Tom’s Town Distilling Co. is planning an early March release for a new line of craft spirits called The Pendergast Machine. The first release in the series is an antique barrel-aged gin.

The series, named for Kansas City boss Tom Pendergast’s political organization, can be purchased exclusively at Tom’s Town. Tom’s Town plans to release one new spirit each quarter.

In addition to the gin, the series will include alternative styles of gins, whiskeys, liqueurs and collaborations with some of the region’s craft breweries.

The Pendergast Machine series will be bottled in 375ml bottles with branding that reflects the Pendergast era and the no-nonsense attitude of the political machine.

“We’ve been working with the most creative minds in the industry to come up with a line of exceptional and unique spirits,” said Steve Revare, Tom’s Town co-founder. “This series takes advantage of our distiller’s creativity and passion for pushing the boundaries of craft spirits. And it allows us to produce excellent spirits that might never make it to the shelf otherwise.”

The Pendergast Machine series also allows Tom’s Town to test market a variety of approaches in its tasting room, which draws hundreds of customers each week.

“If one of these spirits takes off in the tasting room, we know we’ve got a hit on our hands,” said David Epstein, also a co-founder of Tom’s Town. “When that happens we’ll incorporate it into the family of brands we’ve already created and sell it to our thirsty public.”

2017 Releases

For 2017, Tom’s Town plans the following releases:

Machine No. 1: Antique Gin – Tom’s Town Corruption Gin Finished in Oak Barrels // Tom’s Town Corruption Gin finished for at least six months in Pendergast’s Royal Gold Bourbon barrels.

Machine No. 2: Brewer’s Series/Torn Label – Distilled Spirits Specialty // Whiskey distilled from Torn Label’s seasonal Quad-Jillo Belgian Quad brewed with guajillo peppers and aged in new American oak barrels at Tom’s Town for 11 months.

Machine No. 3: Navy Strength Gin // Tom’s Town’s own expression of a proper high-proof London Dry gin, this Navy strength gin is bottled at a minimum of 114 proof and gets its name from the 18th-century tradition of giving British sailors a ration of gin.

Machine No. 4: Bourbon Whiskey Finished in White Port Casks // High-corn Indiana bourbon aged for seven years and finished for 10 months at Tom’s Town in rare, hand-selected white port casks.

2018 Releases

The 2018 releases will include four spirits in the Brewer’s Series produced in partnership with Crane Brewing in Raytown, Double Shift Brewing in Kansas City, 4 Hands Brewing in St. Louis and Cinder Block Brewery in North Kansas City.