The first version has a light and elegant aroma. The notes of juniper and lemon leave room for the woodiness of oak vats. On the palate it is a little sweet, followed by a slightly spicy flavor. The aged version gives greater emphasis to the floral notes of violet and iris and entrusts the spicy taste to the grains of paradise.

The idea for creating this gin was inspired by stories about French smugglers crossing the English Channel transporting the gin to England in oak barrels. This operation had been authorized in 1775 by a royal decree of Louis XVI. The inventor of Citadelle Gin, Alexandre Gabriel, thought of trying to make the flavor of what gin could be transported in this way. He also wanted to bring gin closer to the production of cognac, the distillate on which much of the production of the Cognac Pierre Ferrand distillery is based.

The first Citadelle Gin Reserve was born in 2008 from an idea of the master distiller Alexandre Gabriel. It was taken a small batch Citadelle classic and aged for six months in barrels 12-year-old oak with a strong smokiness a, then put on the market in a limited edition. The second, from 2009, is aged for 5 months with medium smoking to make the flavor finer. Only 8000 bottles were released, but they were a smash hit. From 2010 they also began to change the botanicals to better adapt the gin to aging. Since 2013 a production has started with the Solera aging technique, the same as balsamic or Madeira vinegar. It should be noted that the recipe changes every year: the list of botanicals we have made is in fact valid only for the 2008 and 2009 vintages.