A separate cucumber distillate, made from locally grown cucumbers, is the piece of this recipe that does the most work. Distillerie de Montreal keeps the rest of the list deliberately undisclosed, distils slowly in traditional Charente stills, and bottles at 40% ABV, letting juniper and that cucumber carry a gin built squarely on Quebec ingredients.

Distilling the cucumber on its own rather than macerating it with everything else is what preserves its particular quality: it arrives clean and crisp rather than vegetal, cool and watery in a way that reads as texture as much as flavour. Juniper sits alongside it, green and clear, and between the two of them they set a fresh and quite delicate tone. The floral and herbal notes fill in around that centre without ever pushing themselves forward, and the slow Charente distillation shows in how clean the whole thing stays, with no heaviness anywhere to be found. The palate is vibrant and pure, balanced rather than assertive, and it closes short, fresh and entirely clean.

Delicacy of this kind asks for a light hand. The producer suggests serving it chilled with only a hint of tonic, and that is the right instinct: a full measure of tonic will simply wash the cucumber out. Keep the glass cold, use only a modest amount of a plain tonic, and let the ratio favour the gin rather more than you normally would. A ribbon of cucumber suffices as garnish and needs nothing beside it. It also drinks well neat and thoroughly chilled, which is arguably the fairest test of a gin this restrained. A gin that names a single botanical and keeps the rest to itself is unusual, and the one named here proves sufficient. It ends fresh, floral and clean.