Philadelphia Distilling Toasts 20 Years of Bluecoat Gin

PHILADELPHIA — The gin that took its name from Revolutionary War uniforms is turning 20. Philadelphia Distilling is celebrating two decades of Bluecoat American Dry Gin, the citrus-forward spirit that helped put Pennsylvania back on the distilling map.

Bluecoat launched in 2006, a year after Philadelphia Distilling was founded, according to Heaven Hill Brands, which acquired the company in 2022. The distillery was the first craft spirits maker in Pennsylvania since Prohibition.

The name was a deliberate challenge to tradition. Where London Dry gins lean on sharp juniper, Bluecoat went softer on juniper and heavier on citrus botanicals, becoming the first gin to carry the words “American Dry Gin” on its label, Heaven Hill said.

The bet paid off. Bluecoat is now sold in 48 states and 24 countries, and the Fishtown distillery turns out roughly 150,000 bottles a year, according to 6abc. It remains distilled and bottled in Philadelphia even after the 2022 acquisition.

“People have this idea ingrained in their head about what gin is,” Aaron Selya, the company’s director of operations, told 6abc. “And for the last 20 years, we’ve been trying to change that story.”

For the anniversary, the distillery is toasting the bars and restaurants that built the brand. Starting Sept. 24, its Fishtown tasting room debuted a menu of 20 anniversary cocktails, each inspired by an establishment that championed Bluecoat early on, PhillyVoice reported. The list spans local institutions like Parc, Suraya and Bok Bar to out-of-town accounts in New York, Washington and St. Louis.

“Bluecoat has always been bigger than the bottle,” Nicole Enders, the distillery’s events and marketing operations manager, told PhillyVoice. “It’s been built by the people who believed in it — from the bartenders who poured it early on to the restaurants that featured it on their menus.”

The company now makes three Bluecoat expressions: the original American Dry Gin, an elderflower version and a barrel-finished gin aged in new American oak, the same barrels used for bourbon, according to 6abc. The distillery also offers cocktail-making classes and tours.

The timing adds resonance. As Philadelphia prepares for the nation’s 250th birthday, a spirit named for the soldiers of the Revolution marks its own milestone as a hometown success story.