FIRST JOURNEYS - 80 GINS AROUND THE WORLD - PIN 75 OF 80
44°N GIN, Grasse, France
AROUND THE WORLD, ONE BOTTLE AT A TIME,
PHILEAS FOGG WOULD SURELY APPROVE
I'm revisiting Grasse today and stopping by my beautiful bottle of 44N gin.
As I've written about the brand before, I thought I'd go off course again with a little local history.
Grasse's connection with perfume actually began with something rather unexpected - gloves. The town was once an important centre for leather tanning, but the process left the finished leather with a rather unpleasant smell. Local glovemakers began scenting their leather gloves with flowers and fragrant oils to make them more appealing, particularly for wealthy customers.
The scented gloves became fashionable at the French court and demand for them helped establish Grasse as a centre for perfume-making.
From gloves to perfume and now gin, it's a lovely example of how an industry can grow from something as simple as wanting to make something smell a little better!
"The Perfume Capital of France"
"Show me a bottle
and I'll tell you a story."