When Baldwin IX (1172-1205), Count of Flanders, took the cross and left Bruges as one of the leaders of the Fourth Crusade to the Holy Land, he had never expected to be crowned Baldwin I, the first Latin Emperor of Constantinople in 1204. With the help of the Knights Templar, the crusaders also introduced the Western world to Arab culture and science, as well as alchemy and the art of distilling alcohol and medicinal elixirs, or aquae vitae.

Inspired by Baldwin's eventful life, master distiller Filip Braeckman took his personal selection of the finest Flemish botanicals as the starting point in his search for traditional Mediterranean botanicals, and created the unique recipe of Baldwin's Premium Distilled Gin, remaining truthful to the original art and science of small-batch distillation in a traditional copper pot still.