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Behind the Bottle

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Our History

Our spirits have local character, are artisanal, and expertly handcrafted. Distilled with fresh Maine water, sourced directly from our land, and locally sourced botanicals, our distillery provides only the highest quality Spirits since our founding in 2020.

Our Core Values are focused on quality of product (spirits) and the customers we will serve. Our guarantee is that our Gin will be top-shelf quality, at a price point everyone can afford. Whether you’re a mixologist that enjoys unique cocktails, or traditional Gin and tonic, the homemade character of our Gin will make every sip a memorable moment.

The Devil's Half Acre Distillery is proud to be the only military owned and operated distillery in the State of Maine.

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Our Roots

Work smarter, not harder is what they say, awful tough to do back in the old Maine woods. It's that labor that built this country pulling logs and lumber from the White mountains to Katahdin all the way up to the Great Northern Maine woods on the border. Out of this world many characters were built but two of them we remember by the label  on our bottle.

Jigger Johnson, toughest of the tough. A lumberjack equal to no other, except maybe Mr. Bunyan. We've heard telltale he'd drive logs and catch bobcats. But one day, Jigger said he'd rather watch the trees than cut them down, then set up being a fire warden. Old Jigger, he supposed all that watching was a good time to set up a still with the base of his firewatch. Darn, what better place to keep an eye on the fire than when you're sitting on top of it. Unfortunately that was a little too smart for the firewatch service at the time.

Madam Fann Jones equated that labor and then some in Bangor where sailors and loggers met. There she found an entrepreneurial opportunity to build her life upon. A smart one she was, so much so that when she wanted to make sure they could find her house of questionable repute, she painted her long tall chimney sky blue. An easy site to see from the docks for the lumbermen who drove logs, longshoremen who loaded the ships, and the sailors who needed some rest.  Madam Fann had quite the reputation and we assume that one day after a long winter cutting wood, Jigger came down out of the woods and saw that chimney. In Bangor's Devil's Half Acre no one might ever know whatever what was produced from that union, but we'd like to guess that's what's in the bottle we have here for you with notes of forest, of elegance, of robustness, and of delicateness that we believe that Jigger and Jones American gin brings forward. That's spirit of how great gin was made.

We start with juniper, that pine note that everybody knows of gin, but then we want to introduce people to the whole forest by adding notes of cardamom for earthiness, wind and sky. To that, we pair whole fruit for the sweetness of our citrus, compared with the bitter of the rind of our orange to provides a great path that a suddenly hints of the spice of our coriander, which melts into the warmth of the alcohol opening up the wonderful world of botanicals found in the great Maine woods.

 

From our home to your glass.

We'd like to show you how Great Gin is made.

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Meet the Team

James J. Beaupré,
PhD Chemical Engineering

Chief Science Officer, Co- Owner

James is the University of Maine’s Director of Industrial Cooperation. He is also has over 15 years experience as a highly sought-after Spirits Industry Consultant. As an inventor, James is credited with multiple patents in chemical engineering, and the creator of many spirits recipes world-wide. With a BS and PhD in chemical engineering, and years of hands-on distillery industry experience, the Devil’s Half Acre Distillery is extremely fortunate to have such a valuable team member.

Matthew T. Murphy

President, Co- Owner, Head Distiller

Matthew has dedicated his life to giving back. With 18 years of Military Leadership, Combat Deployment in Afghanistan, 13 years of Veteran Advocacy, and working within the Bangor Fire Department, it is clear that when Matt feels passionately about something he puts his all into it. As Co-Owner of Jigger and Jones American Gin, you know you are going to receive the same amount of dedication and consistency with each bottle you purchase. 

Larry F. Murphy

Director of Sales and Marketing

Larry has 40+ years of B2B and B2C sales, marketing, and CRM skills and experience in various industries. He went on to work for two advertising agencies where he developed his marketing skills and knowledge. Knowing that he could run his own business, he opened an advertising agency in the mid 1980’s. Larry is also a Vietnam Era Veteran in The United States Air Force Strategic Air Command.

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