Review: Dented Brick Craft Gin
Dented Brick Craft Gin is made using a cold maceration process where the highest quality botanicals including juniper berries, coriander, fennel, citrus peel, and angelica roots are stepped in cold high-proof grain spirits made from 100% corn. The spirit is then re-distilled to clarify the genever, and brought to proof using pure artesian limestone filtered water that starting as snowmelt from the Wasatch Mountains in Utah. The water is sourced from a 300 foot deep well. Dented Brick Craft Gin is one of four spirits in their premium line of well spirits. Read more 
Review: Silo Gin
Silo Gin is crafted from barn to bottle in the barn distillery built by Peter Jillson and Anne Marie Delaney in Windsor Vermont in 2013. Erin Bell is Head Distiller. In recent years distillers have significantly increased the number of botanicals they use to produce their gin. Citadelle Gin uses 19. The Botanist Gin has 31. Monkey 47 Dry Gin is the current clubhouse leader packing 47 botanicals in each bottle of their gin. Silo Gin takes the opposite approach as they only add two botanicals, apple and juniper berries to their 100% non GMO corn distilled base. Silo is double distilled in a custom Carl stainless steel and copper still. After the first distillation, smashed whole locally harvested wild, hybrid, and semi sweet apple varieties, along with New England grown juniper berries are added to the pot and gin basket. The flavors are both boiled and steamed into the final product. The two types of flavoring are designed to diversify the elements pulled from the two botanicals as ingredients can change depending on how you cook and incorporate them. Silo Gin is bottled in the barn distillery at 90 proof. Read more
Review: Sipsmith London Dry Gin
Sipsmith London Dry Gin was launched in 2009 by Sam Glasworthy, Fairfax Hall, and Jared Brown. When they opened their distillery it was the first traditional copper distillery to open in London since 1820. Sipsmith Gin is crafted from a wheat spirit base. Ten botanicals including Macedonian Juniper Berries, Bulgarian Coriander Seed, French Angelica Root, Spanish Licorice Root, Italian Orris Root, Spanish Ground Almond, Madagascar Cinnamon, Seville Orange Peel, Spanish Lemon Peel, and Chinese Cassia Bark are macerated in the wheat spirit base for 14 hours. The spirit is than distilled in one of three custom Christian Carl stills made in Germany. They started with one 300 liter still they named Prudence and as their business grew they added a second 300 liter still they named Patience. They have since added a 1500 liter still to keep up with demand. Her name is Constance. Read more
Review: Madam Pattirini Gin
Madam Pattirini Gin was launched in 2017. It is produced at Ogden’s Own Distillery in Ogden Utah. This distillery also produces Five Wives Vodka, Underground Herbal Spirit, Porters Fire Whiskey Liqueur, and Porters Peach, Apple, and Huckleberry Liqueurs. Madam Pattirini Gin is named after Brigham Morris Young the 35th child of Brigham Young, a.k.a.Madam Pattirini. After serving a couple of missions for the Mormon Church Brigham Morris Young began publicly performing in drag as a singer under the pseudonym Madam Pattirini an Italian opera diva. It is made from a neutral spirit base that is infused with juniper, Bergamot, coriander, cardamom, Nigerian ginger, and Sicilian lemon in small, under 1000 bottle batches. Read more
Review: Fords Gin
Fords Gin is a collaboration between 8th generation Master Distiller Charles Maxwell and gin expert Simon Ford. It is one of several spirits created by Simon Ford and his 86 Co. Brand. It is the only one that bears his name. 86 Co. was acquired by Brown-Foreman the owner of several brands including Jack Daniels, Woodford Reserve, and Herradura Tequila June 2019. Ford Gin was launched in 2012. Fords Gin starts with a neutral spirit base that is steeped for 15 hours with nine precisely measured botanicals. Those botanicals include 49.5% Italian Juniper, 30.5% Romanian Coriander, 3.2% Spanish Lemon, 3.2% Haitian/Moroccan Bitter Orange, 3.2% Chinese Jasmine, 3.2% Polish Angelica, 3.2% Turkish Grapefruit, 2% Italian/Moroccan Orris, 2% Indonesian Cassia. Once steeped the spirit is distilled for five hours in two 500 liter stills custom built by John Dore at Thames Distillery in London. Each produce a 200 liter batch. After distillation the gin is shipped to Mendocino County California where the gin is cut with local spring water and bottled at 90 proof. Read more
Review: Linton Hill Strawberry Gin
With Valentines Day two days away I thought now was a good time to review one of the dozen or more pink gins on the market today. Most of these gins are strawberry flavored but I have seen pink colored raspberry, blackberry, pomegranate, pink grapefruit, and rhubarb flavored gins. Linton Hill Strawberry Gin is made from a 100% neutral grain spirit base. It is distilled and bottled in Spain, and infused with a blend of six carefully selected botanical’s. Imitation strawberry flavor and pink color are blended with the gin base before bottling at 75 proof. Distribution is limited. We picked up our bottle at Total Wine and More. Read more
Review: Roku Gin
Roku Gin was launched in Japan July 2017. It was later released in the US October 2018. Roku is produced in the “liquor atelier”, the craft distillery for Suntory Spirits and Liquor. In Japanese Roku translates to the number six. It is sold at 94 proof in Japan, and 86 proof outside Japan. Suntory starts with a 100% grain neutral base. Six Japanese botanicals are among the fourteen botanicals that are each distilled individually using one of four distinct pot stills. These six Japanese botanicals include Sakura Flower, Sakura Leaf, Yuzu Peel, Sencha Tea, Gyokuro Tea, and Sancho Pepper. The image of these botanicals is embossed on each of the bottles six sides. The other eight botanicals include Juniper, Coriander Seed, Angelica Root, Angelica Seed, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Lemon Peel, Bitter Orange Peel. Read more
Review: D George Benham’s Barrel Finished Gin
D George Benham’s Barrel Finished Gin was released September 2018. Master Distiller Jeff Duckhorn experimented aging their Sonoma Dry Gin in several different wine barrels including Pinot, Syrah, and Chardonnay until deciding to finish their gin in 5 year old Zinfandel wine barrels for at least three months. As a reminder Benham’s Sonoma Dry Gin is infused with twelve botanicals including juniper, peppermint, orris root, grains of paradise, coriander, chamomile, galangal, Meyer lemon, star anise, cardamom, buddhas hand, and angelica. Read more
Review: Caorunn Gin
Caorunn Gin is crafted by Gin Master Simon Buley at the Balmenach Distillery. This distillery was one of the first to be licensed to make Scotch whiskey when it opened in 1824. It is made from neutral grain spirit vaporized in a 1920 era copper berry chamber. The botanicals are infused into the spirit. Five locally foraged botanicals are amount the eleven botanicals used to craft Caorunn Gin. The entire list includes Juniper Berries, Cassia Bark, Lemon Peel, Coriander Seed, Angelica Root, Orange Peel, Rowan Berry, Bog Myrtle, Heather, Coul Blush Apple, and Dandelion Leaf. Terrior is a French word translated in English to, a sense of place. It has been used for years to differentiate climate, soil, and terrain in the wine industry. The tequila industry has used the term to differentiate between agave grown in the Highland and Lowland region for years. For years many gins have promoted their ingredient list sourced from several to a dozen different countries. The gin industry is now filled with several craft gins and it’s good to see some like Caorunn promote the terrior of their locally grown botanicals. Read more
Review: Aviation American Gin
Aviation American Gin takes it’s name from the classic Aviation cocktail. The cocktail is made with gin, maraschino liqueur, and fresh lime juice. Aviation gin is probably best known as Ryan Reynolds gin. The Deadpool star husband of actress Blake Lively acquire the Aviation brand February 2018. Aviation Gin was created by co-founder Ryan Magarian a Seattle bartender, and Christian Krogstad the owner of House Spirits Distillery, based in Portland Oregon. After 30 different blends Aviation Gin was ready for release June 2006. Eight botanicals are used including Juniper, Cardamom, Coriander, French Lavender, Anise seed, Sarsaparilla, and 2 kinds of Orange Peel. The botanicals are placed in nylon sacks and suspended in a pure neutral grain spirit for 18 hours in a macerating tank. The spirit is distilled in a 400 gallon stainless steel still. Only the heart of the run is collected, about 140 gallons. Once complete the spirit weighs in at 142 proof. Pure water is blended to reduce to 84 proof. Now completed the Aviation American Gin goes into a bottling tank with a 6-sprout gravity filler and is pumped into each bottle. Read more