The Story of Sir Edmond

Sir Edmond is an affordable gin that will shatter all your preconceptions and make your taste buds dance with its irresistible vanilla flavour after the first sip. It is precisely infused with bourbon vanilla, which comes from the island of Reunion, where it is grown by local farmers without the aid of any fertilizers or pesticides.

The gin has a distinctive vanilla aroma with notes of citrus, spice and juniper that will take your breath away. The name of the gin comes from Edmond Albius, who pioneered the method of rapid pollination of vanilla flowers.

Edmond Albius (c. 1829 - 9 August 1880) was a horticulturist from Reunion. Albius was born into slavery and became an important figure in vanilla cultivation. At the age of 12, he invented a technique for pollinating vanilla orchids quickly and profitably. Albius' technique revolutionized vanilla cultivation and made it possible to profitably grow Vanilla planifolia outside its native habitat (Mexico to Brazil).

Albius's master, Mr. Beaumont, taught him the basics of botany, including how to fertilize flowers. In 1841, Albius invented a method to quickly pollinate a vanilla orchid using a thin stick or blade of grass and a simple thumb gesture. Using the stick or blade of grass, the hands lift the rostellum, the flap that separates the male anther from the female stigma, and then use the thumbs to smear the sticky pollen from the anther onto the stigma.

Albius's hand-pollination method is still used today, as almost all vanilla is pollinated by hand. After Albius's discovery, Reunion became for a time the world's largest supplier of vanilla. French colonists used Albius' technique in Madagascar to cultivate vanilla, and Madagascar remains the world's main vanilla producer.

Reunion Island, the vanilla capital of the world. So it makes sense to create a gin around one of the most precious flavours in the history of the world and a botanical plant - vanilla. In creating this truly distinctive gin, its creators were inspired by the world's finest haute cuisine chefs who use a variety of spices to work culinary magic.

The master distillers have gathered the finest ingredients, chosen with one goal in mind - to support the vanilla, which adds an unusual character to the spirit. Gin is created through a precise distillation process involving juniper, angelica root, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon. This spirit is then infused with bourbon vanilla for several weeks, resulting in a change in the taste of Sir Edmond gin.

The combination of six botanicals provides cocktail lovers and bartenders alike with an incomparable drinking experience that demands a fresh approach and fuels inspiration. As vanilla overcomes juniper's natural bitterness, mixologists are forced to rethink the possibilities of gin when creating new cocktails and reinventing classics.

Bourbon vanilla lends the gin an adventurous soul. Had it not been for Mr Edmond Albius, born on the island of Réunion, vanilla might never have become such a popular flavour in this gin.
Junipers are aromatic 'berries' that are not actual berries but fleshy cones with seeds. They come from Macedonia, which is a major world producer. The berries ripen in autumn when their green skin turns purple.
Angelica root likes cold and damp; it prefers to grow near water. It is native to Greenland. Originally, angelica root was cultivated for its nutritional and medicinal properties, but later became popular among gin makers.
Cardamom is a strong, fragrant spice that is produced from the small black seeds of plants in the Zingiberaceae family. Originally from India, cardamom is still grown in much of Asia, but the largest producer today is Guatemala.
Ginger is a spice known for its versatility. It was one of the first to be imported from the Orient to Europe. Sir Edmond uses one that is grown as far away as Nigeria.
Cinnamon was introduced to Egypt as early as 2000 BC, but until the Middle Ages the source of this sweet spice remained a mystery to Europeans. Cinnamon is essentially the inner bark of a tree. The cinnamon used in Sire Edmond comes from China.

Making gin requires patience. With six botanicals, balance is key. Sir Edmond's distillation and infusion process is time-consuming for a reason: the bottles must contain the best possible spirit.

Sir Edmond Gin is produced in Schiedam, the Netherlands, in one of the finest distilleries in the world: Herman Jansen. This family-run business started in 1777 and has been distilling spirits for almost 250 years.

The creation of bourbon vanilla-infused gin did not happen overnight. Before the first bottles of Sir Edmond rolled off the production line, countless combinations of ingredients were tested. The result of years of conversations with master distillers and sample production was finally the perfect recipe.

That's how long it takes to create the finest and most refined gin you can imagine, using only natural ingredients and high quality alcohol. To give you an idea: a "normal" gin can be made in 24 hours. What actually happens in those eight weeks? First, all the botanicals are distilled in two separate pot stills - except for the bourbon vanilla, because distilling the vanilla at a high temperature would destroy its flavour. Instead, it's infused in alcohol for six weeks. It's the cold infusion that ensures the release of more subtle and complex flavours. After mixing the two liquids, the mass is put to rest for a week to achieve perfect harmony.