Spirits · London, England
Fords
A London dry gin built by bartenders, for the cocktails bartenders actually make.
- Founded
- 2012
- Founded by
- Simon Ford
- Based in
- London, England
Making it since
2012
Their story
Fords Gin is the work of Simon Ford, a British wine man turned spirits ambassador who spent years behind and around bars. He developed it with the late Sasha Petraske, founder of New York's Milk & Honey, and launched it in 2012 under The 86 Co., the spirits company he started with Jason Kosmas and Dushan Zaric of Employees Only.
The brief was simple: a gin that works across the classic cocktail list without any one flavor taking over. In 2019 Brown-Forman bought The 86 Co. and kept Fords as its gin, so the brand is now part of that larger spirits group.
How it's made
Fords is distilled in London at Thames Distillers under master distiller Charles Maxwell. It uses nine botanicals, led by juniper and coriander, with lemon, orange and grapefruit peel, angelica, jasmine, and small amounts of cassia and orris. The team ran 83 trials to get the balance right.
Why we carry them
Fords is our pick when you want one gin that does it all, from a dry martini to a gin and tonic. The citrus and jasmine keep it bright without getting perfumey.
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