Aviation

Aviation is an American gin created in 2006 by Christian Krogstad and Ryan Magarian in Portland, Oregon, at House Spirits Distillery, and it became a defining name in modern American gin. It was one of the first gins built around a lighter, less juniper forward style, shifting what people expected from gin at a time when most bottles leaned on the classic London Dry template. Ownership has changed since, with actor Ryan Reynolds taking a stake in 2018 and Diageo acquiring the brand in 2020.

The gin leans on seven botanicals, including juniper, lavender, orange peel, and cardamom, steeped and redistilled in a custom pot still before being cut with Cascade mountain water. That recipe put it in the lighter, more floral and citrus forward camp often called contemporary gin, a departure from the piney, juniper heavy character of classic London Dry styles. It remains one of the more influential names in spirits.