Fort Hamilton New World Dry Gin
If you’ve read my article on Fort Hamilton Distillery for ABV Network, you know I’m a big fan.
Everything Alex, Amy, and the team do is infused with history, just blocks from where that history happened. It’s no surprise, then, that their New World Dry Gin is just as infused as their whiskey.
During the Battle of Brooklyn - the largest battle in the entire American Revolution by troops involved - the nascent Continental Army and the Revolution itself was nearly snuffed out before it began. The British took over Brooklyn piece by piece, forcing General Washington and the troops north to Brooklyn Heights, through which they would eventually escape.
The epicenter of the fighting occured on Battle Hill, a site now within historic Green-Wood Cemetery’s grounds. The beginning, however, was about as improbable as could be.
The Continental Army at that site was comprised of small, largely under-trained regiments from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, with a better-trained regiment from Maryland alongside (more on them later). The HMS Asia was perched in the waters off of Fort Hamilton in the Narrows of the Hudson River. Nobody expected a battle to break out - then, a pair of British soldiers stole some watermelons.
Yep, that’s right: the biggest battle of the Revolution in terms of both troops and casualties began because of watermelons.
In short, the British won a hard-fought and costly victory. Likely not foreseeing the battle to come, troops from the Pennsylvania regiment opened fire on the watermelon thieves, igniting the massive confrontation. The first toe-to-toe engagement happened at 38th and 39th streets between 2nd and 3rd avenues, a block from where Fort Hamilton Distillery resides in Industry City today.
The poorly trained colonial army was able to escape at a heavy loss, eventually crossing Manhattan and the rivers into New Jersey to regroup. It was an unmitigated loss for the to-be Americans.
Suffering the heaviest losses were the Maryland 400, a corps of troops that were likely the best trained troops at Washington’s command (to be fair, there were also Delaware soldiers there, but they are almost always subsumed into the Maryland title). These troops staged their own Thermopylae, holding off the advancing British army while the rest of the Continental Army retreated. They were killed almost to a man (only around a dozen survived), inflicting significant damage on the British as they fell.
Washington never forgot the sacrifice. He called the Marylanders his Old Line and honored them for saving his army from annihilation. Today, Maryland’s official title is “The Old Line State”, and a series of upcoming reviews and a podcast appearance from Old Line Spirits will delve deeper into that. When the Maryland contingent was reconstituted, it was still one of the best-trained groups in the entire army.
In honor of the Battle of Brooklyn and its implausible start, Fort Hamilton designed a New World-style dry gin focusing on watermelon and cucumber as the primary flavors. As a gin, of course there is juniper, but it’s about as mild a juniper flavor as I’ve ever had in a gin. Alex is admittedly not a fan of juniper-heavy gins, something you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a Londoner-by-birth.
The gin has a few extra steps to it, each meant to elevate the flavors. Think of it as a dish where you’ve only got a few ingredients on the plate - there’s nowhere to hide, so each ingredient has to shine. There are 11 botanicals infused into the 100% New York-grown corn neutral spirit: cannonball watermelon, cucumber, Tuscan juniper, coriander, lemon, lime, orange, Florentine iris, angelica root, star anise, and cinnamon. From the press release:
All botanicals vapor distilled in a Vendome hybrid copper pot still* using a gin basket. Tuscan juniper is cracked and macerated in neutral spirit before being distilled along with coriander, cinnamon, star anise, angelica root, and Florentine iris; meanwhile, cannonball watermelon, cucumber, and three different citrus fruit zests are individually distilled. Individual distillates are precisely blended and rested for 2 weeks before bottling.
*My note: this is incorrect - the still was not made by Vendome but by a Missouri-based still-maker. It is a hybrid copper pot with an offset 4-plate column and a gin basket just before the condenser.
I sipped this gin straight, and it’s smooth, clean, and bright. The citrus peel adds dimension without being acidic, and the watermelon and cucumber taste like the rinds were freshly pressed into your glass. There’s only a bare burn, one that quickly disappears by the second sip. The gin was also delicious in both a Bee’s Knees and an Italian Greyhound without being overpowered by the other ingredients.
This isn’t your usual gin, and it’s not supposed to be. This is a gin for the New World, a gin that honors history, and a gin for your friend who doesn’t think they like gin. If there’s one gin I’ve tried that might convert a few people, it’s Fort Hamilton’s New World Dry Gin.
Thank you to Fort Hamilton for providing a sample of this gin free of editorial constraints.
Fort Hamilton New World Dry Gin: Specs
Classification: New World Gin
Origin: Fort Hamilton Distillery
Mashbill: 100% New York Corn
Proof: 80 (40% ABV)
Age: N/A
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Fort Hamilton New World Dry Gin Price: $34.99
Fort Hamilton New World Dry Gin Review: Tasting Notes
Nose: Watermelon rind with just a sliver of the red part still on it. Muted juniper, candied ginger, black peppercorns, sweet tarragon and a buttery fattiness to the nose.
Palate: This is the watermelon show - come on down. Melon rind, mild to no burn that’s more under the tongue and in the corners of my mouth. Black pepper and an oily mouthfeel build from back to front on the palate. The cucumber is understated, just enough to let you know it’s there and to lighten the pepper notes.
Finish: Juniper makes a last stand of its own, but nothing a new gin drinker couldn’t handle. If anything, it adds a bit of woody depth without tasting bitter or overly herbal. Medium-length finish that invites another sip.
Overall: A gin for those who don’t like gin, and a gin for the summer that you’ll end up drinking all year round. Wonderful.
Final Rating: 7.8
10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close
9 | Incredible | Extraordinary
8 | Excellent | Exceptional
7 | Great | Well above average
6 | Very Good | Better than average
5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary
4 | Has promise but needs work
1-3 | Let’s have a conversation
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