Fear City Gin, produced in partnership with Greenport’s Matchbook Distilling Co., recently won two awards at the 2024 USA Spirits Rankings in San Francisco.
The gin won a gold medal and “Best in Show by Country” for the United States. The spirit is manufactured in Greenport for NYC-based Fear City Spirits. Fear City gets its name from the “Welcome to New York” pamphlet that was circulated in the 1970s by disgruntled policemen to discourage tourism and featured the hooded form of the grim reaper.
“We kind of hit it off and found [Matchbook] really easy to work with,” says Fear City’s co-founder, Christopher Davis. “They had a good process of making a nice custom gin, which is what we were after.”
Davis comes from a brewing background on Long Island. His family owns Great South Bay Brewery in Bay Shore and its boutique sister label, Ghost Brewing Company. The group’s successes have included a number of limited-run offerings, which was the original intent behind the gin.
“That that was the idea for Fear City — we wanted to partner with some local distilleries and do some limited releases,” says Davis. “But when we finally met with Matchbook and developed this gin, we were so attached to it that it became our first flagship … the award, I think, just validates all the efforts over the past four years.”
The gin incorporates sugar kelp from the Long Island Sound, as well as rosemary, white sage, caraway, angelica and coriander. These botanicals are sustainably grown and locally sourced whenever possible.
“That was one of the things that we knew were important to us, to incorporate some sort of locally sourced ingredient and just kind of have a sustainable approach to harvesting,” Davis says. “We make sure we partner with local farms who are practicing sustainable agriculture.”
The addition of the sugar kelp creates a unique flavor not often found in other gins.
“I would say this sugar kelp offers a soft, sweet, and slightly savory flavor, and it pairs nicely with the pine of the juniper and the white sage,” explains Davis. “White sage, specifically, helps to smooth out some of the sharper flavors. So it’s a really interesting component.”
Fear City is not finshed with the North Fork. The company plans to craft another gin to be aged in wine barrels from a prominent local vineyard. They also plan to take a cue from their logo to include New York’s state flower, the rose, in a future offering.
“We’re probably going to use it in one of our limited releases, being that the state flower of New York is the rose, and we feature it on our package,” he says. “We will probably incorporate some locally grown rose at some point.”
Fear City Gin (40% ABV) is available at Bogey’s Bottled Goods (54655 Main Road, Southold) for $39.99, and directly from Fear City Spirits.
Looking to make some fabulous cocktails with this award-winning gin? Fear City has you covered:
