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The expat ARTISAN GIN makers of Cognac 64 | The Good Life France
Janine Marsh meets expat gin makers distilling an award winning gin in the living room of a house in Cognac… “The gin and tonic has saved more Englishmen's lives, and minds, than all the doctors in the Empire…” So said Winston Churchill, and it has to be said, gin is generally thought of as an “English” drink. However, gin originated as a medicinal drink (yes really), distilled by monks and alchemists in the Netherlands and later in Europe including in Flanders, now northern France. Then it was called “genever”, an eau de vie made from juniper berries. But when William III of England banned imports of foreign alcohol, English distillers created ‘gin’, a cheaper version, which wreaked havoc on the working classes and earned it the nickname “mother’s ruin.” Eventually controls over production were brought in and the gin and tonic became a popular drink around the world. In France “le gin and tonic” has never been more popular than now, inspiring a legion of artisan distillers to create new, exciting gins. And in the heart of Cognac country, in the living room of his house, a distiller called Miko has been quietly creating his intoxicating and sensational Pink Pepper Gin… Miko, AKA “the man in the lab”, from Sydney, Australia looks every inch a mad scientist! He moved to Cognac from London where he’d been working, in 2011 and worked as a Cognac distiller. But his real passion was for gin. Inspired since he was a teen by his mum Nici who made fruit liqueurs from family recipes and dad Michel to understand the process and flavours of spirits, he’d long been experimenting but it was in Cognac that he had his Eureka moment. He developed a honey-led gin but felt it wasn’t quite there. Remembering a pink peppercorn tree in the family garden, he added some of the spicy pods to another 8 botanicals (herb and plant derivatives) in the mix – and a star was born. In 2014 Miko met Ian, an English expat who The Good Life France | 65
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