Le Secret de l’Herbier Aquavit
Plombières-lès-Dijon, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
- ABV
- 43%
- Base spirit
- Wheat
- Color
- Clear
- Style
- Unaged Aquavit
Le Secret de l’Herbier Aquavit is a French aquavit produced by Distillerie l’Herbier in Burgundy. It is made from organic wheat grain spirit and forms part of the distillery’s range of botanical spirits alongside gin, vodka, pastis and bitter vermouth. The aquavit was already part of the commercial range by 2023.
The aromatic profile is centred on roasted caraway and dill, accompanied by blackcurrant bud, a botanical closely associated with the distillery’s Burgundy identity. The producer also identifies fennel and green tea on the palate, followed by grapefruit zest, Mount Hood hops and grains of paradise in the finish.
Distillerie l’Herbier works with botanical maceration followed by distillation in an all-copper Arnold Holstein column still. Its general production method uses organic wheat alcohol at more than 96% ABV for selected macerations, while fresh or delicate botanicals can be placed in aromatic baskets through which the alcohol vapour passes during distillation.
Le Secret de l’Herbier Aquavit is bottled at 43% ABV and is available in a 700 ml bottle. The distillery also records a Gold medal and a score of 90/100 for its aquavit at an international spirits competition held in the Bilbao region of Spain.
Bottle gallery
About the producer
Distillerie l’Herbier
Plombières-lès-Dijon, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
Distillerie l’Herbier was created by Cyril Guyon, a Dijon-born restaurateur who moved into distilling after more than three decades in the hospitality industry. Guyon studied hospitality in Corsica and Réunion, began his professional career in Bournemouth, England, and later spent twelve years at La Concorde in Dijon, progressing from waiter to director. He subsequently opened three establishments in Dijon and also worked as a consultant in Corsica. In 2019 he was inducted as a Chevalier du Tastevin at the Château du Clos de Vougeot.
After selling his restaurants, Guyon began retraining as a distiller in 2021. His training included periods with distillation specialists in Alsace and Switzerland followed by studies at the Centre International des Spiritueux in Cognac. The operating company, SARL L’HERBIER, was incorporated in March 2021, and the Le Secret de l’Herbier trademark was filed later that year.
Production began in Vaux-Saules, Côte-d’Or, in March 2022, in a renovated family farmhouse dating from 1840. The central piece of equipment was a custom-built Arnold Holstein copper column still with a 150-litre capacity, five rectification plates and three botanical baskets. The equipment allows the distillery to work across several categories, including gin, vodka, aniseed spirits, whisky, absinthe and aquavit.
Botanicals are sourced partly through local and organic producers and partly through wild harvesting around the distillery. Depending on the recipe, plants, berries, spices and flowers are macerated in organic wheat alcohol before distillation, while more delicate botanicals may be used for vapour infusion. Blackcurrant bud has been particularly important to the house style since the first gins and provides a direct connection with one of Burgundy’s characteristic crops.
In June 2025, Distillerie l’Herbier transferred its production and registered headquarters from Vaux-Saules to Plombières-lès-Dijon, west of Dijon. The current distillery is at 3 Rue Pasteur, where the company continues to produce the Le Secret de l’Herbier range. Its portfolio now covers several gins and botanical vodkas as well as pastis, aquavit, bitter vermouth and new-make spirit intended for whisky production.