Wonderbird Spirits, the first gin distillery in North Mississippi, has recently opened a tasting room situated on Oxford’s historic Square. With five seats at the bar and room for a party of ten in a second space that’s perfect for a small gathering of friends or family, the tasting room offers a chic, intimate setting in which to sample Wonderbird’s signature gins. Made with a base spirit fermented exclusively using Mississippi Delta-grown rice, Wonderbird’s elixirs are prized far and wide for their inventive, delicate and complex botanicals.
Experience the Craftsmanship of Wonderbird Spirits
“We are not trying to open a bar on the Square,” says Rob Forster, who in 2019 co-founded Wonderbird Spirits with partners Chand Harlow and Thomas Alexander, with the goal of making the first grain-to-glass gin in Mississippi. “We are offering a tasting room experience like you would get in Healdsburg, outside of Sonoma, California. You can taste our products, try three or four cocktails that really showcase different aspects of those products, and get a sense for our energy and story,” he said. Walk-ins are welcome at the tasting room, but on busy fall weekends, reservations for Wonderbird’s popular tasting are definitely recommended. “Our gins were created first and foremost as martini gins,” Forster notes, explaining the menu’s structure. “We offer a house martini, a beautiful house negroni, and a house gin and tonic.” The tasting room also offers a rotating line-up of seasonal offerings, which change according to ingredient availability, and the whims of the distillery’s talented tasting staff.
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At Wonderbird Spirits' distillery in Taylor, MS, co-founder Rob Forster pours samples of grain-to-glass gin.
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Wonderbird's facility stands in Taylor, MS, a few miles outside Oxford.
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Fall colors at Wonderbird Spirits' distillery in Taylor, MS
Distilling The Delta’s Essence
While visiting Wonderbird, take time to explore the many bespoke spirits available for sampling and purchase. One of the most distinctive is Wonderbird’s Gin No. 97 “Magnolia Experimental,” which Forster believes to be the only one of its kind. An ancient genus of flower that dates back to the Cretaceous period, the magnolia is prized, not only for the beauty of its large, velvety petals, but also for the warm, sweet, deliciously heady fragrance it exudes. Wonderbird’s gin captures these exquisite qualities. “We make Magnolia Experimental using local magnolia petals,” Forster notes. “We disassemble the long, white delicate petals, stick those in a gin basket, and extract and showcase that buttery, floral essence.” Forster says that Magnolia Experimental is the foundation of a delicious martini, and adds, “it makes one of the best white Negronis I’ve ever had.”
Wonderbird’s Tasting Room on the Square is open from noon–6 pm Wednesdays—Saturdays, with a special cocktail service available from 5pm–9 pm Thursdays. Make reservations and learn more at their website.
