CitadelleReserveGin70cl

Barrel-aging spirits is certainly nothing new. Unless you’re talking about gin. And if you happen to be talking to Alexandre Gabriel, he’ll passionately explain that barrel aging is what naturally happened to gin hundreds of years ago.

Nearly every gin sold on the market today is bottled immediately after distilling, but Citadelle Réserve Vintage sleeps for several months in small, seasoned French oak barrels before being bottled. While this is very unusual today, this painstaking and lengthy practice is reminiscent of how gin was stored and transported more than 100 years ago when glass (too fragile and expensive), plastic and stainless steel were not options. Gabriel’s experimentation began in 2008 when he put his Citadelle