Distillerie de Paris Gin Batch 1

A perfume from 1917 is the blueprint for this gin. François Coty's Chypre is one of the founding structures of modern perfumery, and La Distillerie de Paris took it as a starting point for its first batch, which also happened to be the first spirit distilled legally in Paris since 1914. Bottled at 43%, it reworks the London DryLondon DryA style, not a place of origin: every flavour comes from distilling natural botanicals. After distillation only water and a trace of sugar may be added, with no flavouring or colouring.GlossarySee London Dry gins idea along perfumers' lines.

Citrus · Spicy · Floral · Herbal

BergamotBergamotA bitter Calabrian citrus, the one that scents Earl Grey tea: floral and zesty.Glossary is where the perfume reference becomes obvious, since it sits at the top of a chypre and it sits at the top here too, sharp and floral and quite unlike any other citrus. Beneath it, fresh coriander rather than the dried seed changes the character entirely: the leaf is green, soapy and bright where the seed would have been warm and spicy, and it keeps the whole thing airy. Jasmine and lavender fill the heart, one heady and the other cooling, and they are the reason the aroma reads as constructed rather than assembled from the usual gin shelf. Oolong tea works at the base, semi-oxidised so it brings a gentle tannin and a note between green leaf and stone fruit, and that tannin gives the palate grip. Juniper holds its position throughout. The structure resists dilutionDilutionThe water added by melting ice. In the right amount it opens the aromas and softens the alcohol; too much flattens the drink.Glossary unusually well, which is the practical benefit of building in layers.

Tonic is not the obvious partner for something this floral, and it works only if you keep it plain and use less of it than habit dictates. The better route is a MartiniDry MartiniGin and a little dry vermouth, stirred over ice and served in a well-chilled stemmed glass, with an olive or a twist.Glossary, stirred very cold, where the jasmine and the bergamot have room. Garnish with a wide strip of bergamot or lemon peel and nothing else. Perfumers think in top, heart and base notes, and this recipe is laid out on exactly that plan. Very few gins are designed by such a logic rather than from a botanical shopping list. It ends floral, citric and long.