Tenth Ward Distilling Company
Genever Inspired Gin
United States, Maryland
Description
This genever style Gin is distilled from malted rye, and cane spirit then vapor infused with juniper, angelica root, orris root, cardamom, elderflower, ginger root, persimmon, chicory root, and orange peel.
Genever is a dutch-style Gin first appearing in the Netherlands around the 15th or 16th century. The Dutch-Portuguese War in the 1660s gave the English a taste for the spirit. Trying to mimic the style, English distillers removed the malt and added in far more juniper, resulting in gin. That is why most people associate gin with a very piney taste where ours instead has less juniper, less pine and more complexity from the malted grain base.
AWARDS
American Craft Spirits Association: Silver, 2021
The Gin is In: Best of the Year, 2020
The Gin is In: Double Gold/5 Stars, 2020
San Francisco World Spirits Competition: Bronze, 2020
New York International Spirits Competition: Bronze, 2020
Producer Overview
We are Tenth Ward Distilling Company. We are proud to be woman-owned. Located in what used to be the Tenth Ward of Frederick City and specializing in a variety of spirits and canned cocktails. Everything we make is non-traditional and unconventional, which is why we live fearlessly by our slogan – #wardoffordinary.
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Additional Information
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Distilling Process
First, we take 100% malted rye grown by our farmer Greg Clabaugh at his farm about 15 miles away from Frederick. The fermentation then usually takes 2 to 3 days – where at the end of fermentation we’re left with a wash around 8% ABV. The fermentation – grain and all – then goes into our kettle for the first pass through the pot still, called the ruwnat (raw liquid). In American distillation parlance, this is what we would typically call a stripping run. This typically results in a 30% ABV 960 proof) low wine. These low wines get fed through the pot still again for the second distillation, giving us a clean, malty rye spirit. This brings to the distillate to around 70% ABV, or 140 proof
Next, we combine the rye spirit with neutral alcohol made from sugar cane and we add juniper, angelica root, orris root, cardamom, elderflower, ginger root, persimmon, chicory root, and orange peel into the malt wines as well as neutral cane spirits. This is pot distilled in a combination of maceration and vapor distillation to create distinct flavor layers across the entire pallet. Maceration means that the botanicals are added directly to the still. This is done with the heartier herbs that need direct heat to extract their flavor. Vapor distillation is a gentler form of extraction that is done by allowing the steam from a pot distillation to percolate through a bed of botanicals in a specially designed basket. The orris root, angelica, orange peel, ginger, persimmon and ¾ of the juniper are macerated. The chicory, cardamom, elderflower and ¼ of the juniper are vapor distilled. We divided the juniper between maceration and basket because the two types of extraction yield slightly different flavors and aromas from the berries.
Because this pot distillation starts with previously distilled spirit, we do not need to do a heads cut. We do let a small amount of the first distillate go down the drain, but not because it is toxic. We do this because the first bit of the distillation is concentrated with some bitter compounds that will not contribute positively to the flavor of the genever. Once this small first runnings is taken, we start collecting the hearts of the gin run.
We will collect the hearts to 120 proof. We stop here because at this proof the flavor profile changes to something we no longer consider to be beneficial. We also do not collect gin tails because distilling too much further would overheat the botanicals and cause them to produce undesirable flavors.
After distilling, the aggregate proof of the gin is around 150. We dilute this high proof spirit with carbon filtered water to 90 proof for bottling.
Tasting Note
A nice hit of juniper on the front that transitions into subtle earthy notes with a burst of citrus. Finishes with uncompromising notes of malt, rye, and chicory.
