Our Story
The Combier story began nearly 180 years ago at 48 Rue Beaurepaire in the picturesque village of Saumur, just 200 miles southwest of Paris in the heart of France’s historic Loire Valley.
Local confectioners by trade, Jean-Baptiste Combier and his wife started distilling out the back room of their sweet shop. Together, they shared a dream of inventing something new; something that had never existed before; something with just the right spice, just the right smell, and just the right taste.
In 1834 Jean-Baptiste Combier and his wife open the Combier-Destre confectionary in Saumur in the heart of the Loire Valley. There, they fill their delicious chocolates with liqueurs made on the small still in the shops back room.
Soon the liqueur become more sought after than the chocolates. One in particular, created using Sun-dried orange peels from the West Indies arriving to the ports of Saumur, is the talk of not only the town but all of France. This delicate crystalline orange liqueur would became the world’s first triple sec: Combier Liqueur d’Orange.
The Combier Distillery is one of the oldest in the Loire Valley. After the success of his Triple Sec, Jean Baptiste decided to devote himself fully to making liqueurs and in 1848 he built a full distillery, right next to the Saumur Cavalry School in the very heart of Saumur. Combier has always benefited from its position in the center of the Jardin de la France to stock up on local products: fruits, flowers and aromatic plants. Jean Baptiste and later his son James would use this bounty to create some of France and Europes most beloved and modern liqueurs.
Using the world around them as inspiration the Distillerie Combier team has carried the same spirit of exploration into the 21st century. Made up of travelers, gardeners, cooks, engineers and daring and innovative thinkers, over 2 centuries they have never ceased to create something new while recognizing their exceptional French heritage. Because of this Combier has been recognized since 2016 as an Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant.
The historic stills concentrate all the magic of the Combier Distillery. Ten in number, they are installed in a structure that has benefited from the technological prowess of engineers from Gustave Eiffel. In more than 185 years, nothing has changed, neither the attentive care, nor the love of manual work, nor the demand for results. By following the thread of manufacturing, you will enter a world of commitment, innovation, gluttony, epic journeys, fruits, spices, plants, flowers and ancestral gestures. A place where the scent of perfumes exhales and tastes are discovered in a delicious moment to experience.
Franck Choisne
Combier CEO & Master Distiller
Franck Choisne discovered the Combier distillery when he joined as general manager in 1994 at age 26. Against all odds and within the space of a few years, he achieved his dream of buying up one of France’s oldest distilleries owned for decades by the prestigious Bollinger group.
Like an archaeologist patiently sifting through the legendary heritage of the distillery, Franck embarked on a journey into the history of liqueurs and spirits and discovered a unique French craftsmanship, making the skills and techniques his own. Much like the Combier family before him, he travels the world sourcing fruit and spices, meticulously selecting the most authentic, high-quality raw materials: fennel from Provence, aniseed from Spain, bitter oranges from the Caribbean…
While refreshing the Combier distillery’s prized recipes and playing a major role in the renaissance of absinthe in France and the USA, Choisne has amassed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the craft, bringing to light his vocation to create the spirits of the future. Both gifted and determined, Franck Choisne has brought the Combier distillery to the peak of its craft, obtaining the French national “Living Heritage Company” label in 2016. He embodies a new generation of master distillers, nurturing and sharing a festive and magical “art de vivre.”