"Each year, driven by botanical curiosity and our obsessive pursuit of unparalleled quality, we embark on a quest to find the Species Rara — the elusive 48th botanical for our limited Distiller’s Cut. Countless expeditions in search of unexpected aromas give rise to the one and only MONKEY 47 Distiller’s Cut! While last year’s hunt for the best capers took us to the small island (and we couldn’t be more pleased with the result), we turned our wagons west and headed to France for the 2025 Distiller’s Cut. To the south of France, to be exact – and to be even more precise, the Camargue. Among other things, the alluvial plain of Provence is known for its exceptional salt. You can probably already guess what this year’s Species Rara might be… 

It was here that the Romans established expansive salt marshes centuries ago, and the locals still harvest salt by hand today. These salt works shimmer in shades of pink, purple, and red just outside places like Aigues-Mortes, for example, a town far in the west of the Camargue that dates back more than 2,000 years. The artist responsible for this spectacle of colour isn’t the salt itself, however, but a type of algae known as Dunaliella salina, which produces beta carotene under high concentrations of salt and light. As it happens, it’s also responsible for the unmistakable pink hue of flamingos and the brine shrimp they eat. To collect the Camargue’s white gold, seawater is directed through a network of channels and pools to the salt marshes of yore. The wind (known as the mistral) and sun evaporate 90 per cent of the fresh water, leaving behind salt crystals – Fleur de Sel – that settle at the bottom of the marshes. Salt farmers then harvest them using a long-handled skimming tool called a lousse. 

The 2025 MONKEY 47 Distiller’s Cut is a piquant, elegant dry gin with a touch of the sun’s warmth and the slightest waft of salty sea air, balanced against an underpinning of extraordinary substance and complexity. It truly is a remarkable experience for the palate – and not only for those who can see themselves strolling among the glistening pale-pink salt marshes of the Camargue, past galloping white horses and friendly flamingos. Surely that’s not just us …? Cheers!"