A childhood passion

For our Founder and Master Distiller of Citadelle Gin, Alexandre Gabriel, his love of distillation started back when he was 10 years old, and his grandfather showed him one of their “roaming” stills on their family farm. It ignited something inside Alexandre that has never left!

“Since then, I’ve been fascinated by the art of distillation. Even now, just as I was back then, I’m fascinated by how a great distiller captures the very essence – even the aromatic soul – of natural products”.

This childhood fascination turned into an avid collection, hunting down and collecting old stills used in Cognac to produce incredible spirits. These stills were laid up in an old warehouse waiting for the right craftsman to bring them back to life.

A true Master Artisan

That is where Gaylord Urbain comes in, a true copper master for over 17 years with an adoration for his craft.

“I really love copper, it’s a very noble metal, you can start with a simple flat sheet and turn it into something completely incredible and unique”.

That was all it took to join these two enthusiasts together! A common goal of creating beautiful things.

“Alexandre has incredible visions of stills and elements to create and it’s my job to bring these to life!”

Gaylord’s ability is visible all over the Citadelle Distillery with our beautiful copper port stills that were all refurbished by him from Alexandre’s Aladdin’s Cave of a collection. Not only our beautiful Citadelle Stills, but also one of our most prized stills out at the Stade’s West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados, the birthplace of rum. This is where the fabled Rockley now stands, the world’s oldest rum producing copper pot still, proudly producing the spirit of Barbados.

Dating originally from the 1780’s this Pot Still had been laying dormant on the distillery grounds for many years. The team at the distillery spoke of this famed antique and its fabled past, so it was a challenge to great to ignore to bring the Rockley back to life!

The Rockley was packaged up and sent off with a cheery farewell with all the team signing the departing box. When the box arrived in Gaylord’s workshop the true scale of the challenge became clear!

“The first time we laid eyes on the still - or the beast as we should say – we realised quite how complicated it was going to be to bring it back to life! There were difficulties but, in the end, we were able to tame the beast and bring this beautiful still back to life”.

In total over 2,000 hours went into the refurbishment of this historic still with Gaylord rising to the challenge like a true Master Artisan so that now once again, the Rockley is back in Barbados, producing rum in the birthplace of rum.

Looking to the future

The partnership started between Alexandre and Gaylord has now become tighter with the opening of our Coppersmith Workshop at the Chateau de Bonbonnet, marking a new chapter in the Maison Ferrand story. This isn’t just a workshop for us, it’s a place where we can create the stills and equipment to create more amazing spirits that can be enjoyed the world over. The tradition of the coppersmith lives on with Maison Ferrand. Transferring knowledge is a core part of our DNA at Maison Ferrand and Gaylord is delighted that his own son is following him, apprenticing in smithing “It’s very moving to share this passion with him”.

Feel free to step into our workshop on your next visit to Chateau de Bonbonnet to experience the rhythmic sound of a master shaping copper whilst the aromas of distillation fill the room. As Alexandre says, “a truly magical experience!”.