Citadelle Dry Gin

Citadelle exists because of a loophole in Cognac law. Cognac may only be distilled between November and March, which left the stills at Maison Ferrand's Château de Bonbonnet idle half the year — so in the mid-1990s Alexandre Gabriel lobbied the Cognac authorities for permission to make gin in the off-season, and won. Citadelle launched in 1996 on a recipe reaching back to a 1775 Dunkirk distillery, the first gin made in a naked-flame copper pot still in France in generations, and it's become the country's definitive gin. Nineteen botanicals go in — juniper the estate now grows itself, plus violet root, coriander, almond, lemon and orange peel, angelica, cardamom, cassia, cinnamon, licorice, grains of paradise, cubeb, cumin, savory, star anise, nutmeg, fennel, and orris — added one at a time in a patented "progressive infusion," each for a different length of time to draw out its best, then distilled over open flame. Bottled at 44% ABV. The Gin Is In found violet, sweet orange, coriander, and floral brightness with deeper nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom on the nose, then fresh bright juniper turning crisp and bold, and a finish that sets it apart: bright, a touch sweet, strongly aromatic with cardamom, angelica, and baking spice melding into licorice and fennel. 88 Bamboo: bright, crisp lemon and juniper with white flowers and violets. Spice-forward, floral, and endlessly versatile — a French 75 gin above all, and a superb Martini or G&T.

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