Our Favorite Gins From December

12.05 Distillery commemorates the repeal of Prohibition on December 5. Their gin is produced on a column still in Indianapolis, Indiana. Nine botanicals are used here including hand-peeled grapefruit and cucumber. Currently, Indiana is the only state where the product is available.

This is one Lee Spirits newest additions to their product line. To make this expression they add fresh lavender buds to their standard gin and macerate them for four days before it is filtered and bottled. No artificial additives were added to create the color.

Gold River Distillery is based just outside of Sacramento, California. Besides gin they also make a vodka made from corn and wheat malt. They use red winter wheat and white wheat for their gin’s base distillate and the usual botanicals on the second distillation.

Released in 2010, Farmer's Organic Gin is produced by Crop Harvest Earth Co, a distillery dedicated to producing spirits from organically grown crops. This gin begins with a base spirit made from organically and sustainably grown grain. While the entire botanical recipe is a company secret, it's known that the lineup includes juniper, elderflower, lemon grass, coriander, and angelica root, all of which, along with other undisclosed botanicals, are organically grown. Following distillation in small batches, the gin is then bottled at 46.7% ABV. Note: As of November 2022 the brand has revamped the recipe and released another version of Farmer's Organic Gin. This bottling listed here has been discontinued.

As being Scotland's first combined brewery and distillery, Eden Hill has combined its experience in the beer and spirit making process to create this expression. Their Hop Gin is made with several botanicals, including juniper berries, angelica, and coriander, that are normally used for producing gin. An additional botanical, Australian Galaxy hops, normally used for beer production, are also added to produce the final product. It's bottled at 46% ABV.

The Haig family first founded the Seggie Distillery in 1810 and began producing whisky. Fifty years later, the site was transformed into a paper mill, which would operate until shutting down in 2008. In 2012, businessman Paul Miller reopened the site as the Eden Mill Brewery. Within two years, he started producing spirits, creating Scotland's first combined brewery and distillery. Eden Mill Sea Buckthorn Original Gin, one of the distillery's signature spirits, is made with several botanicals, including juniper berries, lemon balm, citrus peel, angelica, and locally-picked sea buckthorn berries, all vapor-infused with the base spirit. The final product is bottled at 42% ABV.

The family that started Black Button came from four generations of making buttons for suits. Head distiller Jason Barrett as a kid used to sort the buttons, but the family discovered he was color blind since he sorted them all as black buttons. The distillery is based in Rochester and sources all of its ingredients from local New York farms. The Lilac Gin is only made once a year.

This spirit represents a collaboration of Santa Barbara’s Ascendent Spirits and celebrated wine expert Rajat Parr. The result is a gin that incorporates vinous concepts to the distilled world — for example, the production bares a vintage starting with this inaugural 2015 release and the botanical combination (which incorporates 14 different hand-picked ones) leans toward a floral/ fruit-driven profile reminiscent to the balance found in wine. The botanicals are chosen to show traditional London Dry components with a healthy influence of local California ingredients selected to show the region’s terroir — the French concept of agricultural products showing a sense of place because of their unique growing condition.

Oregon Spirit Distillers continues their trade in classic cocktail bar staples that have a Pacific Northwest influence with this lovely Genever. As traditional, the base spirit is made of malted barley placing this spirit in between what we may call a white whiskey and a more currently popular gin style based on neutral grain spirit.

Fremont Mischief Gin is made in Seattle, Washington and is made with at least some local botanicals that the distillery describes as "euphoric and aphrodisiac." The distillery also produces a couple of vodkas and several whiskeys at the distillery named for the neighborhood in which they are located.