Appendix: Pacific Distillery

Sometimes I don't come close to including all the cool, interesting facts I'd like for my column, just not enough inches to the page. So I'd like to add a few things to my column last week regarding Pacific Distillery.

We've all visited a tried and true garage winery before, a large warehouse space filled with giant stainless tanks, giant bins and row after row of barrels. Everything about the operation is big. When you visit a distillery, you think, "This is it?" An alembic pot still, stainless steel containers smaller than the average fridge, and a work area for all the mad scientist stuff. The space is just big enough to maybe house a small auto-detailing business.

When developing their gin recipe, Marc Bernhard produced twenty different batches of gin, some drastically different, some with minor tweaks. Bernhard's wife helped as official taster, narrowing the field down to seven candidates that they showcased for a panel of professionals in the biz. Bernhard took the comments from that tasting to heart when coming up with the final herbal blend.

For his absinthe, Bernhard is committed to making a product exactly as it would have been produced in the 19th century, right down to the special colorator he built which helps flavor the spirit. This gentle heating and movement allows for improved coloring and flavoring. Using homegrown wormwood (two kinds) and the very unique Florence fennel costs him plenty, but pays off in the final product. They lend complexity to the range of herbal and anise aromas and flavors, none of that Good & Plenty scrap you taste on lesser specimens.

The craziest thing I learned when I spoke to Marc about his product? Both the gin and absinthe will be on shelves in New York City before they get a proper listing with our state (and shelf space). Right now, the gin is special order only.