St. George Spirits is an artisanal distillery located in
Alameda, California that produces a range of alcoholic beverages under the direction of Master
Distiller Lance Winters.[1][2] They are known for producing
vodka,
absinthe,
whiskey,
gin,
brandy,
liqueurs, and a range of exotic spirits.
History
St. George Spirits was founded in 1982 by Jorg Rupf as an
eau de vie distillery.[3] In 1996, Jorg Rupf hired Lance Winters, a brewer and former nuclear scientist. One year later, Jorg and Lance began distilling and aging their
single malt whiskey,[3] which was first released in 2000. In 2004, St. George Spirits moved into its current location, a 65,000-square-foot (6,000 m2)
airplane hangar on the former
Alameda naval air station.[4]
In December 2007, the company released the first commercially available American
absinthe, St. George Absinthe Verte, since the lifting of the 1912 ban on making the spirit. The recipe had been in development for 11 years prior to release,[5] as the ban only applied to the commercial sale of the spirit (not development).
Jorg Rupf retired as master distiller in 2010. That same year, St. George sold their popular
Hangar One Vodka line to
Proximo Spirits to focus on new projects, including:
gin,
liqueurs,
malt whisky, agricole
rum, and Breaking & Entering Whiskies. In 2015 they released a new line of three
vodkas, and in 2016 they brought out Bruto Americano, a California
Amaro.[6]
In 2013,
Maverick Drinks began distributing St. George Spirits in the UK.[7] By 2018, St. George Spirits products were distributed in Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Finland, China, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Bermuda, and Panama among others.