It’s pretty easy to predict which U.S. cities are poised for a craft spirits boom. If it’s developed a fairly epic brewing scene, chances are its ground is fertile for new distilleries. Case in point: San Diego. Long a craft beer destination, San Diego, in the past few years, has generated as much, if not more, buzz for its surging spirits community.
San Diego’s a Navy town, so it’s fitting that 114-proof Barrelflag Navy Strength Rum is among the products in
Old Harbor Distilling Co. Portfolio. When Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo first visited the region in 1542, he dubbed the area “San Miguel.” So, in a nod to San Diego’s early Colonial history, Old Harbor launched San Miguel Southwestern Gin, distilled from a variety of the southwest’s freshest botanicals including lime, cucumber, cilantro and sage. And the distillery collaborated with nearby Coffee & Tea Collective for the release of Ampersand Cold Pressed Coffee Liqueur.
Malahat Spirits Co. is rooted in more recent history. Its namesake was a five-masted schooner that sailed down the California coast delivering contraband spirits during Prohibition. Rum was the liquid of choice at the time and so it is at Malahat Spirits. Handcrafted San Diego Rum, Spiced Rum and Ginger Rum round out the portfolio.
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Founder and distiller Laura Johnson last year opened
You & Yours Distilling Co., which she calls San Diego’s first urban distillery, featuring a tasting room that serves cocktails made with its Sunday Gin. The room doubles as an event space that can accommodate up to 85 people. The inviting atmosphere of salvaged wood, whitewashed brick, exposed concrete, plush velvet, denim linen, copper and marble accents help create what the distillery calls an “Insta-worthy” aesthetic.
In addition to its Devil’s Share Single Malt Whiskey, Black Skimmer Bourbon, Fugu Vodka, Old Grove Gin and Three Sheets Spiced Rum,
Cutwater Spirits produces an herbal liqueur known as Opah and an extensive line of canned, ready-to-drink cocktails.
Seven Caves Distillery is best known for its flagship Seven Caves Barrel-Aged Rum, but it also harnesses the local terroir for Seven Caves Gin One with fresh California ingredients like mint and citrus. And the first batch its grain-to-glass Seven Caves Whiskey is nearly done aging and slated for release this fall.
San Diego Distillery recently reopened at a new, bigger location in Spring Valley, rising from the ashes of a fire at its original site last fall. The distillery has harnessed the city’s other famous beverage to develop a series of craft beer-inspired whiskeys, including a Single Malt based on a Russian imperial stout and a bourbon whose mash bill includes—in addition to the requisite corn content—a generous helping of Vienna malt. San Diego also collaborated with a number of craft brewers to distill their beers into whiskeys: Bottle Logic Brewing’s Darkstar November Imperial Stout, Karl Srauss’s Red Trolley Ale, Home Brewing Co.’s Coffee Dopplebock, Thorn St. Brewery’s Foreplay Belgian Blonde and Council Brewing Co.’s Bourbon Barrel-aged Pirates Breakfast Imperial Oatmeal Stout. The distillery also produces a rye and its flagship expression, Peated Whisky (opting for the Scottish spelling), made from 100 percent peated malted barley.
San Diego Distillery’s next-door neighbor,
Liberty Call Distilling Co. crafts Single Malt Whiskey, 4 Grain Whiskey, Gin, White Rum, Spiced Rum and Bourbon from ingredients indigenous to California. The distillery calls it a “So-Cal spin on spirits.”
The Golden State is also a big part of the branding at
The California Spirits Co., about a half hour north of San Diego in San Marcos. Rum’s the name of the game here and the company’s Avalon Silver Rum makes a great mixer in any cane-based spirit cocktails. Rum is also a big part of the repertoire of another San Marcos producer,
Perfect Soul, whose 100 proof molasses-based spirit is highly floral with a touch of vanilla. Its 100 proof whiskey is made from a blend of corn, barley and wheat and crafted on pot stills.
crafts its White Rum more in the tradition of rhum agricole and cachaça, using pure sugar cane rather than molasses, fermented with Champagne yeast. 117° West also makes a Spiced Rum and a Gin distilled from a malted barley, wheat and rye base with West Coast botanicals including hops, hibiscus white sage and cacao nibs. While you’re in Vista, you’ll want to check out
Henebery Spirits, whose whiskey is rooted in heritage that dates back to the mid-19
th century .
The oceanfront city of Encinitas offers a grain-to-glass spirits and farm-to-table dining experience in the form of
Pacific Coast Spirits and its on-site restaurant offering dishes crafted from the land’s bounty. Pacific Coast’s spirits lineup includes Whiskey, Gin, Brandy and Vodka. The distillery is the brainchild of Nicholas Hammond, whose family gained fame for its wine business. Hammond teamed with second-generation restaurateur Nick Schaller for the culinary side of the operation.
