Me Cassez Pas Les Noix

Nuts and cocoa in a navy strengthNavy StrengthGin bottled at 57% ABV or more. Royal Navy lore holds that at this strength, gunpowder soaked in gin would still ignite.GlossarySee Navy Strength gins gin: Me Cassez Pas Les Noix is not a subtle bottle, and it does not pretend to be. French Booze Project distils it near Limoges at 57.1% ABV in 50cl, and the recipe puts pistachio, cocoa bean and dandelion honey alongside juniper.

Woody · Spicy · Floral · Navy Strength

Navy strength is what makes the combination work. At this proof the alcohol carries oily, roasted aromatics that would disappear at 40%, which is why pistachio and cocoa read as distinct ingredients rather than as vague sweetness. The honey adds body without sugar, and juniper keeps the whole thing inside the category. The house works in small batchesSmall batchProduction in small quantities per distillation run, often in a small still. The term has no legal definition.Glossary with ingredients from its own region, and this is easily the boldest thing in its range.

The nose leads with pistachio and hazelnut over a layer of honey, warm and unmistakably nutty.

On the palate raw bitter cocoa bean arrives first, dry and dark rather than chocolatey, then the nuts return with the honey behind them, sweet in impression but not in sugar. Juniper sits underneath and gives the drink its spine, and it closes long, oily and warm, cocoa and pistachio fading slowly. Judges have liked it: silver at the London Spirits Competition and in Lyon in 2022, gold at the Frankfurt International Trophy the same year.

DilutionDilutionThe water added by melting ice. In the right amount it opens the aromas and softens the alcohol; too much flattens the drink.Glossary is not optional with a gin this concentrated. Cut it long, 3cl of gin against 12cl of tonic in a tall glass packed with ice, and leave the garnish off entirely, since citrus fights the cocoa. A better route is to treat it as a sipping gin: a small measure, neat or with a single large cube, at room temperature. It also makes a remarkable NegroniNegroniAn Italian cocktail of equal parts gin, sweet vermouth and red bitter (Campari), served over ice with orange peel. Born in Florence in 1919.Glossary, where the cocoa meets the bitterness of the aperitivo head on and the honey softens the join between the two.