Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/518118
june 2015 / the tasting panel / 61 AVIATION AMERICAN GIN REVIVES PRE-PROHIBITION AMERICAN GIN A s the last American cocktail book published before Prohibition, Hugo Ensslin's Recipes for Mixed Drinks is a veritable early 20th-century time capsule, filled with classic drink recipes, long-lost spirits and artful techniques that were at the heart of America's early craft cocktail culture. Thankfully, Ensslin was not the last to pen a mixology missive, but we all know the repeal of the Volsted Act didn't auto- matically catapult the American cocktail to its former glory: celebrated American spirit companies had dried up, bartend- ers had moved on to other careers, and the art of a beautifully balanced drink had been lost to the temperance wayside. So as the cocktail community began to rebuild itself from scratch, turning to classic cocktails for inspiration, we had to make do with what was readily available: "At Hugo's New York bar, the Aviation was a really popular cocktail," explains Thomas Mooney, CEO of House Spirits. "The recipe used a gin called El Bart, one of many American cocktail gins that would've been popular a century ago, but that perished with Prohibition and never came back. As we were rediscovering our cocktail culture—making vintage cocktails using tradi- tional London dry gin that has a completely different historical arc and flavor profile than the gins Hugo would've used—we became very interested in this question: What were these vintage cocktails, and what were the gins in them?" With the Aviation cocktail as its benchmark, longtime barman Ryan Magarian and Christian Krogstad, founder of House Spirits Distillery, set out to create the perfect proto- type for American gin. "We asked ourselves, how do you create a gin that's versatile and mixable? We went through more than 20 rounds of trials, and kept going back to the Aviation cocktail to test each gin we created. We knew that if we could develop something today that made the absolute best Aviation cocktail, it would've made Hugo proud, and the rebirth of our industry proud as well." After landing on the perfect formula of botanicals—includ- ing cardamom, lavender, sarsaparilla, coriander, anise seed and dried sweet orange peel, which are small- batch distilled, 90 cases at a time—the team at House Spirits named their new gin in honor of the cocktail that had been its inspiration and litmus test, and Aviation American Gin was born. "This is a gin that really was born of the industry," continues Mooney. "The fact that Ryan is a bartender and has worked closely with so many people across the industry makes him someone people want to support. Meanwhile, Christian came at it as a brewer, with extraordinary attention to detail, and his knowledge and insight in the birth of this brand was incredible. And more recently, Brooke Arthur joined us as a House Spirits equity partner and the leader of our on-premise education. Brooke opened several great bars in San Francisco, and she now manages a brand ambassador program that spans the U.S. and Canada. She helped a lot of people along the way, so wherever bartenders see Aviation American Gin they see people who care about the industry, and that's a huge part of our DNA." With industry cred and an authentic and unique story to tell, Aviation has become a bartender favorite, and the gin has taken flight on cocktail menus looking to feature a uniquely American spirit. "Last year was a really interesting year for gin," comments Mooney. "The category grew 1.6 percent, with the top five brands growing only 1.3 percent. Craft brands, on the other hand, grew by 30 percent; Aviation grew 103 percent. It is the fastest growing of the fastest growing." With a recipe to make Ensslin proud and the approval of today's modern bartender, the sky's the limit for Aviation American Gin, but don't think this brand's making any changes to its extremely small batch, pot still distillation. "I guess we'll just have to sleep less," comments Mooney with a laugh. Brand Ambassador Brooke Arthur is a driving force in the brand's connection with the industry. by Rachel Burkons / photos by Leah Nash