1220 artisan Spirits The Barrel Reserve Gin from 1220 Artisan Spirits is one of the newest entries into the local barrel-aged gin category. Rob Vossmeyer, 1220’s head distiller (and former head distiller at Tom’s Town in Kansas City), says that the idea for the barrel-aged gin was inspired in part by his friendship with Bill and Kathy Foster, co-founders of Big O Ginger Liqueur. “They do this product once a year with Big O Reserve, where they’ll finish their spirit in barrels from other distilleries,” Vossmeyer says. “They had done an experiment with brand-new oak barrels, and the experiment hadn’t yielded the extractives from the barrel in the way they had hoped, so they transferred the product to a different set of used barrels. I told them when the first set of barrels were emptied, I would gladly use them. I created a custom gin recipe and aged that for three months in the barrels before filtering and bottling it.” Vossmeyer used just three botanicals in the recipe for Barrel Reserve Gin: juniper, coriander and angelica root. “I purposely made a very simple gin,” he says. “I think if you try to create a complex gin only to barrel-age it, the more subtle components will likely be lost after resting it in a barrel. Furthermore, a complex gin makes it more difficult to showcase the elements that the barrel brings to the finished spirit.” Vossmeyer chose bold flavors that could stand up to whatever character the barrel imparted. “Angelica has a pungent, earthy, perfumelike quality about it, and building a gin that will stand up to a barrel is important,” Vossmeyer says. “Otherwise, you get something that tastes more like a barrel than the original spirit.” The barrels from Big O impart flavors of vanilla, caramel and coconut, but its primary flavor is ginger. “Enough of the Big O spirit soaked into the wood that you get a significant bite from the Barrel Reserve Gin,” Vossmeyer says. He sees barrel-aging gin as a way to introduce non-gin drinkers to flavors that only gin can offer, yet with the color and character of whiskey. “I have yet to hear anyone say, ‘This is awful,’” Vossmeyer says with a laugh. “There are some fantastic flavors in oak. Certain compounds that are pulled from the wood change chemically during aging and oxidation, and the resulting flavors and aromas are complementary to a lot of spirits – and there’s no reason that couldn’t work with gin, too,” he continues. “I think there’s a lot of potential in the world of barrel-finishing gin.” 1220 S. Eighth St., LaSalle Park, St. Louis, Missouri, facebook.com/1220spirits
"There are some fantastic flavors in oak. Certain compounds that are pulled from the wood change chemically during aging and oxidation, and the resulting flavors and aromas are complementary to a lot of spirits – and there’s no reason that couldn’t work with gin, too"
-Rob Vossmeyer 96
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Into the Wild Serves 1
1½ ¾ ½ 2
oz 1220 Artisan Spirits Barrel Reserve Gin oz Big O Ginger Liqueur oz fresh lemon juice dashes Scrappy’s cardamom bitters lemon twist (for garnish)
/ preparation / Combine all ingredients except garnish in a cocktail shaker over ice. Shake, strain and pour into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist and serve.
