Aviation

The story behind the gin

Aviation is America’s original craft gin. Created by a pioneering bartender, Ryan Magarian, and the master distiller Christian Krogstad in Portland Oregon, it is the culmination of their quest for a more versatile and mixable gin.
Their journey was inspired by the cocktail tradition of the Jazz Era and one of its most influential bartenders, Hugo Ennsilin, author of the last cocktail recipe book published before prohibition. The vision was to create a gin that blended perfectly with Hugo’s American-style gin cocktails. None was as important as Hugo’s masterpiece, the Aviation Cocktail.
Meticulously experimenting with ingredients and technique, Ryan and Christian tested each craft distilled batch using the Aviation Cocktail as the ultimate benchmark. They finally landed on a truly unique creation. A gin that was smoother, subtiler, more harmonious. Capturing the lushness and freshness of the Pacific Northwest, they achieved a balanced medley of botanicals, propelled by citrus with juniper in the background.

How to drink it

So smooth and delicious, it can fly solo, neat or on the rocks. Subtile but spectacular with tonic, it takes any mixed drink to new heights, especially Hugo’s Aviation Cocktail.

The Aviation Cocktail

Hugo R. Ennslin, the Head Bartender at the Wallick Hotel in New York City, published the last known cocktail recipe book before prohibition in 1917 – called “Recipes for Mixed Drinks”. One of his most famous recipes was the Aviation Cocktail. Aviation Gin was crafted to be mixed beyond “martinis and gin & tonics”, and the long-lost El Bart Gin recipe was its inspiration and the Aviation Cocktail was its ultimate litmus test.

What you need:

1/3 Lemon Juice
2/3 El Bart Gin
2 dashes Maraschino
2 dashes Creme de Violette

Shake well in a mixing glass with crashed ice, strain and serve.