St. George Gin Dry Rye

St. George Gin Dry Rye

Founded in 1982 by German-born Jrg Rupf, St. George Spirits is one of the oldest craft distilleries in the United States. The distillery, housed in an old World War II airplane hangar on a former naval base on the edge of San Francisco, is home to Lance Winters, mad scientist and St. George's master distiller. Winters, who is widely-known for experimenting with different types of spirits, has a laboratory dominated by a 10-liter test still in addition to the glass beakers and graduated cylinders that cover every inch of counterspace. Next to the dusty chalkboards caked with equations for the conversion of sugar to alcohol and intricate diagrams of molecular structures are bottles of experimental whiskies, vodkas and even an aging balsamic vinegar (it's 14 years old already). St. George makes their Dry Rye Gin in the same 1,500-liter copper pot still that they use to make their Terroir and Botanivore Gins. These Gins each have intricate botanicals bills designed to create a layered olfactory experience. St. George's also makes a limited-release, barrel-aged version they call Dry Rye Reposado Gin. Rested in French and American oak wine casks, it has a lovely pink hue and a deep, rich flavor. For their Dry Rye Gin they chose only six botanical ingredients: juniper berries steal the shown this expression, having 50% more than any of their gins. The botanicals are complemented by black peppercorn, caraway, coriander, grapefruit peel, lime peelwhich were all designed to play up the juniper's peppery nature. A base of 100% pot-distilled rye makes for a very unconventional gin, but a unique option for whiskey lovers. This gin has structure, spice, and an impeccably rich mouthfeel. Warm and spicy, it has a natural affinity with bitters, citrus, stone fruit, and ginger (St. George's).