Old is the new new - there is always that inherent reverence to time and things that transcend our own lifetime. Now, it's trendy to mix in a bit of the "old ways" into the craft of booze making, from modernising traditional recipes, to really walking the walk and practising the old ways of doing things. But, who could have ever proclaimed to go on an Indiana Jones-style investigation and adventure, uncovering long lost dust-covered relics?

Sébastien Jolivet, in a cellar 15m underground of the city centre of Clermont-Ferrand. Source: La Montagne

In a sense, that's what Sébastien Jolivet has undertaken: not only combing through the archives and rediscovering a brand lost to time, but reviving it from the ashes and clinching awards in the space! That is the story of Distillerie Génestine - a distillery bringing back old, traditional herbal liqueurs that has caught the world with storm as of late.

So what's the story?

It all starts with an Antonie Génestine, who was born in 1813. An amateur liqourist, in 1845, he founded the Distillerie Génestine in Clermont-Ferrand. While currently more well known for rugby and being the home of the Michelin tyre company headquarters for more than 100 years, Clermont-Ferrand was one of the oldest cities in France, known by the Greeks as "Arverni".

A sketch of the distillery.

More importantly (in this context) however was the Arverni chieftain Vercingetorix in 52 B.C. Vercingetorix established a Gallic alliance with other tribes and mounted a revolt against Julius Ceaser. 

Here's where this gets important for Distillerie Génestine. Shortly after establishing the distillery, Antonie passed on, and his wife Marguerite Agathe L'Heritier took over in 1849, the same year her son François was born. François would take over the distillery, and having a knack of marketing while being a great liqourist, managed to get the endorsement of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (the French sculptor who would later design the Statue of Liberty!) to use his sketch of Vercingerorix for his brand in 1886.

Little did he know, a few years down the road, that sketch of Vercingerorix was blueprints for the actual statue that now stands in Clermont-Ferrand, finished in 1903 and becoming the symbol of the city.

Distillerie Génestine's liqueurs really took off during the 1900 Paris Exposition (or also known as Exposition Universelle of 1900 / L'Exposition de Paris 1900), where the flagship products such as the quinquina (a style of aromatised wine with cinchona bark) became well received. The distillery had to upscale production, moving from the now named Avenue des États-Unis to 78 Rue Lamartine.

Unfortunately, post WWII Europe saw not much market for these traditional liqueurs, and under M. Gipoulon-Genestine's helm, the distillery was closed in 1980. Soon after, Distillerie Génestine was lost to the world for the next four decades.

That is, until the COVID pandemic rolled over.

Sébastien Jolivet was already well involved in the beverages scene. His father, Guy, was an ametuer liqourist who exposed to Sébastien the category. Second, Sébastien  has been selling wine and spirits to hotels, restaurants and caterers for over 20 years. However, when the pandemic prompted many restaurants and hotels to shut down, Sébastien had a period of deep introspection.

Sébastien with a vintage bottle of the long-lost distillery. Source: La Tribune

This lead him to discovery of an old and forgotten distillery, the Distillerie Génestine. As interest in this long-lost establishment grew, Sébastien launched a deep investigation. Consulting the National Archives of France, tracing descendants of the brand, and eventually, touring around Clermont-Ferrand asking old folks who still had memory of the brand. After immersing much time and effort into entering interest circles, gathering data and  investigating, Sébastien  was ready to revive the brand.

Distillerie Génestine debuted with five products.

In 2021, through Guy and Sébastien 's efforts, Distillerie Génestine rose from the ashes, sporting an almost identical label of its past self. The name of the flagship product was kept the same: the vermouth aperitif "Le Gaulois". Vercingerorix stays on the label, and more importantly, the making and cellaring of the liqueurs will be made right at the brand's roots, within Clermont-Ferrand.

The new Le Gaulois quinquina aperitif, right beside its predecessor.

The distillery has spared no effort making sure the products were made with utmost quality - with most of the botanicals being processed by hand and aged in a cellar with an ambient temperature of 16 degree C. Made with all natural ingredients and water from Auvergne, no dyes, preservatives and flavourings are used. And a testament to the craft, minimal filtration and sustainable sourcing from UNESCO-recognised regions are part of the creed as well.

Distillerie Génestine's liqueurs has reached Singapore, brought in by lifestyle retailer Coq and Malai. Let's get into it!

Maison Génestine Royal Menthe, 19.69% ABV - Review

As the name implies, this liqueur uses mint as its main ingredient - where mint has been touted as a digestif for centuries.

This liqueur won the Silver award in the World Spirit Awards 2024 Liqueur Category recently.

Nose: The mint fragrance here reminds me of mint candies. I think of Polo candies - there's a icing sugar with mint kind of hard candy aroma that floats to the top. In particular, I get the sweet, stevia-like aromas of spearmint, and there is no harsh vegetal herbaceous aromas you might expect from a mint based liqueur - just a delicate, sweet, and satisfying nose.

Taste: Just like the nose, the mintiness does not jump at you - rather, it takes its time to develop on the palate. The flavour profile still reminds me of white hard mint candies, but instead of the big, sugar-sweet profile of Polo mints, I instead get the chilly, icy mint blast from Altoids candies (I am indeed a bit of a mint candy connoisseur myself). You don't get the grassy flavours of chewing fresh mint here, but a delicate, plainly sweet refreshing mint profile - if you could imagine mint ice cream without any chocolate chips.

Finish: The finish here develops more textually. The texture reminds me of toothpaste - not so much like brushing your teeth, but the after-effects of that cooling sensation you get in the gums. The liqueur still maintains that white hard mint candy profile on the finish, though, the sweetness does taper off a bit more and there is a slight herbaceousness on the finish.

My Thoughts:

Delicious! I think folks should definitely give this a try. Don't let the mint scare you - over here, it's really delicate and more akin to taking a breath mint than a full concentrated dose of mint flavours. I particularly like how the mint flavours interact with the plain sugar sweetness of the liqueur - it is just enough to show some character, without over-saturating the palate with any form of complexity. If anything, I'll say this is simple done right. Fantastic stuff!

Maison Génestine Zeste Limoncello, 17.79% ABV - Review

Limoncello is a liqueur mainly made and found in Southern Italy, especially so in the Gulf of Naples, the Amalfi Coast and in Sicily. Made with lemon zest, it's often served as an after-dinner digestif. For Maison Génestine, the limoncello uses Sicilian lemons - and from their Instagram, they've hand-peeled 500kg worth of zest. Hand-peeled!

I could only imagine the lingering smell on their fingertips.

Nose: On the nose, I got a pleasant, freshly-made lemonade sort of aroma. I do get the zestiness of the lemons, but instead of that bright, fiery citrus oil fragrance, it's more mellowed down here - think of candied lemon peel candy. As you let the liqueur sit for a bit, you start to pick up more pith aromas, which reminds me of bit chunky pieces of grapefruit and bitter orange pith.

Taste: Initially, I didn't get much lemon - when the liqueur first hits your tongue, you get more white sugar syrup with a spirtz of lemon oil at first. When you let the liqueur swirl on your palate a little longer, the lemon flavours start to arise, reminding me of honey-lemon flavoured lozenges.

Finish: There is a honey-lemon like satisfaction at the finish - I think of Korean lemon syrup (lemon chung), with that slightly pectin jelly-like chew on the tongue. It's here where the fiery citurs oils and limonene really shows - it feels as though they evapourte off the tongue and bounce about, giving a freshness in the finish.

My Thoughts:

Definitely a pleasant tipple - one that would benefit from being in the chiller. It's again very inoffensive and simple, approaching you with a delicate flavour intensity that does not seek to overwhelm. There is some subtelty in this liqueur - you don't exactly taste lemon lemons, but rather the lingering soul of it. If it were up to me, I'll enjoy this limoncello with just a few drops of lemon juice mixed in it, to give it a fresh pop and brighten up the liqueur altogether. Great on its own still and worth a try.

Maison Génestine Grande Gentiane, 17.17% ABV - Review

Before we dive into the liqueur itself, let's talk about the botanical it's name after - gentian.

Gentian refers to a flowering plant that is most commonly seen in the alpine regions of Europe - mainly France and Italy. More specifically, great yellow gentian (or, Gentiana lutea) sees extensive use for its medicinal properties. Nowadays, the plant is cultivated for its roots, which is often used as a bittering agent in liqueurs such as the one we're having today.

Gentiana lutea

For Maison Génestine, fresh gentian roots are harvested and used in this liqueur. The Grande Gentiane has not only bagged the gold in the recent World Spirits Award Liqueur Category, it has also won Best in France in the Bitters Category. 

Nose: A deep, woody herbaceousness on the nose here. It definitely smells of European gentian, that if I could describe for the Asian palate, is like if lingzhi mushrooms, ginseng (in particular the root beard part), and Chinese angelica root (angelica sinesis / dang gui) is mixed together, with an additional octave lower. For me, it really gives me the image of opening your grandparent's pantry - it's a bit dusty, filled with all sorts of herbaceous and dried goods aromas mixed into one, and some more on top of that.

Taste: The texture is surprisingly thin, but boy is it packed with lots of flavour. The bitterness jumps at you quickly - it's that same European gentian flavours, but perhaps, slightly muted by the big sweetness that came from the sugar. If I had to describe the taste here, imagine Korean red ginseng candies, but with an added dusty texture of powdered ginseng. When the bitterness reaches a peak and starts to subside, there is almost a flash of vanilla that eludes you - if you have tasted vanilla essence by itself, it's that heady overly-saturated fragrance that borderlines pungency.

Finish: As the finish subsides, I get flavours of bittersweet roots again (if you could imagine taking Fernet Branca neat, but dial down the mintiness to zero - it's that sort of deep bittersweetness I'm talking about here). I feel like there's a bit of a cooling aftertaste as well, like eucalyptus candy (I'm thinking of Hack's or Hudson's jujubes). Interestingly, the bitterness does not linger long, contrary to what the intensity might have suggested. Instead, it leaves a drying bittersweet finish on the palate, akin to eating dried mandarin peels.

My Thoughts:

If you're the type of person that loves their bitter liqueurs (think Campari, Fernet Branca, Aperol), you'll love this one! Compared to the other more famous bitter liqueurs out there, this gentian liqueur does not hold the same intensity of flavours. However, there is a sort of organic, naturalistic feel to the liqueur - it's almost as if you're eating a piece of European gentian itself, or the 2nd best thing closest to that.

It truly captures how showing off one botanical in itself can have so much complexity, especially if you're foreign to the ingredient. I really like how the gentian here is the star of the show, where sometimes I feel it takes a backseat as merely a bittering agent in many other liqueurs out there. For the adventurous soul, this one is up your alley.

Conclusion:

In a world of overly complex liqueurs, I think there is space for simple, honest expressions of fresh ingredients. In a sense, when I try Maison Génestine's products, I get an organic first-hand experience of a time gone by - what would probably have lined shelves of those that came before us.

I wholeheartedly would recommend giving their liqueurs a try - don't be intimidated! Head over to Coq & Malai to grab a bottle; you just might be in need of a digestif for your next gathering.

@vernoncelli