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e are proud to announce that from now on Sir Edmond Gin is available in the vanilla capital of the world, which played an important role in our gin journey. Let me tell you a bit more about the untamed paradise called La Réunion. Once there, make sure to visit Bô Gourmet, where you can find our Bourbon vanilla infused gin.

East of Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean, lies a tiny tropical island. Many have never even heard of it, let alone visited it. It goes by the name of Réunion and is one of the most unusual paradises on the planet. Although Réunion holds plenty of astonishing untamed natural beauty, the island remains largely undiscovered.

Réunion is an overseas department of France and an integral part of the republic. Its remote location makes the island the outermost region of the European Union and as an overseas department of France, Réunion is part of the Eurozone. Réunion hosts a diversity of flora and fauna. More than one third of the surface of the island is covered with forest and wild plants. Half of the island’s flora arrived without man’s intervention, carried by the wind or ocean currents, resulting in a unique tropical garden. The green scenery stands apart from any other tropical island and is home of the world’s best vanilla: Bourbon vanilla.

Did you know that in 1841 Mr. Edmond Albius, when he was just 12 years of age, discovered that vanilla orchids could be artificially pollinated by hand? Born a slave in Sainte-Suzanne, a commune on the north coast of the French island of Réunion, the boy needed little more than a blade of grass and a quick flick of his thumb to revolutionize the cultivation of vanilla. Edmond’s simple but sophisticated invention didn’t go unnoticed. His manual technique became standard practice and is, amazingly enough, still being used today – far beyond Réunion.

Birds were the island’s first inhabitants. They picked Réunion as their home far before the first sailors caught sight of the coastline. The most interesting bird on the island? That has to be the flamingo. By introducing a vanilla infused gin when almost every other gin is juniper berry focused, I’m considered a strange bird. Since it’s in my nature to be different, a flamingo had to represent Sir Edmond’s unusual character. That is why you see me shine on every bottle of Sir Edmond Gin. Did you also noticed the coordinates on the bottle? Can you guess which place they belong to? Exactly, the beautiful island of La Réunion.