GIN XII - Key Persons
Helene Rogeon, born in the region of Cognac in 1962, joined the distillery as an oenologist in 1986, right after graduating from Bordeaux Wine University. Helene loves assembling botanicals and wines to create great flavors, and she turned her passion into her profession. As a master blender, Helene checks that the right amount of each ingredient is used correctly. She is responsible for the final flavor, making sure it doesn't change. Helene is the one keeping the recipe, and keeping it secret, since the proportion of each ingredient in the blend is part of the Distillerie's core know-how. For RinQuinQuin, Helene also needs to adjust the quantities from time to time to make sure it always tastes the same. That is because, even if picked up from the same fields every year, peaches may have a different flavors from one harvest to another, depending on how rainy, sunny, windy the year was.
From 1963 to 2019, Crillon Importers founder Michel Roux distinguished himself in the business community as an exceptional marketer. Deeply involved in sponsoring the Arts, working with some of the greatest American painters of the 20th century, Michel first had the idea of engaging spirit brands into Arts giving them a " supplement of soul".
Michel Roux was responsible for the popularity, success, and in some cases concepts of some of the world's most renowned spirits, including but not limited to Absolut Vodka, Bombay Sapphire Gin & Grand Marnier. He passed away in April 2019, but his memory will live through his legacy in Crillon Importers.
Yves grew up on the hills of Upper-Provence, where his father used to take him hunting and fishing, as well as picking mushrooms and harvesting herbs used in traditional Provence meals. Yves joined the Distillery in 1981, and he acquired his know how in distilling herbs from Jean Augier, a 3rd generation distiller, who started distilling in the late 1940s with his father. "Each still has its own personality" says Yves "Jean knew ours perfectly and taught me all that was there to know. Mastering the old still helped me tremendously in choosing a new one, when we had to change machinery in 2017. It is not only about the quality of the raw materials, the way you operate your still has to match the quality of what you are distilling as well." Yves now has perfect control of the distillation process, and yet he learns something new every day which is what he loves the most about his job. "It is the "charm of the still" Yves likes to say "There's always the expectation of what's going to come out. Every shift turns into a challenge on how to extract the most subtle scented spirits."