The Best American Gins

American Aviation Gin was released in 2006 as a collaborative product between Seattle bartender Ryan Magarian and House Spirits Distillery based in Portland, Oregon. Using a neutral grain spirit, seven different botanicals - juniper, elettaria cardamom, lavender, sarsaparilla, coriander, anise seed and dried sweet orange peel - are steeped and boiled with the spirit in a steel vat before being distilled again and bottled at 42% ABV. Note: As of February 2018, actor Ryan Reynolds is the proud owner of the gin brand.

First released in 2005, Bluecoat American Dry Gin is distilled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is made from a neutral grain spirit base which uses rye, corn, wheat, and barley. Juniper, coriander seed, citrus peel, and angelica root are known botanicals and all are 100% organic. The distillery relocated to the Fishtown neighborhood in Philly in September 2016.

Junipero is made in the London Dry style with juniper as the featured botanical. Other botanicals in play include aniseed, cardamom, cubeb, grains of paradise, and bitter and sweet orange peel. The spirit is distilled in a copper pot-still and is not chill-filtered. It was first released in 1996 by San Francisco's Anchor Distilling Co. now known as Hotaling & Co. Bottled a 49.3% ABV.

Brooklyn Gin was started in 2010 by Emil Jättne and Joe Santos, who wanted to create their own version of a small-batch gin. Unable to build their own distillery at the time, they teamed up with Warwick Valley and Distillery, located upstate in the Hudson Valley, to help them produce their gin. Brooklyn Gin is made with 100% corn spirit that is distilled with juniper and fresh citrus peel. It is bottled at 40% ABV.

Gray Whale Gin is a California-made gin with botanicals sourced along the migratory path of the California Gray Whale which begins in the Arctic and ends in Baja California. All botanicals used here are hand harvested, wild foraged, or organically farmed along this route. These include juniper (Big Sur), limes, lemons, and oranges (Baja California), fir tree needles (Sonoma Valley), Kombu sea kelp (Mendocino Coast), mint (Santa Cruz), and almonds (Central Valley). Proceeds from sales benefit Oceana to protect and restore the world's oceans.

Koval was established in 2008 by two academics that were eager to make organic spirits. They’ve been able to spread their name and their products far and wide since then. They use “woodland spices” to make their dry gin and bottle it at 47% alcohol by volume.

3 Badge Mixology founder August Sebastiani created Botanical Gin in 2012 to honor his uncle, Zio Valerio. A retired physician, Mr. Valerio is also an avid cook and gardener and uses the plants he grows in his garden to prepare food with. Using the same plants and herbs his uncle would have, August created a gin. Beginning with a neutral grain spirit, five botanicals (juniper, cucumber, lemon, sage and lavender) are then seeped with the spirit and distilled. The gin is bottled at 45% ABV.

St. George produces three distinct gins. Their Terroir Gin aims to highlight the forest and earthy flavors of the state of California. They do this by using a dozen botanicals including local California bay laurel, Douglas Fir and coastal sage, the latter two they distill individually. As for the others, the juniper and bay laurel get placed in a basket to be vapor-infused while the remaining botanicals are placed in the pot-still. This is sold at 45% ABV and is available in 750ml or 200ml sized bottles.

Caledonia Spirits was founded by Todd Hardie, a former farmer & beekeeper who started the distillery in 2008 as a way to support the local agricultural community. The distillery is now under the leadership of owner and head distiller Ryan Christiansen, who purchased the company in 2015. Barr Hill Gin uses a pure grain spirit before juniper berry is added during distillation in a custom-built extraction still. Prior to bottling, raw northern honey is added to the spirit. It's bottled at 45% ABV.

Botanivore is aptly named as this gin most certainly is a "botanical eater", 19 different ones to be exact. Sixteen of them are steeped overnight in a neutral spirit to soak and steep. The remaining three--juniper berries, bay laurel, and fresh cilantro--are placed in a basket within the still to have the vapor pass through them. After pot-distillation, this gin is brought down to 45% ABV. It is sold in a 750ml size and in a 200ml sized bottle, the latter of which is sold in a trio pack with their other two gins.