“An American original… now owned by a Canadian”

What is Aviation Gin?

(Image source: Aviation Gin)

Chances are, you’ve already been acquainted with Aviation Gin in some way. Aviation Gin is an American gin brand that Ryan Reynolds has been marketing the heck out of for years! With the same trademark mischievous humour that made Deadpool a blockbuster hit, the Canadian actor has done a phenomenal job of raising the profile of Aviation Gin within the premium gin market.

The gin itself is known for carrying a spicy, citrusy and floral note, with juniper notes taking a backstage role. This flavour profile is reflective of its categorisation as a “New Western Dry Gin”, which was a whole new designation coined and championed by Aviation’s co-founder Ryan Magarian (more on that later!)

Did You Know? Aviation Gin Actually Pre-dates Ryan Reynolds!

While Aviation Gin has become somewhat synonymous with Ryan Reynolds, you might be surprised to learn that the brand had existed for quite some time before Reynolds got involved.

Co-founder Christian Krogstad with early batches of Aviation Gin. (Image source: Portland Business Journal)

Aviation Gin was actually first launched in 2005 by distiller Christian Krogstad and bartender Ryan Magarian at the House Spirits Distillery in Portland. It was named after a pre-Prohibition era cocktail called The Aviation, which is made from gin, maraschino liqueur, crème de violette and lemon juice.

Nowadays, we know Aviation for its transparent flask-like bottle shape featuring aircraft imagery. But did you know that up until 2013 when Aviation rebranded and changed its packaging, the gin was actually sold in a wine bottle with a blue label.

The old Aviation gin bottle, pre-2013.

Three years later in 2016, House Spirits Distillery sold Aviation Gin to New York distributor Davos Brands. While it doesn’t own the brand anymore, House Spirit Distillery is still the distiller of Aviation Gin today. Fun fact: The distillery did, however, use the funds from their sale of Aviation to start production on their very own American single malt brand, Westward Whisky!

In the long and in no way disastrous marriage of showbiz and alcohol, so happy to announce I’m the proud owner of a gin company... @AviationGin. pic.twitter.com/qPwe0IC6bz

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) February 21, 2018

Ryan’s Marketing Midas Touch (A.K.A. “In-Flight Entertainment”)

It was only in 2018 when Ryan Reynolds got a chance to try Aviation gin and acquired a stake in the company. In the actors words: “Aviation is the best tasting in in the world. Once I tried it, I knew I wanted to get involved with the company in a big way.” The rest, you could say, is history. Once Reynold’s acquired a stake in Aviation Gin from then-owners Davos Brands, he started to play a crucial and transformative role in the creative direction of the brand.
 
Reynolds may be most widely known as an actor, but above all, he might just be a marketer at heart!
 
Perhaps it’s a lifetime of being in showbiz, but Reynolds seemed to grasp that effective marketing comes down to storytelling rather than advertisements. Under his creative direction, the Aviation marketing team started launching campaign videos that were infused with his characteristically tongue-in-cheek humour.
 
These weren’t those typical ads that one begrudgingly tolerated for the five seconds it took before YouTube allowed you to press Skip! In fact, the brand even calls these videos “in-flight entertainment”. Some of Reynold’s popular campaigns include:

Ryan Reynold’s Vasectomy

In the lead up to Father’s Day two years ago, Reynolds ran a campaign unshyly titled “Ryan Reynold’s Vasectomy”. In the video which has since garnered over eight million views, Reynolds walks viewers through how to make “The Vasectomy” cocktail using Aviation Gin, while talking wryly about the “joys” of fatherhood. His recipe calls for the viewer to fill a tall glass with ice “the way children fill our lives with so much joy”, or the addition of tonic to make the cocktail as bubbly as he feels “every day I wake up from a full night’s sleep” – instructions all dished out with comical sarcasm designed to convince any beleaguered dad out there to treat themselves to Aviation Gin

“It’s Father’s day, but if you don’t mind, we’re gonna celebrate with the mother of all cocktails: the Vasectomy.”

Truce

Reynolds also roped in actor pal Hugh Jackman in a joint advertisement to market his gin and Jackman’s coffee brand. In the video titled “Truce”, the actors both agreed to filmed ads for each other’s brands to call an end to their online social media war. Reynolds creates a feel-good film effusively praising his friend and the coffee, while Jackman calls Reynolds an expletive and pours out a bottle of Aviation on the carpet. Either way, mission accomplished, the viewer is reminded of Aviation Gin yet again.

“Ryan Reynolds is a complete and total ****.”

Not A Gin Ad

By 2020, there is barely a soul that doesn’t know that Reynolds is not doing the absolute most to sell more Aviation gin bottles. If Reynolds knows he’s being perceived as a glorified salesmen, he makes clear he’s ready to own it. In this campaign, Reynolds breaks the fourth wall and goes meta with his gin ad, titled “Not a Gin Ad”.

“This is absolutely not an ad, or a partnership, with my top-of-the-line, best-selling gin.”

How Aviation Gin is Made

 According to Ryan Reynolds

Ordained for its "heavenly taste". (Image source: Aviation Gin)

If you asked Ryan Reynolds, he would tell you that Aviation Gin’s production process involves the following essential steps:

1. At 4am, the distillers begin the day with four hours of silent meditation
2. They ride their scooters down to the grove, where the citrus fruits are misted with Ryan Reynold’s tears
3. All their botanicals are “humanely caught - cage free and grain fed”.
4. The distillers apologise to each juniper berry individually, before beating the living hell out of it to ensure a smoother, more refined finish.
5. Every bottle is ordained by the Unitarian Church of Fresno California for a “heavenly taste”.
6. The bottles are then serenaded with the healing music of Sarah McLachlan before being shipped out.

How Aviation Gin is Actually Made

House Spirits Distillery makes the gin out of seven botanicals: juniper, coriander, lavender, cardamom, sarsaparilla and two types of orange peel.

The distillery uses a maceration method to infuse its botanicals into the spirit. The blend of botanicals are pulverised first before being steeped in neutral grain spirit for 18 hours, before it is then distilled in a pair of traditional cooper stills – which are actually named Ryan and Blake after the actor and his wife!

Once the spirit is condensed into the column-shaped condensers, the distiller then cuts the spirit to remove the “heads” and the “tails”, leaving behind only the middle cut, or the “heart” where the spirit is the smoothest and without the harshest compounds. At this point, the alcohol is at around 60% abv, and it is transferred to a blending tank where it is watered down to 42% ABV.

“Tastes like a sunrise had sex with a feather duster," was how Ryan Reynold’s ‘evil twin’ described it. I don’t know what this means, but I’m intrigued enough to want to try it.

Visitors to Aviation Gin's new 33,000 square foot distillery in Portland, Oregon can get an in-person look into the Aviation distillation and bottling process, before winding down over cocktails at the distillery's airport-themed bar. (Image source: R&H Construction)

Defining A New Gin Category: New Western Dry Gin

Ryan Magarian of Aviation Gin coined the term "New Western Dry gin". (Image source: High Proof Preacher)

Ryan Reynolds aside, another really interesting aspect of Aviation Gin is the role that it played in sparking a broader conversation among gin producers about prevailing gin classifications. In its early years of production, co-founder Magarian felt strongly that Aviation Gin did not fit neatly into any of the existing categories of gin. Magarian hence coined the term “New Western Dry Gin” and advocated for this new categorisation of gin.

In his words, New Western dry gins would be an entirely new designation of gins that “shift away from the usually overabundant focus on juniper, to the supporting botanicals, allowing them to almost share centre stage”. In other words, New Western dry gins are gins that have subtler and less prominent juniper profiles, with its producers placing greater emphasis on the curation and elevation of other supporting botanicals. This would mark a departure from traditional definition of London Dry Gin, which tended to have juniper berries as the dominant flavour.

Declaration of GINdependence. (Image source: Aviation Gin)

Some detractors have argued that having a barely-there juniper influence might defeat the purpose of a gin classification entirely. Some also argue that the prefix term “Western” seems arbitrary now, given that more and more international distilleries outside of America have been embracing a more botanical-first, juniper-second to gin making. Meanwhile, supporters argue that this new style of gin would be a welcome shift away from the rigidity of the London Dry gin classification. Allowing for more diverse flavour profiles would boost the approachability and accessibility of gin, especially for new drinkers that may not be used to the distinctively piney profile of juniper.

It is the New Western dry designation that, still today, Aviation Gin pledges its allegiance to. Accordingly, it’s not uncommon for drinkers of Aviation Gin to find that it’s spicy, citrusy and earthy notes tend to take prominence, with the gentler juniper note playing only a minor supporting role to stronger notes of coriander, orange peels and sarsaparilla.

Enough Talk, Now Go Make Yourself A Cocktail! 

If you're planning to try Aviation Gin, the brand recommends first savouring it neat, before incorporating it into a classic G&T or other cocktails. Or, why not try it in its namesake cocktail, the Aviation Cocktail? 

The Aviation

1.5 oz Aviation American Gin
0.5 oz Maraschino Liqueur
0.5 oz Lemon Juice
0.25 oz Simple Syrup
1 tsp Crème De Violette

Combine all ingredients in cocktail shaker with Ice. Shake, then strain into Coupe glass with Ice. Garnish with brandied Cherry.

Happy sipping!

@lotusroot518