Dorothy Arzner made history when she became the first woman to direct a sound film, Manhattan Cocktail, in 1928. Her directing career spanned the 1920s to the early 1940s. She launched the careers of many actresses including Katharine Hepburn and Lucille Ball. Later, in her teaching years at UCLA, she taught a young Francis Ford Coppola and gave him the confidence to become a film director.

In honor of this free-spirited and independent woman we've crafted a 3-year-old straight rye whiskey. 'Grain to glass' in Sonoma County, our straight rye whiskey was aged for three years in 53 gallon new char oak barrels. Our mash bill is high rye meaning that it has a higher than average rye percentage which results in a final spirit that is bold, spicy and robust in flavor.

Bottle Size: 750ml

In an age of restless brilliance, Dorothy Parker was a singular sensation. Born in New Jersey, Parker was raised in New York City and rose to acclaim, both for her literary output and as a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table. After a lifetime of work as a critic, satirist and short-story writer, Parker collaborated with Alexander Woollcott to produce an anthology of her work entitled The Portable Dorothy Parker. Parker's is one of only three Portable series that remain continuously in print (the other two being Shakespeare and the Bible). "I've been a devotee since I was 19 or 20 reading Parker in college and I wanted to pay tribute to her, both for everything she's done for me and for New York," says Allen Katz, co-founder of New York Distilling Co. Together with Tom Potter, founder of Brooklyn Brewery, Katz opened the doors to his 5,000 square-feet distillery in Brooklyn (the distillery straddles the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint one door to the distillery opens up to the Williamsburg zip code and the other to the Greenpoint zip code) just one year ago. Much like Dorothy Parker herself, Dorothy Parker Gin is bold and robust, with a hint of sweetness. "While juniper is the backbone of any gin," explains Katz, "we add a number of classic and contemporary botanicals," including orange peel, lemon peel, coriander, green cardamom, sweet cinnamon, elderberries and dried hibiscus petals. After distilling the wash inside a 1,000 liter, Christian Carl alembic pot still imported from Germany, Katz lets Dorothy Parker Gin rest in stainless steel tanks for a few days. "We like to let it rest after distilling it," Katz says, "in order to let the flavors come together and really harmonize." After resting in the tanks, the gin is brought to proof using double-filtered water before each bottle is filled and labeled by hand. The labels, which are adorned with Paker's profile, were designed by Milton Glaser, creator of the iconic "I LOVE NY" campaign. Dorothy Parker Gin has a nose of juniper and peppercorn, and a bouquet of hibiscus, cinnamon, cardamom and elderberries with a touch of sweetness. Dorothy Parker a gin enthusiast herself once remarked, "I like to have a Martini, two at the very most; three, I'm under the table, four I'm under my host!" We suggest you stick to two or three.

It took over 70 years after the prohibition had ended for the distilling industry to return to New York City. New York had a flourishing distilling industry by the early 19th century, however things changed during the Civil War, when President Lincoln taxed spirits to fund the military. This resulted in many distilleries going underground before the end of the century. The fatal blow for the legal distilling industry in US came in 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment came into effect making the production of alcohol illegal. It was only in the 21st century that small distilleries started resurging in New York. The New York Distilling Company, located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is one of the oldest distilleries in the city, and was founded in 2011 by Tom Potter, a co-founder of the Brooklyn Brewery, and Allen Katz, one of the nation's leading experts on distilled spirits and cocktails. The distillery specializes in gins and rye whiskeys and has been one of the pioneers of the city's distilling renaissance that builds upon the pre-prohibition heritage. Gin distilling in New York began in the 17th century, when Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam (as New York was then called) started making a version of the Dutch spirit genever. However, it wasn't until the early 19th century when the first commercial gin was produced in the US. Gin was a popular drink during the prohibition, as it was simple to make. American gin is a bit different from London and other European gins as a result of using other botanicals. Dorothy Parker Rose Petal Flavored Gin is a variation of New York Distilling Company's American gin, named after the famous New York writer Dorothy Parker. This fun and fanciful expression is made with an infusion of red and pink rose petals and crushed elderberries. Other botanicals used include juniper berries, coriander, green cardamom pods, cinnamon bark, lemon peel, and orange peel.