Corsair Gin-Head Style American Gin

Corsair Gin-Head Style American Gin

In the 1650s, a Dutch doctor named Franciscus Sylvius was searching for a remedy to the kidney and stomach ailments that he often encountered in his practice of internal medicine. At the time, Dr. Sylvius was a Professor of Medicine in Leyden, and he attempted to infuse juniper berries into a spirit distilled from grain in order to create a panacea. The resulting elixir eventually became known as gin, and was so popular that within a few decades, the Dutch were exporting 10 million gallons annually. For the next 250 years, nearly all the gin produced in the world was barrel-aged since the spirit was stored and transported in oak barrels (at the time, glass was too fragile and plastic and stainless steel containers were still not available). In order to craft a more traditional gin, "we've rested our signature vapor basket gin in our charred oak barrels previously used to age our spiced rum," says Darek Bell, the founder and Master Distiller at Corsair Artisan Distillery. Since opening its doors in 2009, Corsair has received numerous accolades and awards, including being named the 2013 Craft Distillery of the Year and 2013 Innovator of the Year by Whisky Magazine. Corsair's Artisan Gin remains one of the few gins produced using a gin-head (otherwise known as a carter head or vapor basket). This method, allows the flavors and essential oils of the gin's sustainably grown botanicals to be gently extracted using vapor; this technique yields a less bitter spirit than maceration resulting in a more aromatic, clean-tasting gin. This gin head style gin is made using 100% organic botanicals, which yields a brighter, more well-balanced spirit. Using a vapor basket essentially highlights the unique mixture of botanicals use in the spirit, such as citrus, cucumber, cardamom and coriander. Among other accolades, this crisp gin has struck Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the World Beverage Competition, and the International Review of Spirits Awards BTI.