In 2025 the gin received Gold Outstanding (98/100) in the Contemporary Gin category at the International Wine & Spirit Competition.

II｜Separately, Then Together

The Cognac region. GENEROUS, made by Ôdevie, established around 2010, takes an entirely different road.

The still is a Charentais alambic — alambic charentais à repasse — the form this land has long used, working through two distillations.

This producer does not treat every plant alike. Basil and violet, which cannot take heat, are given vapour infusion: the aroma is drawn through steam. The robust plants are steeped and then distilled; the delicate ones are kept away from the heat. At the end the parts are assembled. It is closer to how perfume is made.

Neither the steeping times nor the temperatures are published.

GENEROUS Gin Azur is built on six botanicals: juniper berry, blood orange, bitter orange, elderflower, violet and basil. Flowers and leaves account for half.

GENEROUS Organic is built on a different six: juniper berry, citrus (lemon), mandarin, red pepper, combava and coriander. This organic bottling was named Best in France at The Gin Guide Awards in 2024.

GENEROUS Aromatic Craft Gin and GENEROUS Purple, from the same producer, stand on the same method.

III｜The Same House, a Different Answer

Combier, from the first chapter, has a second gin: PURE FOLIE Gin.

This house comes out of the triple sec of 1834 — which is to say, out of confectionery and sweet liqueur. That inheritance shows itself plainly here, in Loire strawberry, peppermint, cacao and warm spice.

It is nothing like MERIDOR with its London Dry skeleton. From one distillery, from the same 190 years, two different answers.

Epilogue｜What the Tools Decide

Distil everything at once and the aromas rise mingled into one another. Handle them apart and the delicate flowers and leaves are spared the heat. Neither is the better way. They are different ideas of design.

But an age runs alongside this difference.

A house that began in 1834 and still turns stills built in 1848 and 1901 keeps to the older method. A producer that began around 2010 has chosen the contemporary one.

How the plants are handled. In that choice, how much time a house has behind it shows itself plainly.