The Lab Distillery is in the former ancestral home of Roure, a supplier of raw material to the perfume industry dating to the 1820s.
Unlike conventional distilleries with copper stills, Comte De Grasse has been inspired by the perfume industry to create a process that handles raw materials with less energy.
CEO and founder, Bhagath Reddy, said: “Our shared ambition to work together in creating methods of production that best serve our local environment, both social and physical, has been a real success of Comte de Grasse.
“Utilising practices from the perfume industry for producing our gin has resulted in a flavour like nothing else we’ve tasted.”
The new distillery visitor centre that will open next year is in an original perfume factory and will allow visitors to experience every part of the distillery process, including ultrasonic maceration, vacuum distillation and CO2 extraction.
The transfer of technology from perfume to the spirits industry have been supported by a grant from the government-backed French Tech.
A partnership with the University of Nice has also been agreed, enabling Comte De Grasse to access research facilities and technical understanding.
The project is led by master scientist and innovator Marie-Anne Contamin who joined the team bringing her 20-plus years’ experience of creating fragrances and spirits.
