For Two Brothers, Backyard Gin Leads to New Brand

Image: Brad Vest / The Daily Memphian

About four years ago, the Perkins brothers began making gin in their East Memphis backyard. 

“I graduated college in the middle of the pandemic, and we were sitting on our couch, bored, while drinking martinis,” Jack Perkins said. “We really wanted to start building something and thought we could probably make a better gin, so we welded a copper still in our backyard.”

At the time, Henry, Jack’s brother, was working at a liquor store. 

“It was so apparent that no one liked gin, and only a few brands were making American gin,” Henry Perkins said. “We love the old London dry gin aesthetic, but we wanted a flavor profile that’s palatable for Americans — an old aesthetic with new world flavors.”

So, Jack Perkins, 28, and Henry Perkins, 27, began figuring out a flavor profile for their gin consisting of a “harmonious blend of botanicals.”

Now, the pair have officially launched Waymar Gin House in partnership with McCauley Williams, a local spirits entrepreneur, and his Morningside Brands. Waymar is a nod to the house on Waymar Drive in East Memphis, where the gin was born. 

(Image: Brad Vest / The Daily Memphian)

“A lot of people reach out to me, but most of them are half-baked ideas or hobbies,” Williams said. “I was instantly impressed with how much research (Jack and Henry) had done on gin and how much research they had done on trademarks and the legalities of the spirits business.”

Williams founded Blue Note Bourbon and Riverset Rye Whiskey, and he also launched a separate venture, Morningside Brands, a craft spirits portfolio company that includes Alma del Jaguar Tequila. Waymar Gin House is the second brand in Morningside’s portfolio.

At the time Jack and Henry Perkins reached out to him, Williams, 35, was working on a gin concept of his own, and he decided it made sense to combine the projects into one, if the Perkins were willing to partner with him.

“Hearing these two younger guys looking to do what I had already done and being impressed by them, I thought, ‘Why shouldn’t I help them?’ We’re all Memphians. I want to see other folks succeed — we’re stronger together than separate.”

To pilot the concept, the team worked with a co-packer in Texas where the gin is produced in partnership with a distillery, similar to a restaurant doing a pop-up event prior to opening a full-scale business.

(Image: Brad Vest / The Daily Memphian)

“The distillery in Texas has amazing Texas limestone water and a great proprietary filtration system,” Williams said. “It’s a great third-party kitchen that helps produce our recipe.”

Eventually, as the brand grows, they hope to bring the co-packing side back to Memphis.

“If this brand is successful, we can replicate the brand here in Memphis because of our great water and replicate the flavor here,” Williams said. “We want to get it off the ground and prove the concept before making that substantial investment.”

Waymar Gin House distribution launched this month in Arkansas and the Memphis area; it’s currently available at Joe’s Wines and Liquor in Midtown. The goal is to scale across the country in the coming months and to get the brand in six to 10 states by the end of 2024.

Henry Perkins said they hope to get into creating tonics, syrups and bitters once they have a physical location so everything for their cocktails could be made in-house — a “one-stop shop for all things gin.”

“Being able to piggyback off Morningside Brands’ national distribution network gives us a jump-start,” Jack Perkins said. “We’d like to build an actual brick-and-mortar location and have tasting rooms or gin houses be a staple of our brand.”