Citadelle, the well-regarded French gin producer, has launched Citadelle 0.0, its first alcohol-free expression, built on the same botanical bill as its full-strength gin. The notable part is the method. Most alcohol-free spirits are made by dealcoholization, which means distilling a normal spirit and then stripping the alcohol back out, a process that often strips flavor along with it.
Citadelle went the other direction. It used a gentle hydrodistillation process, a technique borrowed from perfumery, to capture the most expressive aromatic compounds of its botanicals using water rather than alcohol as the carrier. The goal was to build the aromatic profile from the ground up for a zero-proof context, rather than subtract alcohol from a finished product and hope the flavor survives.
The launch is part of a broader wave of heritage spirits houses entering the category, including recent zero-proof releases from Empress 1908 and a UK reformulation from CleanCo to a true zero ABV.
The Cr(af)ted Take
This is the sentence worth remembering: the best alcohol-free spirits are increasingly built to be alcohol-free, not un-built from alcohol. Dealcoholization starts with a great spirit and takes something away. Processes like hydrodistillation start with the question of what tastes good without alcohol and build toward it. The second approach is harder and more expensive, and it is where the quality is heading.
It also matters that a serious gin house put its name on this. When a producer with a real reputation in traditional spirits decides the zero-proof version is worth doing properly, it tells you the category has crossed from novelty into something the establishment takes seriously. For home bartenders, it means the gin drinks worth making, the Gin and Tonic, the Negroni, the Gimlet, keep getting better raw material to work with.
Original reporting: The Spirits Business →