The loot
The loot
Hold up is a French craft distilled gin that perfectly fits the ancestral history of spirits developed from juniper berries. Hold Up has a base of grain alcohol, and a volume of 43%. Complete with its unique and secret recipe, Hold Up highlights the quintessence of carefully selected botany.
However some clues....
On the nose, the notes of juniper combine perfectly with more pronounced citrus aromas, anise and coriander. On the palate we discover a feeling of freshness, plus fruity and floral notes with a touch of silk which extends the aromas for a long and sophisticated finish.
Both the Hold Up gin bottle and in its contents span the atmosphere of a crime thriller; the night, the forbidden, the bar, the ensuing fantasy – the relaxing sip. Hold Up is a cultural replacement for the monotony and the constraints of everyday life. Its a gin, but not like any other.
The investigation
The investigation
It's the day after the hold up, and the most up-to-date news has been gathered together and the newspaper clippings are displayed on the bottle. The disappearance of a priceless amount of loot, it's the crime of the century! When ? At the start of the evening, on Saturday, as night falls. How ? After finding the perfect spot on the terrace, not far from the package, a group of men enjoy their gin and tonics, unaware of the events that will shake up their peaceful village life. Just over seven minutes later a lone individual, innocent until proven guilty is spotted. Profile ? After cross-examining the witnesses, everything leads us to believe that it was a man with a stocking over his head, just under 5ft 10” tall, wearing jeans, a trim polo shirt and naturally, shoes.
Armed ? Firstly, with elegance, in the words of a charming hostess who was at the scene, but also with a revolver (perhaps a plastic one), which when he aimed, revealed a scar on the inside of his forearm, around ten centimetres in length. The escape ? Just about every theory and description was given to the authorities, from the man having long legs up to his neck, to wearing sulky cobalt blue and then escaping by motorbike. This fanciful journalism led to an artist's impression, as displayed in the newspaper clippings. We should specify that certain clients on the terrace, as well as the barman, heard one or two detonations. The other gin drinkers reported a silence likened to a cathedral. Who really knows ? The different arguments were at times so side-splittingly hilarious that it's better to leave it to the experts, if there are still any left. No trace of any shots fired and nobody has discovered any cartridges either. To sum up, the thief's luck was in. If by chance a cop or a private investigator had been there, this case would have been closed and we would no longer be talking about it.
Alas, no.
The author
The author
It's as simple as crossing the road to go to the bar opposite; the creator of Hold Up gin Jean-Charles Chapuzet (www.jcchapuzet.com) invented the drink because he wanted to imagine standing at the bar and enjoying a glass, while feeling at home, no matter what time of day. Switching between journalism, crime thrillers, the news, and the universe of spirits, he has put everything into a shaker and he has shaken, and then shaken again. Imagination meets reality.
The Den
The Den
The development of the gin Hold Up was entrusted to the Vinet-Delpech distillery, an establishment renowned for its “savoir-faire” in the field. Based in the village of Brie-Sous-Archiac, and part of the “Spirit Valley”. Although renown for producing cognac, it is also specialised in the development of other spirits. The creator of Hold Up, who lives just two rifle shots from Brie-Sous-Archiac (in a small village where crime fiction pioneer Emile Gaboriau is buried) commissioned the Vinet-Delpech distillery to define the recipe for this white spirit. The distiller Jean-Baptiste Delannoy, General Director of Vinet-Delpech, really likes the books from the creator of Hold Up (that's a true story!). The result is a very exciting collaboration.
