Captive Spirits Big Gin

Big Gin is named for Big Jim — the father of founder Ben Capdevielle, a third-generation distiller who learned to make gin as a hobby alongside him before spending ten years behind Seattle bars and launching Captive Spirits in Ballard in 2012. The name carries a second meaning: a big emphasis on juniper, which was a genuine surprise from an American craft distillery at a time when most were running from it toward cucumbers and flowers. The Gin Is In called it a revelation that made its best-of list the year it launched and has endured as a home-bar favorite — helping turn the tide against the notion that American distillers couldn't make classic gin. The recipe is nine botanicals over a 100% corn base, distilled in 100-gallon Vendome pot stills: juniper, coriander, bitter orange peel, grains of paradise, angelica, cassia, cardamom, orris, and the unusual one, Tasmanian pepperberry. Bottled at 47% ABV (94 proof). Expect a bright, clearly classic nose of bold juniper with black pepper, cubeb spice, and bitter orange rind, opening into a clean, crisp palate that Capdevielle describes as floral but not flowery — "no flowers or cucumbers were harmed in the making of Big Gin" — with a nice sweetness and silky texture, finishing long on juniper and pepper. Gin Spectator rated it among the gins best for Martinis and Negronis. Head distiller Alex Myers now carries the recipe forward. A gin made by a bartender for bartenders: a great tonic, a great Martini, and it mixes down into anything.

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