Navy Strength Gin Comes to the Island

Ahoy, mates! Before long there’ll be some new gin on the island of Manhattan to throw down the hatch. Three types of navy-strength gin will be available for consumption in New York City before the end of 2012, reports The New York Times.

Navy-strength gin is a super-alcoholic version of regular gin and normally has an alcohol content of 57 percent ABV. Historically, this was the minimum proof that would allow gunpowder to still be fired if it got soaked in alcohol, according to the New York Distilling Company, which released a navy-strength gin, named Perry’s Tot, last December.

The New York Distilling Company, a Brooklyn-based distillery, was one of the first champions of navy-strength gin in the New York booze scene. But as the Times reports, two more navy-strength gins — Royal Dock Gin, by the British Hayman Distillers, and Plymouth Navy Strength, from Plymouth Gin — will be available for sale in New York this spring and summer.