Alaska pilots can now choose a bottle of gin designed specifically with flying in mind now that Aviation Gin has finally arrived in the Last Frontier. From the Portland-based House of Spirits distillery, Aviation Gin is now available for purchase in Anchorage with expansion into Juneau and Fairbanks currently under consideration. (Sales representatives are talking to liquor stores in both cities.) The gin is also enjoying a fresh look with a bottle redesign which includes an unusual shape and logo cast into the glass itself, both of which make it that much more visually appealing.
As described last month in Bon Appetit by House of Spirits founder and head distiller Christian Krogstad, the new design sports "the between-the-wars, golden age of the cocktail, golden age of aviation, Chrysler Building sort of look." As that period just happens to be when Alaska aviation came into its own and the entire bush pilot mythos was born, this is a gin that is clearly tailor-made for aviators in the 49th state.
Design, of course, is not what a good drink is all about, but Bon Appetit has a solid report on taste as well, referring to Aviation Gin as: "one of the brands that defined the new style of American gins that sprung up in the past ten years, mellowing out the classic juniper punch of a London Dry (like Tanqueray) with gentler botanical and citrus elements."
House of Spirits offers several recipes on its website using Aviation Gin including the Aviation Cocktail (a classic first published in 1916 and updated here), the Aviation Rickey and the Flying Hemmingway. (Though his last name is spelled differently, Ernest Hemingway famously survived two devastating plane crashes in Africa, one of which prompted obituary notices to be posted around the world.)
Aviation Gin is available for purchase in Anchorage at Gold Rush Liquor and Value Liquor stores. Consider it a well-deserved reward for pilots who have spent a long hot summer getting the job done.
Colleen Mondor is a licensed pilot who worked for years as lead dispatcher for a Fairbanks-based bush commuter, coordinating flights of everything from prisoners to sled dogs to snowmachines. She has degrees in aviation, history and northern studies and is author of The Map of My Dead Pilots: The Dangerous Game of Flying in Alaska. Contact her at colleen(at)alaskadispatch.com