River Rose Gin
River Rose honors a time when life along the river was gracious and inspiring. It is handmade in the historic river town of Le Claire, Iowa along a dramatic bend in the Mississippi where steamboat pilots of old would dock and hire local river pilots to navigate the harrowing rapids ahead. The steady hand and compass rose of these noble navigators made Le Claire famous. You can still see the historic homes of these revered river pilots if you visit Le Claire today.
Reflecting the deep respect for local expertise, River Rose is distilled with fresh grains from local farmers. Our unique blend of botanicals dates back to a recipe from the late 1800s. Highlighted with traditional juniper, River Rose jumps from your palette with a full body of citrus including orange, grapefruit and lemon. Lavender, rose petals and locally grown cucumbers provide a distinctive finish that makes your martini swirl with aroma.
Our slow, small batch process ensures a consistently clean and smooth finish. We hand write the batch number over each cork so you can see our commitment to every bottle that passes through our distillery. Our Rose is a tip of the hat to the heroes of the waters, the bounties of the shore and a spirit of adventure from a different time. Enjoy River Rose and raise a glass to these legendary navigators.
Our difference is our grain to glass approach
We’re surrounded by some of the finest grain fields in the world. It only makes sense to make the finest spirits from that grain as well. We purchase farm fresh grain, directly from the farmers who grow it. 100% of our grains come from within 25 miles of our distillery. Take our tour and you can see the entire process of spirit making from beginning to end. We’re one of a handful of distillers in the U.S. who take the “grain to glass” small batch distillation approach.
What “grain to glass” means is that we handle every step of the process ourselves, taking our fresh grain and make it into your favorite liquors. We sort and clean the grain and then mill it into a flour-like consistency. We cook the grain to make our mash and then add yeast to let it ferment. We distill the fermented mash and then filter it and blend it to proof. From there, it either goes into a barrel or a bottle. We bottle our spirits by hand. The important thing is that it is all done under our watchful eye, under one roof. We don’t outsource anything. It’s not always efficient but we pride ourselves on inefficiencies that result in a premium product. We know you’ll grow to appreciate our “grain to glass” approach once our spirits go from that glass onto your taste-buds!