A Charentais alembic is built for grape brandy. Its shape, its slow pace and its swan neck were designed over centuries to make cognac, and running a gin through one is a decision about tempo rather than about equipment: the distillation takes longer and pulls more of the heavier aromatic material through. Distillerie du Grand Nez does exactly that, on twelve certified organic plants, then reduces with pure water at 43%.

Apple and pear are what the slow run is protecting. Orchard fruit is delicate and easily lost, and here both survive intact into the palate: crisp apple first, then a softer stewed pear behind it, and the difference between the two is legible rather than merged. Fresh citrus and candied orange work above them, one sharp and one sweeter without any sugar being added. Ginger is the lively element, a clean burn arriving early and lifting the whole attack. Allspice sits behind with its clove-and-cinnamon warmth, cardamom cooler alongside, and iris rhizome supplies the gentle woody floral note that shows on the nose before anything else. Organic wheat spirit forms the base, and juniper holds the dry line that keeps this a London Dry.

Fruit and spice in this proportion open more serving routes than usual. Neat is genuinely rewarding, and the producer suggests it beside dark chocolate, an aged cheese, or simply after a meal. Mixed, keep the tonic neutral so the pear survives, ice heavily, and garnish with a thin apple slice rather than citrus. Zero added sugar and zero artificial flavouring is easy to claim and harder to build a recipe around. Twelve certified plants and a still that takes its time explain most of what ends up in the glass. It ends fruity, spiced and precise.