D. George Benham's Sonoma Dry Gin

D. George Benham's is Sonoma County's gin — made at Graton Distilling Company in the small town of Graton, in the heart of the Russian River wine country, and named for the distillery's founder. The style is modern California: twelve botanicals built around the region's citrus and herbs rather than a London Dry template. Juniper anchors it, joined by Meyer lemon and Buddha's hand — the fragrant, multi-fingered citron that's all peel and perfume — alongside mint, peppermint, chamomile, vanilla, grains of paradise, angelica, coriander, cardamom, and orris root. The result reads like a Sonoma garden in summer: bright citrus oil, a cooling minty lift, soft chamomile florals, and a whisper of vanilla sweetness over the juniper spine. Expect Meyer lemon and fresh mint leaping from the glass on the nose, opening into a smooth, slightly creamy palate where the Buddha's hand adds an exotic floral-citrus note, the chamomile and vanilla round the edges, and grains of paradise and cardamom bring gentle warmth, finishing clean and aromatic. Honest note: this is a contemporary, citrus-and-herb-forward gin rather than a juniper wall, and Good Gin Tentions had mixed feelings about the collage-style label — what's inside matters more. It's built for a Sonoma G&T with a Meyer lemon wheel, a Mint Gimlet, a Southside, or a Bee's Knees with local honey. Wine-country craft gin from a distillery most people drive past on the way to Healdsburg.

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