All of Connecticut Distributors, Inc., except where indicated: Mike DePasqua, Beam Suntory; Jon Fredyna, Vice President of Marketing; Keli Rivers, East Coast Brand Ambassador, Sipsmith Gin; Kelly Scofield, Business Manager; Paul Puhalla, Vice President, Sales; and John Slocum, President.

Connecticut Distributors, Inc., welcomed Keli Rivers, East Coast Brand Ambassador, Sipsmith Gin, who guided the on-premise team through the history of the brand and an educational tasting of its Lemon Drizzle, Strawberry Smash and London Dry Gin in September. Sipsmith launched in 2009, becoming London’s first copper pot distillery startup in nearly 200 years. Led by industry veterans Sam Galsworth, Fairfax Hall and Jarod Brown, the trio makes Sipsmith Gin from its three custom copper pot stills, named Constance, Prudence and Patience. Prudence was the brand’s first still, designed in collaboration with Christian Carl, one of Germany’s oldest distillery producers. The English imported gin uses the “one-shot” method to distill all of its small-batch spirits, a process in which only the end distillate is cut with water, not neutral spirit, bringing it down to bottling strength. Beam Suntory acquired the brand in 2016. Sipsmith London Dry Gin, 41.6% ABV, uses 10 botanicals in its maceration: juniper berries, coriander seed, angelica root, licorice root, orris root, ground almond, cassia bark, cinnamon, orange peel and lemon peel. Each expression is made using real fruit. Lemon Drizzle offers hand-peeled lemon bite and Strawberry Smash is made with real Wimbledon strawberries.