Watershed Distillery Expands and Rebrands Chamomile Gin

COLUMBUS, Ohio— Following a Double Gold medal and title of Best Flavored Gin in the 2018 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Watershed Distillery is excited to announce a new look and wider distribution for their third addition to the Watershed family of gins, Chamomile-Flavored Guild Gin.

Guild Gin, made in collaboration with Columbus-based Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, joins Watershed Four Peel Gin and Watershed Bourbon Barrel Aged Gin, and marks Watershed’s first foray into the rapidly growing category of flavored gins.

Guild Gin, a corn and apple-based spirit, is pot distilled with traditional botanicals along with rose petal and nutmeg. After distillation, chamomile flowers are macerated in the spirit, allowing for juniper to take a back seat to more delicate, floral notes. It is this post-distillation infusion of dried chamomile flowers that gives Guild Gin one-of-a-kind character and its designation as a “flavored gin.”

Guild Gin is the product of the unique partnership Watershed Distillery and Cameron Mitchell Restaurants and was previously only available in limited quantities at Watershed Distillery’s bottle shop and at The Guild House restaurant in Columbus’ Short North Arts District. In 2019, Guild Gin will be distributed across the state of Ohio, with other states soon to follow.

The Double Gold designation highlights the collaborative efforts of two companies with strong roots in the Columbus community.

“We built this gin from the ground up with the team at Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, thanks to a collective emphasis on quality and dedication to maintaining the character of the ingredients. They’ve been a tremendous partner in this process, and were eager to embrace the flavored gin,” said Watershed founder Greg Lehman.

“As distillers, we’re attempting to capture the essence of the beautiful raw materials we work with every day. We aren’t flavoring with extracts and chemicals, so we try to utilize every technique possible. This post distillation addition of real dried chamomile is just another way for us to express these delicate flavors and we’re all thrilled with the way it turned out,” said Lehman.

Gin revenue in the US, the largest global market by volume, is expected to hit $1.75 billion in 2018, and the market is predicted to grow annually by 3.1 percent, according to Statista. Growth in the flavored gin segment continues to rise as variations of flavored gins, like pink gin, increase in popularity and variety.

With the wider release of Guild Gin, Watershed opted to refresh the bottle and label design, utilizing an elegant, elongated bottle and bolder use of color with pops of gold, meant to evoke subdued sophistication. Together with the hand-drawn chamomile flowers, the new look and feel of the Guild Gin bottles helps define its unique offering and flavor.

Visit the Guild Series page at watersheddistillery.com to learn more about the spirit.