FIRST JOURNEYS - 80 GINS AROUND THE WORLD - PIN 15 OF 80

AROUND THE WORLD, ONE BOTTLE AT A TIME,

PHILEAS FOGG WOULD SURELY APPROVE



Today's stop on the Atlas takes me to San Francisco and to a gin that deserves its place in the history books.

First things first... if my bottle looks a little different from the one you might find online today, you're not imagining it!


Since I bought mine, Junípero Gin has been given a striking new look. Gone is the more traditional bottle, replaced by a bold juniper-blue design with Junípero scrawled across the front in graffiti-style lettering. I rather like the new branding, but until it eventually reaches my shelves, this is the version that's joining me on the tour.


Junípero was launched in 1996 by Anchor Distilling Company and is widely recognised as the first American craft gin released after Prohibition. At a time when very few small distilleries existed in the United States, it helped kick-start the American craft gin movement and proved there was room for a gin that proudly celebrated juniper while forging its own identity.


Behind the gin was Fritz Maytag, best known for saving Anchor Brewing and one of the pioneers of America's craft spirits revival. Distilled in a small copper pot still in San Francisco, Junípero is handcrafted using 12 botanicals, creating a gin that's wonderfully resinous, bright and beautifully balanced.

Its name is a clever play on words. It honours Junípero Serra, the Spanish missionary whose name is found throughout California, while also giving a respectful nod to juniper—the botanical that sits right at the heart of every great gin.


Since those early days the business has changed hands a few times and today the brand forms part of the Hotaling & Co. portfolio, but its reputation has remained firmly intact.


At 49.3% ABV, this is certainly no shrinking violet, yet you would never guess its strength from the first sip. It's incredibly smooth, with bold piney juniper leading into bright citrus, gentle spice and a long warming finish.


This is a gin that knows exactly what it wants to be and never tries to imitate a London Dry—it simply celebrates classic gin flavours in its own distinctly American way.


It's also a superb cocktail gin, so today's serve is a simple Southside, a classic that lets that big juniper character do exactly what it was designed to do.


“The gin that helped put American craft gin back on the map.”






"Show me a bottle

and I'll tell you a story."