Nearly a year after Great Jones Distilling Co. from Manhattan launched a trio of bourbons in bottles designed to honor the late great New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, it has been announced that the collaboration will continue in the form of a new bottle called Empire Edition, along with some apparel, all featuring Basquiat's iconic crown drawing...
Great Jones is the first whiskey distillery to find a home on Manhattan since Prohibition, opening in 2021, and currently the only one operating in that part of the city. While the whiskey is distilled in small batches at the Great Jones distillery, what you currently find in bottles is produced upstate New York at the Black Dirt distillery.
The flagship bourbon of the Great Jones brand, a four-year-old edition made from New York-grown corn, malted barley, and rye, is the one you’ll find in the new Great Jones x Jean-Michel Basquiat: Empire Edition bottle. The new label features Basquiat's painting "Mecca," a work he created in 1982 as an interpretation of New York City's silhouette. "Continuing our partnership with Jean-Michel Basquiat, we are proud to connect Great Jones Whiskey with a New York icon whose art represents the vibrant culture of downtown New York," said Lander Otegui, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Proximo Spirits. "With this special edition, we pay tribute to Basquiat's legacy on Great Jones Street while setting a new standard for craft distilling in Manhattan using only New York ingredients to create our award-winning whiskeys." Official tasting notes describe dry corn, cookie dough, vanilla, and white pepper on the nose, followed by green grass and white pepper on the palate.
Great Jones collaborated with the fashion brand Rome Pays Off to create a collection of apparel and merchandise inspired by the "Mecca" painting, including a wide-brimmed hat, t-shirt, and hoodie. Visit the distillery this summer to purchase a bottle of Great Jones x Jean-Michel Basquiat: Empire Edition bourbon and enjoy cocktails crafted by Great Jones’ head mixologist, Colin Fraser. The whiskey and clothing collection are now available for purchase on the Great Jones website, and the core offering can be found on sites like ReserveBar.
