Every now and again we get to meet some truly exceptional people and recently we got to add to that list by speaking with the owner of Falcon Spirits. Farid Dormishian is the brain trust behind Falcon Spirits and dare I say one of the finest libations we have ever had the chance of putting in a glass and tasting. His Botanica Spirit VS. Gin is his true pride and joy. Not only does the love of the process come through in the final product, but the clear passion for the gin is clear when speaking to Farid.
There are few times in your life that you can take a walk in the mind of a genius, but I felt that way after speaking to Farid about his gin. A biochemistry major and U.C. Berkeley (hence the genius comment) his love of distillation begin over 20 years ago as an undergraduate project. No doubt it was fueled by his love of mixology while working as a bartender to pay for his tuition. Once Farid became serious about distillation as more than a hobby he progressed from beer to wine to gin.
Now onto the gin and its clear greatness. The Richmond, CA based Falcon Spirit’s uses only the finest vodka made from non GMO corn as the base for the gin. From there, the gin goes through a triple distillation where 12 herbs and botanicals are infused into the product before resting for 2-3 weeks before bottling. Only the freshest, local ingredients are used throughout the process by sourcing locally grown oranges, Meyer lemons and grapefruit. And just how loved is this gin before it gets to the bottle? The largest batch ever made 
was only 200 bottles. This stems from high production standards which removes the head and the tail from the gin prior to bottling. A process that the distillation master himself admits makes the process more enjoyable due to the constant gin tasting it involves.
I heap a lot of praise on the owner of Falcon Spirits because there is a lot due. Over the course of an hour conversation, I learned more about distillation then I could have ever hopped to learn from casual reading. His gin is really a thing of beauty and is so well thought out and fine tuned that even the most stringent of drinkers will try hard to find fault in it. After all this time you might be wondering how to enjoy this gin? I personally tried it the first time in a wine glass and let it swirl around for a few minutes. This allowed the aromas to truly come out. The initial taste on the gin was clean, with a slight black licorice taste. The finish of the drink was smooth and had hints of the grapefruit, orange and cucumber. 
Next up we tried the classic gin martini and with the gin slightly chilled, it really added to the depth of the spirit. On the recommendation from Farid, we tried a 50/50 combination of the gin with a Muscat wine. The sweetness of the wine really played well with the spiciness that the gin has with the licorice flavor. A truly good drink. While there are countless gin recipes that we could have tried (and did) probably my personal favorite was another suggestion by the maker. Simply pouring over ice and sipping on the gin as the ice melted. Not a bad way to kill an afternoon by nursing this ultra tasty drink.
What’s next on the horizon for Falcon Spirits? Plans are in the works for a Limoncello and Orangecello using the same locally sourced lemons and oranges. No doubt these two will be designed to be paired with the gin at some point. Falcon Spirits is also dabbling in rum, which would only make us love them more. While this gin is not going to be the easiest for the everyday person to find, it is well worth searching out. Here is just a small sampling of where you can currently find the Botanica Spirit VS.Gin. Most notably it is the gin of choice for the Lake Tahoe Ritz Carlton and stars in the resorts signature gin martini.
