K&L Faultline Gin

The newest addition to the California wine merchant's exclusive collection of specially bottled spirits

When David Driscoll of K&L Wine Merchants happened upon an experimental barrel of gin at Alameda, CA-based distillery St. George, one sip prompted a special request to add it to the Faultline series, a small collection of spirits bottled exclusively for the liquor retailer.

Driscoll teamed up with St. George's Dave Smith and Lance Winters to bring to K&L the special gin, which is characterized by the addition of a few macerated ingredients and some extra filtering. The collaboration also led to the new Faultine Gin label on the run's 900 bottles. The imagery on the label is inspired by vintage botanical textbooks drawings and features a layout similar to a vintage certificate or bank note.

Faultline Gin stays with the herbaceous flavor profile of St. George gins, though not as overtly botanical as Botanivore and not as savory as the Mt. Tam. Driscoll notes the gin's harmonious flavor in a well-mixed martini, giving credit to St. George distiller Dave Smith for this latest iteration of the classic spirit.

"Driscoll has the nasty little habit of skulking around distilleries with a crazy straw," says Winters. "He's been a great supporter of what we do at St. George. While we were in the process of developing our St. George gins?Botanivore, Terroir, and Dry Rye Gin?Dave would come by the distillery and sample to see how things were coming along. It was on one of these visits that he fell in love with one of the gins that we made to test out some of the botanicals and asked if there might be away to convince us to bottle it for K&L."

The name Faultine evolved from the desire to connect K&L's northern and the southern California stores. The K&L spirits team carefully selects each spirit to offer their customers the unique opportunity to taste some their rare discoveries.

The St. George gin comes as the third Faultline limited release by K&L, following a Little Mill 21-year-old single malt found in a warehouse on Islay and a Paul Marie & Fils cognac.

Faultline Gin 750ml is now available exclusively at K&L for $35. Keep an eye out for the next Faultline, a 20-year-old Cragenmore single malt, that will be available soon.

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