About St. George Botanivore Gin
Founded in 1982 by German-born Jörg 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 Botanivore Gin — a botanical eater of a gin — is infused with 19 different herbs and botanicals, including angelica root, bay laurel, bergamot peel, black peppercorn, caraway, cardamom, cilantro, cinnamon, citra hops, coriander, dill seed, fennel seed, ginger, juniper berries, lemon peel, lime peel, orris root, Seville orange peel and star anise.
While the juniper, bay laurel and fresh cilantro are added to the gin's botanical basket, the other 16 botanicals are steeped overnight in the copper-pot still. Then, gentle steam heat is added to the still, in order to coax out the flavors and aromas of the herbs and botanicals.
Fresh and slightly herbaceous, St. George Botanivore Gin has bright notes of citrus, earth and spice that are complimented by subtle floral undertones. The gin earned a score of 93 points from
Wine Enthusiast, which selected it as one of the Top 50 Spirits of 2012. In addition, Park and Bond wrote that it was "a sunshine-drenched greenhouse of a spirit"while Esquire called it "complex and bright."
This gin represents a unique expression by one of America's most creative craft distilleries. Pick up a bottle today!
About St. George
Back in 1982, St. George Spirits was founded as an Eau de Vie distillery by Jorg Ruph in Alameda, California. One of the pioneers of the craft spirits movement, St. George Spirits was the first small American distillery since Prohibition, focusing on making brandy from Californian fruits at the beginning. Producing their first single malt in 1997, St. George Spirits expanded in 2004 and moved into a 65,000-square-foot airplane hangar. In 2007, they released the first legal American absinthe since the 1912 U.S. ban. Named everything from "the best craft distillery in America","craft whiskey of the year", and "craft whiskey producer of the year", St. George boasts a wide range of craft products including gin, eau de vies, rum, whiskey and absinthe.
About Gin
According to Winston Churchill, "The gin and tonic has saved more Englishmen's lives and minds than all the doctors in the Empire," referring to the British officers using it to treat malaria in India.
Initially made for medicinal purposes, gin gets most of its flavor from the juniper berries added after the distillation process. It sure has come a long way from the Middle Ages, with the introduction of new botanicals, fruits, and spices, bringing it closer to people of all flavor varieties.
Check out our impressive selection of gins, find your new favorite in the Top 10 gins, or explore the Best gins under $50.
