Great Jones Distilling Co. | A first in Manhattan since Prohibition

This pretty whiskey distillery, located in the heart of Manhattan, has been the talk of the town for a few years now. For good reason: opened in 2021, it is the first of its kind in almost a century, and as a bonus, it is a woman, Celina Perez, who is the master distiller!

Better yet: during our visit earlier this year, through the different floors of the magnificent establishment with its period touches – with a speakeasy here, a bar or a restaurant there with a subdued atmosphere – we only came across women. Surprising, for a world traditionally associated with cigars and bowler hats, with a certain je-ne-sais-quoi of snobbery, let’s say.

Clearly, times are changing. Several surveys indicate that the clientele of this powerful elixir is getting younger, and especially more feminine. “My best friends in the industry are women,” also points out the main person concerned, with a casual tattooed look that exudes simplicity.

Before we go any further, a clarification. While Great Jones Distillery Co. is indeed the first whiskey distillery in Manhattan, three blocks from Washington Square Park, it is not the first to open in New York since the end of Prohibition. Several others have sprung up in Brooklyn in recent years, including Kings County, or Widow Jane, where it all began for Celina Perez. We’ll get to that.

For the record, let’s remember that Manhattan has a long history of distillation, dating back to the colonial era. The Dutch were already distilling a type of gin there in the 17th century.^e century. We also owe them this rich tavern culture, which they are said to have brought with them from the continent to New Amsterdam (renamed, as we know, New York by the English).

Still, it was in the 19th century^e century that we know the true golden age of distillation here, before Prohibition was declared, abruptly closing the door to dozens of small artisanal establishments. Exit the rums, whiskeys and spirits joyfully made here, with local products, it must be said.

“People don’t know this, but New York State has a very prolific agriculture,” says Celina Perez, not a little proud of all these New York grains, corn and rye, coming from local farmers, mainly from Orange County (Black Dirt Region), distilled again on site. Not to mention the water from the Catskill Mountains, full of minerals.

Then, as if to provoke us, our distiller adds: “That’s why we have the best bagels here!” That’s it, yes…

A major project

But let’s get back to the point. When you see the space needed for all this chemistry, the quantity of vats, this enormous still and all these barrels, you can quickly guess why it took so long before a distillery was reborn here, in the heart of Manhattan, where every square meter is worth its weight in gold.

But there is more. What has complicated things, besides the glaring lack of vacant spaces on the island, is an obscure law of the kind known only to Americans (remember that Californians are not allowed to ride bicycles in a swimming pool, and that it is illegal to serve wine in a teacup in Kansas!) which still prohibits distilling on the ground floor.

No matter, we cleverly got around this absurdity by directly mounting the imposing still on the second floor. We’ll let you imagine the gymnastics, which required the construction of a concrete floor as solid as a nuclear shelter (we’re barely exaggerating), all while completely closing Broadway to get there. Think about it: this floor, where the precious liquid is distilled, also has about ten vats, and must support nearly 4000 kg!

Liquid love

Let’s talk about the liquid. What got our distiller interested in it? New surprise: love. Or rather, heartbreak, we understand. That was a little over 10 years ago. “I remember this weird moment where I asked myself: what makes me happy? What is the thing that never lets me down?” she says with a laugh, before adding:

Rather inclined towards the arts, passionate about cheese, Celina Perez then took a few courses on whisky, learned a lot on the job, and discovered the joys of fermentation and distillation at home (yes, illegally, but don’t tell). Her goal: “To be independent and do something that I’m really proud of!”, she sums up. Penniless, and after having learned to make her own bread and beer, whisky was a bit self-evident, she also asserts. “It’s the same basics: cereals, water, sugar, heat and yeast.”

She ended up concocting a concoction that she still remembers, because she took it to Widow Jane’s, in Brooklyn. “My bottle was terrible,” she grimaces. “But they hired me on the spot! No, it wasn’t very good, but I think it was my self-confidence that played a role.”

Clearly, she’s still playing. Perez worked there as a master distiller, inventing all sorts of spirits, including rum, gin, and a bunch of different whiskeys, before finally being tapped to run this new distillery, Great Jones, where she’s been essentially concocting three products since 2021: a rye, her favorite, made with 100% New York rye, fresh and slightly cucumber-flavored; a bourbon (made mostly from corn, but also rye and barley); and a four-grain whiskey. “There’s a lot of pretension in the whiskey world,” she laments, always quite frankly. “I’m more of a ‘rye/bourbon girl’!”

Her plans for the future? “To continue to be involved in green methods, and anything that can make the world a little better,” she concludes naturally.

Tours by reservation. From $35 USD for one hour and three tastings.

Visit the Great Jones Distilling Co. website (in English)

Part of the cost of this trip was paid by the New York Tourist Board, which had no control over the content of this report.