Dreaming of the Mediterranean? This luxury gin gives you a taste of the French Riviera!

If you’re dreaming of holidays on the Med, we’ve got the next best thing: a multi-award-winning spirit from the French Riviera in an exquisite blue bottle. Crafted in the perfume capital of the world and inspired by luxury perfume brands like Dior and Chanel, Comte de Grasse 44°N Gin is the most stylish addition to Craft Gin Club’s Discovery Gin series yet!

What exactly is a Discovery Gin? In addition to the Gin of the Month boxes Craft Gin Club sends its members, its panel of experts selects a gin to satisfy spirits connoisseurs with a taste for adventure. This spring, we’re featuring Comte de Grasse 44°N Gin on our online shop to give our members a taste of the sun-dappled coast.

When Comte De Grasse Distillery founder Bhagath Reddy first set out to create a gin, his goal was to make one unlike any other: an ultra-premium product made with revolutionary distillation techniques and rare botanicals.

His quest took him to the jewel of the French Riviera: Grasse. Known as the perfume capital of the world, it captured Bhagath’s imagination.

He was fascinated by the heritage of the town. For centuries, it had been providing the perfume industry with unique botanicals and inspiring cutting-edge extraction and distillation techniques. Could these be used to make a luxury gin?

Synonymous with French perfumery since the 16th century, Grasse is still home to many of the botanical fields of major perfume houses, including Chanel and Dior.  

Ailsa Cargill of Comte De Grasse Distillery explains, “There are fields of rare and beautiful botanicals growing in and around Grasse, cultivated for the famous perfume houses that are a part of the town’s heritage. For example, Dior has jasmine growing here.”

It’s also a place of unparalleled expertise when it comes to perfumery, and Bhagath enlisted the know-how of Marie-Anne Contamin, a scientist, aromatician and innovator with extensive knowledge of botanicals and distillation techniques.

Leaning on her years of experience, she painstakingly put together the exquisite botanical blend of Comte de Grasse 44°N Gin – named after the latitude of Grasse and the percentage of alcohol in the final product. Distilled with high-tech methods like ultrasonic maceration, which were inspired by perfumery, from a blend of local botanicals, the gin gives drinkers a taste of the provenance and heritage of the region.

Marie-Anne says, “The citrus is reminiscent of the sunshine and Mediterranean climate, the flowers pay tribute to the fragrances of Grasse and the vibrant gardens overlooking the sea, and the herbaceous and woody notes of cade, alexander and samphire evoke the aromatic scrubland growing in the hills by the coast.”

Ailsa adds, “One of my favourite botanicals in the gin is the Centifolia Rose, which is also called ‘The Rose of May’ because it blooms for only three weeks a year. It’s very rare, and only flourishes in the Grasse region.”  

To do the exquisite liquid justice, it’s complemented by a breathtakingly beautiful bottle. Ailsa says, “The aim was to capture the Côte d'Azur in a bottle, so the glass is infused with blue. The bottom of the bottle is hand-moulded with a design that reminds you of the bottom of the sea, and the top is a golden colour to emulate the sunshine cascading down over the Mediterranean.”

The azure bottle promises to be the jewel of any connoisseur’s collection!

Ailsa says, “It’s an ultra-premium gin, so you can easily drink it neat, or just on ice – which releases more fragrances. If you do like the idea of a Comte de Grasse 44°N Gin & Tonic, add 50ml gin to 200ml Mediterranean tonic and ice. The flavours and the aromas of the liquid are so carefully calibrated you don’t need a garnish. It’s also amazing in classic gin cocktails, like Negronis, French 75s, Gimlets and Floradoras.”