Vigilant District Dry Gin

A new corn-based London Dry Gin with a decidedly American twist.

In 1864, Joseph A. Magnus was notified that his father had been killed in the Civil War. Being the eldest son, he went to work as a merchant in Cincinnati, Ohio, to support the family. He found his niche in wholesale Spirits, and soon opened the Joseph A. Magnus distillery where he produced Murray Hill Club Whiskey. Prohibition shut him down for good. But the story goes that his great grandson found a 122-year-old, unopened bottle in family effects and used the flavor profile to relaunch the family business on West Virginia Avenue in Washington DC as Jos. A. Magnus & Co. Today they have a tidy range of Whiskies and Gins worth tasting.

As you might expect from a company that built its business on American Whiskey, Vigilant District Dry Gin is built on a base of rectified corn Spirit. And even though this is technically made in the London Dry style, the flavor profile steps up with a unique approach in botanicals. We were not able to acquire a complete listing of the botanicals infused — and we can’t blame them. But we can confirm the inclusion of sesame, sumac, tarragon, marionberry, and cubeb, oro blanco grapefruit, and bergamot orange. And the juniper is hand-harvested from wild Oregon groves that has a minty note on top of the pine that separates it from the Italian varieties.

Smartass Corner:
Murray Hill was — at the time — a prestigious section of Columbus, Ohio. Magnus named his Whiskey after this district in the city.