Citadelle Gin promises to take people to the South of France with its botanicals and distillation techniques. Citadelle is France’s original artisinal gin, and when Bars and Clubs chatted with Master Blender Alexandre Gabriel, his wonderfully French use of English was so descriptive and delightful we had to share in full.
- Bars and Clubs: Tell me about the process for creating Citadelle Gin and the idea to transport people to the South of France.
Alexandre Gabriel: When I launched Citadelle Gin back in 1996, there were no other artisanal French gins. As a matter of fact, there were no other artisanal gins that I could find. I grew up in the countryside of France in a region where food is a main talking point, where gastronomy and drinks are really important. I grew up on a farm where we ate what we grew, and where everybody had their own opinions about great food. That has left a big impression on me. When I created Citadelle Gin I really had this in mind.
- B&C: Can you talk me through some of the key botanicals and the flavours they bring to the gin?
AG: Gin is about the beauty of the juniper berries and that was a main focal point. I went on to find the best ones. I soon realized that controlling the quality of our own juniper berries was the best way to do. Growing up on a farm, it all made sense to me. So I worked with different botanists to find a way to grow our own juniper berries.
Today, we have 7 hectars of juniper berries surrounding the Château and we are growing towards our own independence in the supply of juniper berries. It allows us to really control our quality. It also allows us to distill the juniper berries shortly after they have been picked, which gives such a beautiful taste to the gin. We think of Citadelle like a great wine, like a great perfume, like a gastronomic product. The idea is to create balance and complexity. Think of Citadelle as being the heir of this country that I grew up in, France. Making a gin that is a beautiful gastronomic experience.
A great journalist Paul Paucult once said when tasting Citadelle, “Citadelle is what gin was meant to be”. That was what I had wanted to do all along and the fact that someone so skilful could see it was very humbling and satisfying.
Since Citadelle was launched, we have never stopped creating new gins and exploring the different possibilities of artisanal gin. From the revival of aged gin to the exploration of new botanicals and tastes like peppers and smoky juniper berries. Today we are about to inaugurate our new experimental and ecological distillery at our Château de Bonbonnet in the Southwest of France, that will allow us to create even more small batch experimentations.
- B&C: You say Citadelle is perfect for first-time gin drinkers, why is that?
AG: With Citadelle Original it’s all about the balance you will find in this gin. It is almost like a triangle. You have the beauty of the juniper berries that are fresh, delicious, refreshing, smooth, yet intense. This is complemented at the base of the triangle with beautiful citrus notes with a dominant of lemon that is very important for Citadelle, like almost a Citronade feel. And on the third side of the triangle, there are all the exotic botanicals – touches of pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon there, that are very subliminal and gives a beautiful intensity and beauty to the gin. That’s really the three sides of the triangle that define Citadelle and make it accessible for any first-time gin drinkers. .
- B&C: Why should bar owners look to have Citadelle on their shelves?
AG: Well, this is not for us to tell bar owners what they should choose! But one thing for sure, with Citadelle we want to offer the best gin, following our values in term of spirit making, sustainability and quality. Also, Citadelle offers a complete aromatic richness, very interesting in cocktails and thanks to our wide range: Citadelle Original, Ciatdelle Jardin d’été, Citadelle Réserve & Citadelle No Mistake Old Tom gin, bartenders can have fun creating amazing cocktails.
- B&C You’ve used a different distillation method for Citadelle, can you talk me through that new process and how that makes Citadelle different?
AG: What makes Citadelle Gin different is something I had in my mind since day one. How to make a gin that would be flavourful, with a beautiful intense taste, with a mouthful, refreshing and complex without the feeling of burning or aggressive. That was the goal. I tried many recipes. Remember when we used to use our own cognac stills to make Citadelle, at first we couldn’t so for 5 years the only thing we had to do was try to convince French administration to do so and also experiment and learn. I tried many different methods, and I couldn’t find one that suited us.
So, we invented our method, created our own distilling and infusion methods to make Citadelle. Excuse me to be a little bit technical, but it’s called progressive infusion. We realised it was quite unique, so we patented the formula. This is a method by which we respect the personality of each botanical, we don’t throw them in the maceration vat all together. We do it one after the other, and we let it sit for a while so each one has the perfect time of infusion before it’s being distilled. Some botanicals need a long time to infuse, some require shorter time, so this method respect all the different botanicals.
I don’t know if there is a signature that is French for the other gins, and I really think it should. There’s a great heritage in our country about food and drinks. I remember endless Sunday family lunches where everybody at the farm and extended family would eat and talk together. These lunches lasted for hours. Most discussions were about the quality of the food, the different dishes, how to make wine, how to distill (I learned the art of winemaking and distilling with my grandfather) and this is something that stayed with me and the heritage that inspired me for Citadelle.
- B&C: The bottle is very striking, what’s the inspiration behind that?
AG: Thank you very much for the compliment. It means a lot to us.
You know, what matters to me is the quality inside the bottle! I must say that until 5 years ago, I had no marketing department. At that time, I preferred to invest into Barrels rather than marketing. But Angélique, our Head of Marketing, convinced me and now her and her team are really doing great thing for Citadelle. The packaging was a real challenge, as it was our third trial. The two first trials were failures so when we launched the new pack in 2017, we were quite stressed but so happy now with the result .
For this packaging, we really wanted to emphasise our origin, being The GIN DE FRANCE. Also, the blue of the bottle represents the blue of our main botanical: the juniper berries, that we grow in front of our Château. Our bottle has also been inspirated by the old Antique French blue bottle.
- B&C: What’s your (or the) perfect serve for Citadelle?
AG: The perfect way to drink Citadelle Gin is in a Gin & Tonic with a lemon zest. Fill a glass with ice cubes, pour 5cl Citadelle Gin and 15cl tonic. Then express on top of it a lemon zest that will complement the citrus notes of Citadelle. You have yourself a very refreshing cocktail. In the southwest of France, we enjoy pairing our Citadelle Gin & tonic with fresh oysters from our region of Charente. The perfect French aperitif with the “ginto” as we say here!
The French have a very long love story with gin. I remember when I was 18, going out and we would be drinking gin & tonic. I’m only sorry for myself that we couldn’t find (at the time) better gins. But it is stuck in my mind. These are the gins that cost more the next morning when you wake up than when you buy them the day before hahaha! But it is really in our culture. So, I love a beautiful gin and tonic and when you do so the glass is important. It shouldn’t be in a tube but something that allows the aromatics to shine because gin is really about taste, the rich and refreshing feel on the palate and about the aromatics. The way we like to drink it is to use a great quality tonic. With a great gin you can’t use a low-grade tonic. And I love my gin tonic with the skin of a lemon, slightly express on top to get the oils and thrown in the glass. This is to me a beautiful gin & tonic. When it’s really cold and it’s winter and the fireplace is going, I also like to grate a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon in my gin tonic.
Here are my other favorite cocktails with Citadelle Gin, the Citadelle Gin Lemonade :
2 parts gin
1 part lemon
½ part honey
4 parts sparkling water
In a jug, pour 2 parts Citadelle Gin, 1 part lemon, 1/2 part of liquid honey and stir well until honey is completely dissolved.
Add lots of ice and fill the top with sparkling water.
You can add the garnish of your choice.
- B&C: The 50/50 Martini and oysters sound amazing. We have great oysters in Sydney, sounds like a perfect food-cocktail pairing bars could look to be serving in summer. Are there key parts to the Citadelle Gin that make this work?
The 50/50 martini cocktail is one that we recommend for our Citadelle Réserve. We launched Citadelle Réserve back in 2008 with the desire to revive aged gins. Before the arrival of concrete and stainless-steel vats, gin travelled in barrels by boat and aged in contact with the wood during sea crossings. Citadelle Réserve is aged for five months in acacia, mulberry, cherry, chestnut, and French oak barrels. At the end of this process, it is further matured in an egg-shaped oak barrel 2.45 meters high! The complexity created by the ageing is enhanced in a Dry Martini. I invite you to try it! The recipe of 50/50 Martini is really simple:
1 part Citadelle Réserve
1 part Dry Vermouth
1 Dash Orange bitters
1 Lemon twist
Stir all ingredients in mixing glass.
Strain into a chilled martini glass.
Add the lemon twist.
And voilà, santé!
