Aquavit Voltaire

Aquavit Voltaire is a French aquavit produced by Maison Hamelle in Paris. It was developed by Jérôme Hamelle in collaboration with Samir Ouriaghli, founder of Ankhor, a company specialising in spices grown or gathered in France. The aquavit is made entirely from French raw materials, including French wheat spirit and botanicals sourced by Ouriaghli. Its recipe combines caraway, dill, coriander, green anise and verbena.

Rather than being redistilled with the botanicals, Aquavit Voltaire follows Maison Hamelle’s maceration-based production method. The plants and spices are macerated separately, with the duration and alcoholic strength adjusted for each ingredient, before the individual macerates are blended. Maison Hamelle describes the blending phase as lasting several weeks, allowing the different aromatic components to combine. The bottle’s ingredient declaration lists water, French wheat alcohol and macerates of French plants and spices.

The name Voltaire refers both to the French origin of the ingredients and to the Voltaire Métro station in Paris, located close to Maison Hamelle’s workshop, where the recipe was developed. Aquavit Voltaire was introduced in 2023 and was described by Gault&Millau in October of that year as the newest addition to Maison Hamelle’s range. It is bottled at 40% ABV and is available in 700 ml and 200 ml formats.

The producer describes the profile principally around dill, caraway and vegetal notes, with green anise and verbena contributing to the finish. The maceration process also gives the spirit its naturally golden to amber colour.