gin no. 102 – Strange Monkey Gin

Explore the rest of the collection

• Strange Monkey is distilled in Pennsylvania using Silverback Distillery’s Virginia corn vodka.
• The secret ingredient is raw almonds which gives the gin its unique flavor profile.
• My bottle was purchased on August 10, 2024 at the distillery in the Poconos.

With locations in both Virginia and Pennsylvania, it wasn’t immediately clear what state this gin came from. They create vodka at their Virginia distillery, located in the Blue Ridge Mountain town of Afton. Then they ship it north to East Stroudsburg, PA where it is redistilled as gin. Since several producers out source their neutral spirit, we are going to focus on where the gin is made and call this a Pennsylvania gin.

On August 10, we stopped in the Poconos for mini golf on the last day of our 2024 family road trip. As we pulled out of the parking lot, I announced that vacation was over and we were going to start the long drive back to Concord. My wife responded, “Well unless you know a distillery or something we could stop at.” Of course I did. So I headed to Silverback. Side note: no GPS in the Poconos, got lost on the way there but eventually made it.

Silverback is run by a mother-daughter duo, but it’s named for dad. Denver Riggleman is a former member of Congress and the official taste tester for the distillery. I can think of worse jobs. Mom, Christine Riggleman, is the master distiller and opened Silverback in 2014. In addition to gin, she produces vodka, rum, and a large selection of whiskey.

Strange Monkey Gin is 80 proof and features a mandrill staring out at you from the inside label. It is distilled in a dedicated gin still in the PA location using corn vodka that they first distill in Virginia. It’s a low juniper gin, with coriander and citrus. I found out at the distillery that they use raw almonds in their gin which creates a very unique flavor profile.

Here’s what the distillery has to say about their gin:

Charles Darwin said, “No other member in the whole class of mammals is colored in so extraordinary a manner as the adult male mandrills.” STRANGE MONKEY GIN is crafted on site in a dedicated gin still. We do not steep botanicals in bags, such as making a cup of tea. Gorillas don’t drink tea. We do not contract others to add gin flavor for us. STRANGE MONKEY, made the traditional way – by capturing the essence of our quality botanicals (juniper berries, coriander, citrus, and more) through distillation. Our recipe is traditional. Our gin is eminently drinkable.

I tried their gin both neat and in a gin and tonic. The almonds really come through, particularly when tasting it neat. I also tried their limited run, Barrel Finished Gin which is aged in rye barrels for one year. Gin no. 102 cost $33 which is a fair price given the unique story and flavor profile. We also bought a half bottle of Alpha Series Honey Rye for $40. It was a great end to a great vacation. The distillery was clean and bright. The people there were welcoming and fun. And they even gave my kid a whipped cream shot so he could have fun while mom and dad were tasting spirits. Absolutely worth a visit.