The signature fruit is the Williams pear (called Bartlett in the US, Canada and Australia), which originated in England in the late 18th century and spread across continental Europe in the 19th Wikipedia: Poire Williams.
The pear in the bottle
The prisonnière is a genuine agricultural feat, not a gimmick: empty narrow-necked bottles are tied over budding pears in spring, so the fruit matures inside the glass, and the bottle is later filled with pear eau-de-vie Wikipedia: Poire Williams.
The other defining trait is sheer fruit intensity β producers cite figures like 30-plus pounds of pears per 750ml bottle. Switzerland protects Eau-de-vie de poire du Valais as an AOP (since 2001), where distillers began making Williams-only pear spirit around 1945.
πΌ Media cue: Hero shot: a bottle with a full-grown pear inside it β instantly communicates the craft (Massenez / La Captive style).