I'll have more on this in the paper soon, but it's such ideal gin and tonic weather out there, why wait? One of the best G&Ts I've had recently was thanks to a new gin producer based in San Francisco called Distillery No. 209.

The distillery was started by Leslie Rudd of Rudd Winery in Oakville, who is also the chairman of Dean & DeLuca and owns the restaurant Press, which is next door to the D&D store in St. Helena. In 1999, Rudd bought another piece of land, an historic 30-acre estate in St. Helena known as Edge Hill. On it, was a forgotten brick barn, upon which were faintly painted the mysterious words, "Registered Distillery No. 209."

Rudd became intrigued, finding out that the place once belonged to a man named William Scheffler, who had back in the 1880s patented a new design for a pot still and used Edge Hill to distill a variety of spirits, some of which had won awards. Scheffler also served as the distiller for Krug Winery. His license for the distillery was numbered 209, a name apparently good enough to call his distillery, a legacy Rudd decided to continue.

But producing non-grape-based products in Napa County can be tricky, and gin has a certain urban vibe to it anyway, so Rudd decided instead to house his new gin-making distillery in San Francisco, at Pier 50 in China Basin, not far from the Giants' ballpark.

From there, he commissioned the design of a 24-foot copper pot still, built in Scotland, then transported and assembled in their groovy warehouse space. The final 209 gin recipe is a tightly guarded secret, concocted with the help of two Scottish distillers who came over to consult, and current head distiller Arne Hillesland, who originally served as a volunteer on the project.

Hillesland uses midwest corn as his base, distilling it four times. He then distills a fifth time with his own mix of botanicals, which, he'll share, includes bergamot orange, cardamom, cassia cinnamon, coriander and, of course, juniper, which he sources from Tuscany. The remaining ingredients? He'll have to shoot you first.

Whatever the trick, the gin is smooth and clean, dangerously sippable and really nice with tonic water and ice, or even pomegranate juice, a spoonful of sugar and/or muddled mint. The following recipes might get you started:

209 Martini (Hillesland's favorite version)

• 3 oz. 209 gin
• 1 capful Noilly Prat dry vermouth
• Shake over ice for 10 seconds and garnish with lemon peel

209 Mojito

• 2 oz. 209 gin
• 4 mint sprigs, muddled over ice
• 1 spoon sugar
• fill the rest of the glass with soda water and garnish with a lime wheel

209 & Tonic

• 2 oz. 209 gin
• 4 oz. Schweppes tonic water
• Serve on the rocks and garnish with a lime wedge