A seventeenth-century fruit drink that once circulated at Parisian gatherings is an unlikely brief for a modern limited edition, but that is the reference Lesley Gracie worked from for Hendrick's Grand Cabaret. Stone fruit and sweet herbs form the core of it, laid over the rose petal and cucumber signature the house is known for, and bottled at 43.4% ABV. That strength is higher than the standard release, which gives the fruit somewhere solid to sit rather than letting it float.

Stone fruit arrives first, ripe and softly perfumed, closer to peach and apricot flesh than to anything sharp. Sweet herbs follow quickly and are what make the drink interesting: they turn what could have been a straightforwardly fruity gin into something with a green, faintly savoury edge. Rose petal contributes its familiar delicate floral lift, and cucumber runs underneath as the cool, watery freshness that has always defined the house style. The result is rich at the front and refreshing at the back, which is a difficult combination to arrange and the main argument for the bottle.

The producer's own recommendation is tonic with a slice of cucumber, and it is hard to improve on. The cucumber echoes the botanical directly and keeps the fruit from feeling heavy over the length of a tall glass. Use a neutral tonic, since a floral one would collide with the rose and leave the drink cluttered. If you would rather follow the fruit, a thin slice of peach works, though it pushes the balance sweeter and shortens the finish. Plenty of ice matters here, because the herbs read more clearly when the glass stays cold. It rewards a slow pour. It ends soft, floral and fruity, with the herbs and cucumber lingering coolly behind.