Whisky Advocate: Great Jones Brings Whisky-Making Back To Manhattan

The Beckmann family, owners of Proximo Spirits, brought whiskey distilling back to Manhattan last year with the opening of Great Jones Distilling Co. Said to be Manhattan’s first legal whiskey distillery since Prohibition, and its only active whiskey-making operation, Great Jones opened in August 2021 and offers Bourbon, rye, and a four-grain Bourbon made with corn, malted barley, rye, and wheat.

The 28,000 square-foot, four-story space is the brainchild of Juan Domingo Beckmann, whose family owns whiskies like Bushmills, Stranahan’s, Tin Cup, and Pendleton, in addition to Jose Cuervo and 1800 Tequilas. The distillery has a 500-gallon copper pot still, housed in a two-story chamber perched on a floor that was lowered by five feet to comply with city ordinances.

No grain milling or whiskey aging takes place at the distillery—barrels are shipped to Black Dirt Distillery in Orange County, New York, which Proximo acquired in 2018. While the Manhattan-made spirit ages upstate, Great Jones’s initial Bourbons and rye, which were distilled at Black Dirt, are available at the gift shop. The distillery’s restaurant, The Grid, serves dishes featuring Great Jones’s whiskeys as a central ingredient. Whisky Advocate has the full story.—Zak Kostro

Tagged : Beckmann, Great Jones Distilling Co., Proximo, Whisky Advocate

GET YOUR FIRST LOOK AT 2025 ESTIMATES AND 2030 PROJECTIONS FOR THE WINE AND SPIRITS INDUSTRIES. ORDER YOUR 2025 IMPACT DATABANK REPORTS. CLICK HERE.