A photographer accidentally captured a moment in gin history in Cognac, France Monday 13 June, 2013; the moment of Gin Guild member Gary Regan’s first ever ‘Finger-Stirred Negroni’.

L-R Hidetsugu Ueno, Peter Dorelli*, Philip Duff*, Salvatore Calabrese*, Jean-Sébastien Robicquet* and Dale DeGroff.

This month the photo is up for auction as part of a wider fundraising project called #JustOneShift initiated by Jean-Sébastien Robicquet, Founder and CEO Maison Villevert.

“Maison Villevert has initiated this fundraising to uphold two strong beliefs” explains Jean-Sébastien Robicquet. “Firstly, water is an integral part of the life of every single person on the planet and we should be entitled access to clean water.

Secondly the legacy of pioneer Gary Regan should be upheld and continued. The two beliefs combined will bring a powerful message to an industry focused on the importance and perpetuation of water, in its many forms.”

The finger-stir move became so famous that it became the trademark of Gary (b.1951 – d.2019), one of the world’s leaders and legend in mixology and gin cocktail culture. Gary took his signature move around the world and was so recognisable it was even immortalised as a stainless-steel bar spoon cast in Regan’s finger.

Jean-Sébastien gathered all Gary’s friends in Cognac to suggest the idea of participating in a charity project, inspired by a project that was launched by Gary himself ten years again in partnership with his bartending friend and founder of Wine to Water, Doc Hendley.

The world’s greatest cocktail legends enthusiastically accepted the idea: ‘The Maestro’ Salvatore Calabrese, ‘the King of Cocktails’ Dale DeGroff, the Godfather of British bartending Peter Dorelli, Japan’s most famous bartender Hidetsugu Ueno and spirits educator Philip Duff.

The group gathered in Cognac and recreated the original moment, a photo of which is signed and accompanies the original photo of Regan. A Gin 1495 set is also available to bid for and is one of only 100 recreations made of the world’s oldest known gin recipe dating back to 1495. The charity project will donate 100% of the proceeds to Wine To Water, uniting the drinks industry in the mission of providing clean water to the populations that don’t have it.

Bid here: https://tinyurl.com/GazReganAuction
Donate here: www.wtw.org/gazregan
Bidding ends October 15th at midnight CET.

* signifies Gin Guild member