Our journey so far…

Born of a crazy desire to create sustainable luxury spirits by redefining the process, Comte de Grasse is a melting pot of vision, extreme passion and a hard-headed insistence on sustainability. Our aim is to make ripples in reality.

Why The Lab Distillery? We are out to make something different. Spirits that embrace tradition but come from a more cutting edge. We are scientists, yet also poets. The poetry matters. And we find that Grasse’s age-old perfume distilling techniques meld beautifully with our innovative way of making spirits.

We imagine the spirits of tomorrow keeping Provence in our minds, hearts and close to our palates.

Doing things differently...

We came to Grasse for the heritage. We stay to create the future.

That passion for technology, sustainability and making ripples we talk about isn’t just lip service. Not until our spirits touch your lips anyway.

The legacy of techniques for which the region is world-renowned pair supremely well with our near atomic level precision.

Our aim is to imagine the spirits of tomorrow keeping Provence in our minds, hearts and close to our palates.

We came for the heritage, we stayed to create the future.

Our crush: Provence

We fell in love with the South of France because….well, it’s the South of France. “La Côte d'Azur” has inspired so many people before us and keeps fascinating many. Multitudes of artists have felt the same pull.

They came to paint the Provençal light, to capture the vibrancy of the mediterranean blue sea, impassioned by the fragrant breeze. We were deeply moved. And then we discovered Grasse…

We fell in love with the South of France because….well, it’s the South of France. “La Côte d'Azur” has inspired so many people before us and keeps fascinating many. Multitudes of artists have felt the same pull.
They came to paint the Provençal light, to capture the vibrancy of the mediterranean blue sea, impassioned by the fragrant breeze. We were deeply moved. And then we discovered Grasse…

Spirits that embrace tradition but are more cutting edge.

Our playground

The moment we saw it, we knew. As the world capital of fragrance, Grasse is a place where the best, often rare, botanicals grow freely, blessed by a near-perfect collision of constant sunshine and warmth. It gets just enough rainfall, the purest mountain water from the Alpes Maritime ambling down to the local spring.

Along with an unrivalled culture of botanical extraction, it just made sense. Grasse spoke to us.

Naturally close to everything we need to distil Comte de Grasse spirits sustainably, the abundance of its ecosystem is priceless. With all this on our doorstep, we can’t help but create exceptional spirits

The moment we saw it, we knew. As the world capital of fragrance, Grasse is a place where the best, often rare, botanicals grow freely, blessed by a near-perfect collision of constant sunshine and warmth. It gets just enough rainfall, the purest mountain water from the Alpes Maritime ambling down to the local spring. Along with an unrivalled culture of botanical extraction, it just made sense. Grasse spoke to us.
Naturally close to everything we need to distil Comte de Grasse spirits sustainably, the abundance of its ecosystem is priceless. With all this on our doorstep, we can’t help but create exceptional spirits

Community sustainability is incredibly important to how we build our future in Grasse. We partner with the social integration association Renouer. From working to renovate the distillery to picking and peeling our citrus,

culling our delicate rose centifolia petals and foraging for our cade which grows wildly in the mountains around Grasse. We couldn’t do what we do without our community. We wouldn’t want to.

Community sustainability is incredibly important to how we build our future in Grasse. We partner with the social integration association Renouer. From working to renovate the distillery to picking and peeling our citrus, culling our delicate rose centifolia petals and foraging for our cade which grows wildly in the mountains around Grasse. We couldn’t do what we do without our community. We wouldn’t want to.

Combining modern distilling methods with traditional perfuming extraction techniques.

Our home

There it was. An old perfumery laying empty, the brick chimney in repose. The ancestral home of Roure, creators of raw materials for perfumers since 1820, it had been uninhabited for a long time. Perhaps just waiting for us.
While the twin buildings date back to the 17th century, we have begun refitting the property for its new life as the home of Comte de Grasse. Traditional on the outside, modernity reigns on the inside. Our iconic earth-red chimney will still tower over the Provençal landscape, like a symbol of both heritage and the future.

An elevated process

We knew that we wanted to start with creating flavours rather than with raw ingredients; to create on the palate an evolving taste, building in waves to finally linger in the nose.
Our Master Scientist and Innovator is a local of Grasse, an expert in layering flavours with the perfect ‘Nez’ to develop our liquids. She has spent months refining the science and innovation behind how we make our liquids to us she is simply put the ‘Magicienne des Papilles.”

Modern Distilling Methods

But we don’t stop there. We couldn’t.

THEN WE CREATE MAGIC

CO2 Supercritical Extraction. In simple terms, we pump a high-pressure plasma of CO2, at a specific temperature and pressure adapted to each botanical in order to extract targeted flavours without damaging the molecule. This is then layered onto the vacuum distillate to create the exact flavour profile we are after.


By combining modern distilling methods with traditional perfuming extraction techniques, we arrive at a pretty spectacular end result. But you’ll let us know what you think.

Innovative Extraction Processes

There’s only one way to begin for us: ultra-sonic maceration. A low energy technique – good in spirit fabrication – where microscopic bubbles are made to form in the liquid containing our botanicals. They implode and explode, creating near-imperceptible shockwaves able to de-structure plant cells. A high extraction over the shortest time is optimal to get the best out of each botanical. The scientific word for this for those who like to know: cavitation.

This is when rotary vacuum distillation comes in. Vacuum distillation is indispensable as it further extracts aromatic compounds from the macerate while still concentrating the alcohol level. We make sure it happens at a very low temperature and pressure to preserve the fragile flavour molecules that we want to retain at all costs while ensuring an energy efficient process.

Elevated flavours

We knew that we wanted to start with creating flavours rather than with raw ingredients; to create on the palate an evolving taste, building in waves to finally linger in the nose.
Our Master Scientist and Innovator is a local of Grasse, an expert in layering flavours with the perfect ‘Nez’ to develop our liquids. She has spent months refining the science and innovation behind how we make our liquids to us she is simply put the ‘Magicienne des Papilles.”

Please enter your year of birth.

You must be of legal drinking age in your country of residence to enter this site.

Visit the page