New Era for GinGin lovers had a great summer. It was everywhere, in cocktail bars near beaches and in wine shops. In Portes-en-Ré, where bourgeois families, business owners, and politicians have their vacation homes, an entire shelf in the Les 2 Portes wine cellar was dedicated to a dozen bottles from around the world. At Venice airport, more than thirty brands were on display at the entrance to the duty-free shop. There's no doubt about it, gin is back in fashion.

This juniper-based spirit, invented by the Dutch in the 17th century under the name genever and then marketed in England, has enjoyed a resurgence of interest in recent years. “A new one is created every two days, we've lost count of the number of proposals we receive,” says Didier Ghorbanzadeh, an expert at the Maison du Whisky, who has selected around a hundred brands. Most are produced by small, independent craft distilleries. Why? “Because there's nothing simpler than making gin, based on a neutral alcohol that doesn't require any aging, to which juniper berries and other aromatics are added,” he adds. The trend has been accelerated by the Covid lockdown. Indeed, there is nothing simpler than preparing a refreshing gin and tonic at home. But there is no longer any question of drinking run-of-the-mill gin with a bitter taste mixed with sugar-laden soda. If gin is now high-end, the tonic must be worthy of it, like Hysope's, which is made in France and organic.

Gin : When terroirs come into play...

The market has become very competitive, and each manufacturer seeks to make its mark with attractive bottles. Two philosophies emerge. The first tends to emphasize the terroir where the ingredients are produced. These include praline in Lyon, seaweed in Brittany, cider apples in Normandy, and immortelle flowers endemic to the island of Oléron and Corsica. “These flowers retain their fragrance all year round; we capture it by harvesting them by hand from an organic market gardener,” explains Jérémy Lauihlé, Meilleur Ouvrier de France barman 2023, who works with the Melifera brand.

The second offers a journey to the four corners of the globe, such as Drumshanbo Gunpowder, with citrus fruits and Asian green tea. Seventy One gin is distinguished by the distillation, as with a perfume, of the finest part of each plant, which is left to rest in three different barrels for seventy-one nights before blending and adding a very rare cactus flower that blooms only once a year, “Queen of the Night.” Gin 44 Paradiso was custom-made by Emanuele Balestra, bartender at the Le Majestic in Cannes, who is also a botanist, for “La grande dame,” a cocktail made from mimosa, centifolia rose, and bitter orange, plants picked from his garden in Grasse. Imagination—and storytelling—know no bounds.

An article written by Romain Rosso, featured in issue 9 of OniriQ magazine.

Translated by Bethszabee Garner