One For The Road

The world’s first nomadic distillery is on a quest to rethink the way we produce alcohol.

- Shamilee Vellu

Bottles of Four Thieves and Basilisk’s Breath have been flying off the (virtual) shelves at Los Angeles distillery Amass. So great is the demand that a third edition, the equally tantalizingly-named Pseudo Citrine, with notes of lemon, vetiver and sandalwood, was launched. Despite the same high-proof (70 per cent) alcohol that’s also used to make the company’s gin, however, these bestsellers aren’t what you think – they’re hand sanitisers.

These vials are the creation of master distiller Morgan McLachlan, who was feeling vulnerable in the face of Covid-19 while pregnant earlier this year. “We developed the textures and aromas to be pleasant, and to have a calming, uplifting quality because people need this right now,” she says.

McLachlan brings this same intuitive approach to her work on Amass, which launched last year and bills itself as the world’s first nomadic distillery. This means that although it’s based in Los Angeles, its creative team moves globally, collaborating with different distillers to create gins that reflect diverse creative, cultural and geographical contexts. Its debut product, the Amass Dry Gin, is a fitting – and impressive – paean to Californian terroir and LA’s vibrant multicultural communities.