Lemon, grapefruit and tangerine cover the three directions citrus can take: sour, bitter and sweet. Using all three at once is a way of building a whole aromatic layer out of one family, and it is what gives Apotek its juicy character without a single drop of anything added afterwards. The gin is made in the Liège region on 100% organic grain, at 40%.

The three fruits divide the work cleanly. Lemon peel is the sharpest and sits highest, cutting through everything above the palate. Grapefruit brings the bitterness, which is the element that stops the fruit from reading as sweet and gives the middle its slight grip. Tangerine is the round one, rounder and more perfumed than an orange, sweeter too, and it fills the space the other two leave open. Underneath them the structure is classic and unhurried: juniper firm and resinous, cardamom cool and camphorous, angelica root laying a dry earthiness at the bottom, and around a dozen botanicals in total holding the frame together. The attack is smooth and rounded, the middle full of ripe citrus, and the finish carries a gentle spice that lingers longer than the fruit does.

The house serve is specific and worth following: neutral tonic, a twist of grapefruit or lime, and fresh pepper from the mill over the top, which picks up the cardamom rather than the fruit. Neat over ice works too. A Ti' Ponch is the other suggestion on record, over crushed ice with cane sugar, half a lime and a basil leaf. Three citrus fruits instead of one is more expensive and more interesting. The distillery it is made with, founded in 1836, is the oldest in Belgium, and the organic grain is the other cost that does not show on the label. It ends citric, spiced and round.