Philadelphia Distilling used in the making bitters include prickly ash bark from a tree in Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia. The company's Bluecoat American Dry Gin won a double Gold Medal for Best Gin at the 2009 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. It also won a Gold Medal and the Best In Class award for Best Gin at the 2007 International Wine & Spirits Competition. Philadelphia Distilling Philadelphia Distilling is a microdistillery founded in March 2005 in the Byberry neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the first craft distillery to open in Pennsylvania since before Prohibition. Robert Cassell got the idea to begin
Armagnac (brandy) distilling spirits, but the overall volume of production is far smaller than Cognac production and therefore is less known outside Europe. In addition, it is for the most part made and sold by small producers, whereas Cognac production is dominated by big-name brands, especially Courvoisier (owned by Beam Suntory), Hennessy (LVMH), Martell (Pernod Ricard), and Rémy Martin (Rémy Cointreau). Armagnac is the oldest brandy distilled in France; and, in the past, it was consumed for its therapeutic benefits. In the 14th century, Prior Vital Du Four, a cardinal, wrote that it had 40 virtues: Between the 15th and 17th centuries,