Tag: news & awards

Announcing Founding Spirits Dry Gin

Last modified: March 23, 2023

We are excited to share some very big Founding Spirits news. We have distilled a great new spirit right here in the heart of our nation’s capital: Founding Spirits Dry Gin. 

For the past several years, we have been on a mission to create a superior dry gin for a perfect martini with a twist and an easygoing, classic gin & tonic. And we have done it. Distillery Director Jon Arroyo and Distillery Manager Bob VanLancker have created a classic, London-style dry gin.

Founding Spirits Dry Gin is distilled from North Dakota wheat, Virginia rye, and malted barley with a rich bouquet of botanicals, including chamomile, bergamot, mint, and lime zest. It is a medium-bodied dry gin, with a hint of spice, and a nice long finish. 

Like all of our spirits, we distill our Founding Spirits Dry Gin in small batches in our DC distillery, located in Mt Vernon Square. 

Looking for a way to get a taste of our great new spirit? 

  • Stop by Founding Farmers & Distillers bar to try it in a cocktail, and buy a bottle to take home with you. 
  • Try our Monumental Mule cocktail at the Capital One Arena during game days and other events. Founding Spirits is the official distillery of the arena. 
  • Ask for Founding Spirits at restaurants and bars across the DMV. 
  • Purchase a bottle of Founding Spirits Dry Gin online.
  • Grab a bottle at one of these fine retailers across the DC region and into Delaware. 
  • If you are in the industry, order Founding Spirits Dry Gin, as well as all of our spirits, wholesale through Breakthru Beverage Group and Prestige–Ledroit Distributing Co.

Once you have tasted it, please let us know what you think. Visit us on social @ Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. 

Founding Spirits is the Official Distillery for Capital One Arena

Last modified: March 23, 2023

We are delighted to announce our partnership with DC’s Capital One Arena.

For the coming season, Founding Spirits is the Official Vodka, Dry Gin, and Official Distillery of Capital One Arena. This means more and more DC fans will be drinking DC spirits while cheering on their hometown heroes, attending concerts, and more. Founding Spirits is available across the arena for all events, at bars throughout the concourse, and in all Capital One suites. 

Looking for somewhere to pre-game? Join us at Founding Farmers & Distillers for CAPS Hour before each home game. Enjoy food and drink specials at the bar, including a variety of delicious cocktails made with the spirit of Capital One Arena, Founding Spirits.

As the Official Distillery of Capital One Arena and makers of DC’s #1 local Vodka, Founding Spirits is available at many local restaurants and bars, including Jack Rose, Bluejacket, Hook Hall, Roy Boys, Serenata, The Game DC, and more.

Across our fine city, we’re pouring DC’s locally-made spirits to toast all of our teams, whether based at Cap One Arena or elsewhere. 

DC Fans Drink DC Spirit. Let’s go Caps and let’s go Wizards!

A Spirited, Award-Winning Year in Review

Last modified: March 23, 2023

It’s been quite an amazing year for our in-house, micro-batch distillery.

Custom-built inside Founding Farmers & Distillers, Founding Spirits is the brainchild of our dynamic distilling duo, Distillery Director, Jon Arroyo, and Distillery Manager, Bob VanLancker. In our first year, Founding Spirits has received some of the most acclaimed international awards, been recognized by spirit connoisseurs across the world as a new distillery to follow, and has been featured at events in our nation’s capital and beyond. If that isn’t enough, we have also transitioned to selling our spirits online so you don’t have to live near one of our restaurants to get a taste of our award-winning spirits.

We know that part of what makes our spirits so special is that our farmer-owned, scratch-made, source-matters mission runs through all we do, even our craft spirits. Our family-farmed wheat is trucked to us from our co-owners, the North Dakota Farmers Union, for our award-winning Founding Spirits Vodka. The corn, wheat, barley, and oats come direct from our good friend and farmer, the late Billy Dawson, for our Founding Spirits American Whiskey. The honey for our limited-edition Amaro is harvested right here in downtown DC with our apiary partnership with The George Washington University.

This year’s awards & recognition have really put us on the craft spirits map. To date, Founding Spirits has won FIVE major industry awards. With Founding Spirits American Amaro winning four prestigious awards:

… and our Founding Spirits Vodka notably awarded BRONZE by the American Distilling Institute.

We were featured guests at the world-famous Tales of the Cocktail participating in two conference-sponsored tastings. We joined bartenders and spirit specialists from across the globe at the fourth annual Tiki by the Sea, teaching and training how to craft the best tiki cocktails. And we have enjoyed meeting, greeting, and serving our fans at events across the DC metropolitan area. Our Founding Spirits Vodka was the sponsored spirit for one of the nation’s biggest tennis events, DC’s Citi Open. We’ve served our famous Cucumber Delight to the delight of guests at DC’s biggest industry award gala, The RAMMY’s; hosted our very own Kentucky Derby celebration complete with our Founding Spirits Derby-inspired cocktails and a tasting with our award-winning team; and we served handcrafted cocktails and joined forces to support DC Central Kitchen, St. Jude, the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance, and more.

We’ve been delighted to be able to offer our spirits for sale online this year too.

We couldn’t be more excited about the past year at Founding Spirits.

Come in and see (and taste) for yourself. Book a tour with us. Founding Spirits distillery tours and tastings are available Saturdays by reservations; walk-ins are also accepted pending availability. Or join us at Founding Farmers & Distillers and have one of our expert cocktail specialists make you a Founding Spirits craft cocktail.

Founding Spirits can also be purchased at Farmers & Distillers, through multiple local retailers, and ordered online.

Our Amaro Wins AGAIN

Last modified: July 22, 2021

Founding Spirits American Amaro won its fourth award earlier this month, a SILVER medal from the 2018 International Review of Spirits by Tastings, an affiliate of the Beverage Testing Institute.

Earning 86 points and highly recommended, Tastings gave a full description of our amaro with the award win: “Hazy mahogany color. Aromas and flavors of soft black licorice, chocolate sauce, proofing dough, cinnamon, and ginger powder on raisins, and cola syrup with a round, crisp, bittersweet medium body, and a peppery, interesting, medium-length oregano finish. A funky amaro to pair with a chocolate croissant.”

This latest award follows on the heels of a winning year for our less than two-year-old spirit. Our Founding Spirits American Amaro won GOLD and Best in 2018 from the American Distilling Institute and SILVER from the 2018 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Featured in several of our bar favorites, including the Negroni Swizzle at Farmers & Distillers and the Amaro Daiquiri at Founding Farmers, our amaro is also quite delicious on its own. It recently became available for purchase online, so even if you can’t get to one of our restaurants, you can enjoy its award-winning “never bitter” taste in the comfort of your own home.

Founded in 1981 with the goal of producing fair, impartial wine reviews for consumers, Tastings has since expanded their scope to include beer and spirits. Over the years, their reviews have appeared in publications and online industry sites such as, Wine Enthusiast, Restaurant Hospitality, The New Yorker, Wine & Spirits Magazine, Epicurious.com, and many others. As an independent product rating and review company, Tastings provides beverage buying guides and education for consumers and the trade. Their mission is to help people discover and understand drinks they will love.