The Sipsmith Blog

Six of Our Favourite New American Gin Distilleries

in Articles October 27, 2014

At Sipsmith, we’ve always had a close relationship with our overseas friends in gin.

In fact, it was almost exactly 10 years ago that our founders Sam and Fairfax first dreamed up the idea for Sipsmith gin when they were travelling in the States, sampling the best of new American gin. Co-Founder and Master Distiller, Jared Brown has an American heritage and thousands of his stories from cocktailing in the city (he even owned a nightclub in New York!) A decade on, and Sipsmith is now available to punters at home and abroad.

At Sipsmith, we’re proud to have helped revive London Dry Gin, and to make it the way it used to be made – and should be made – in London. We’re also keen to celebrate distillers overseas who share that handcrafted spirit. We’ve handpicked six of our favourite distilleries who are leading the charge of new wave gin in America. You may just find these bottles stowed away in our suitcases after a trip stateside…

St George Spirits

Located out of Alameda, California, St George Spirits is a pioneer, having been in the distilling business for over 32 years. They use distinctive local botanicals to imbue their gin with the essence of the Golden State. Their Terroir Gin – which features Douglas fir, California bay laurel, and coastal sage – captures the sensory experience of being in a West Coast forest. Rounding out their juniper offerings are Botanivore Gin, which features 19 different botanicals, and Dry Rye Gin, which uses a base of pot-distilled rye.

Few Spirits

Just outside of Chicago in Evanston, Illinois, Few Spirits is a small-scale distillery, but influential enough to have changed its hometown’s laws: for a century, Evanston was a dry city. But no longer. Now we can enjoy Few’s American Gin on-site, which features lemon and warm vanilla notes. The distillery’s Barrel Gin, aged in oak, is another one to try – like a delicious melding of gin and bourbon.

Anchor Distilling

Another New American gin hailing from California, Junipero Gin, made by Anchor Distilling, is a copper pot spirit made in San Francisco. A clean and flexible gin that does well in a range of cocktails – or even neat – it’s been a city staple since 1996.

Leopold Bros

Leopold Bros‘s gin, made in Colorado, is an absolutely meticulous blend. The gin is made from a neutral spirit that’s a blend of three individual grain spirits (wheat, potato, and barley); each botanical is then distilled separately from one another to form a collection of “single botanical” gins that are then melded together for the end result. Leopold’s Navy Strength American Gin is made in the same way. The result is subtle and highly complex.

Blue Coat

Though it is named for the uniforms American soldiers wore during the American Revolutionary War, we like Blue Coat Gin anyway. Richly juniper-forward but balanced with citrus, this dry gin is made in historic Philadelphia.

House Spirits

Based in Portland, Oregon, House Spirits is perhaps best known for their award-winning Aviation Gin. Often cited as one of the forebears of the new American gin offerings, Aviation is clean but famously floral, with notes of lavender, sarsaparilla and cardamom said to evoke flavours of the Pacific Northwest. Unsurprisingly it works very, very well in an Aviation.

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