The rain in Cannes may have dampened the Croisette on many days during the festival, but the scene at the Carlton Hotel bar one afternoon was as bustling as ever.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy shared a table with UTA partner Jeremy Barber. Cate Blanchett floated by, trailed by an entourage of at least 30 people, and probably didn’t notice that the fancy cart at the bar entrance boasted a French Riviera gin made by her Babel and Curious Case of Benjamin Button pal Brad Pitt.
The actor has teamed with the Perrin family (collaborators on Pitt’s Miraval brand) and gin guru Tom Nichol (a former master distiller at Tanqueray) to launch The Gardener, a London dry gin that debuted at the hotel in mid-May. “Made from wheat in copper stills, the gin rests upon a canvas of juniper, licorice, angelica and coriander,” according to an official Gardener description, which also calls out its “unconventional blend of both fresh and dry citruses” including “bitter orange from the Cap d’Antibes area.”
The Carlton bar has just added a specialty cocktail featuring Pitt’s gin to its menu. Dubbed Secret Garden, the €32 cocktail features a blend of Gardener Gin, lemon and orange juices, strawberry syrup and egg white, garnished with a kumquat and orange slice.
Sampling the drink, THR senior film editor Rebecca Keegan called the gin “subtle and classic,” adding that it doesn’t “punch you in the head” like a Tanqueray and tonic might. The mix of citrus juice and syrup makes the Secret Garden go down like “a thinking woman’s Orange Julius,” said Keegan. Gardener co-founder Matthieu Perrin suggests enjoying the gin with “fresh mint, or in a gin and tonic garnished with rosemary and a slice of orange.”
The Gardener Gin
Serge Chapius
A version of this story first appeared in the May 24 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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