Most Americans know the Boston Tea Party. Far fewer know about the night a band of Rhode Island colonists rowed out into Narragansett Bay, boarded a British warship, shot its commander, and burned the vessel to the waterline — more than three years before the Declaration of Independence was signed. Now, 254 years after that audacious act of rebellion, a small Pawtucket distillery and the state's oldest historical organization have bottled that story into a limited-edition whiskey that carries both the weight of history and the smoke of revolution in every pour.
To mark the nation's 250th anniversary and Rhode Island's significant role in it, the Rhode Island Historical Society has partnered with a local distiller to offer a Gaspee-inspired whiskey. Called Sabin's Spirit, it was barrelled and aged in Rhode Island in honor of the 250th anniversary of America's founding, and it takes its name from Providence's Sabin's Tavern — the place where the Gaspee conspirators gathered to plot one of the first acts of rebellion of the American Revolution: storming and burning the British Royal Navy's HMS Gaspee off the coast of Warwick, a moment that would ultimately help set the nation on its path toward independence.
The Incident That History Forgot — and Why It Shouldn't Have
To understand what Sabin's Spirit represents, you have to go back to June 9, 1772, a date that sits largely unacknowledged in the popular memory of American history despite its extraordinary significance. More than three years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence and more than a year before the Boston Tea Party, a group of Rhode Islanders carried out one of the earliest acts of resistance against British rule — and "the burning of the Gaspee occurred some 16 months before the Boston Tea Party," according to historian John Concannon of the Gaspee Days Committee.
HMS Gaspee was a Royal Navy revenue schooner that enforced the Navigation Acts around Newport, Rhode Island. A Lieutenant William Duddingston of Her Majesty's Ship Gaspee was charged with patrolling the waters of Narragansett Bay, and he had earned a reputation as an overzealous enforcer — boarding and detaining vessels, confiscating cargoes often without charge, and leaving merchants no recourse for impounded goods. Losses were mounting, and it was widely believed that these harassments were directed specifically at members of the Sons of Liberty.
By 1772 the Gaspee had become a daily nuisance in Narragansett Bay because her crew had an incentive to collect as much customs duty as possible — they shared in it. Rhode Island was so fed up with the Gaspee that on May 20, 1772, Governor Joseph Wanton wrote a letter to the British secretary of state complaining about the vessel.
The Trap is Set
The incident began when the Gaspee, a British customs schooner tasked with enforcing trade regulations, ran aground while pursuing a local ship, the Hannah. On June 9, 1772, the Hannah, a local vessel out of Newport, was underway to Providence when her captain baited the Gaspee and led its crew into shallow waters near Warwick. The Gaspee ran aground at a place now known as Gaspee Point. News of the grounding quickly reached Providence, and a party of fifty-five, led by a man named John Brown, planned an attack on the ship.
On the evening of June 9, 1772, a group of men gathered at Sabin's Tavern on the corner of South Main and Planet streets in Providence, armed themselves, and set off in longboats down the Providence River. Shortly before midnight, approximately sixty armed men from Providence set out in eight longboats for Namquid Point. The majority of these men, who comprised the social elite of Providence, were disguised with black-smeared faces or Indian headdresses. Led by John Brown, a wealthy merchant and member of one of Rhode Island's most prestigious families, their intentions were nothing less than the deliberate destruction of the government ship on duty in Narragansett Bay.
A Shot in the Dark That Started a Revolution
On that June night, a young man sitting in a rowboat noticed Dudingston in a white shirt leaning over the starboard gunwale of the Gaspee. Joseph Bucklin realized he had a shot at Dudingston — and took it. Bucklin wasn't the only patriot on Narragansett Bay that night; he was one of a hundred or so Sons of Liberty who rowed out in longboats to capture the crew. Then they burned the ship to the waterline.
While the British threatened those who participated with charges of treason and trials in Britain, they could not determine who had participated. The Gaspee affair and the British response was one factor that motivated the colonies to band together against Britain. When the investigation of the Gaspee affair was opened on June 10, 1772, and continued until its closure a year later, not one individual claimed to know any detail surrounding those involved or the course of action. It was not until after the Americans had succeeded in obtaining their independence that the stories were told and written.
Scholars agree that the incident sparked a period of renewed tension between Great Britain and its American colonies, though they disagree as to the specific long- and short-term impacts of the attack on British and colonial policies and attitudes. What is not in dispute is that the men who gathered that night at Sabin's Tavern, passed around whatever was in their cups, and then rowed out to make history were among the founding generation's most daring. The tavern itself — and the community of resistance that formed within its walls — is where Sabin's Spirit draws its name and its soul.
What's in the Bottle: Grain Bill, Flavor, and Method
Sabin's Spirit is not a marketing exercise dressed up in a tricorn hat. The distillers at White Dog put genuine thought into recreating something historically grounded in the liquid itself. Aged in the distillery's bourbon barrels, the whiskey features notes of honey and caramel, with a smoky finish and lingering sweetness, and it is comprised of 85 percent corn and 15 percent malt — making it similar to something that might have been enjoyed in Colonial New England.
That grain bill matters. Colonial-era American whiskeys weren't the tightly regulated, age-statement-driven expressions the modern drinker is accustomed to. They were practical — corn-heavy by necessity, because corn was abundant, and malt-forward enough to drive fermentation and add complexity. White Dog's recipe for Sabin's Spirit lands squarely in that territory, honoring the raw tradition of early American distilling rather than retrofitting a modern single malt onto a historical story.
The Rhode Island Historical Society describes the finished product as "featuring notes of honey and caramel, its finish, perhaps like its inspiration, is smoky but with a lingering sweetness." That last line is a small piece of genius in the product's storytelling — the smoke in the finish is both a literal flavor note from barrel aging and an unmistakable nod to the Gaspee burning under a Rhode Island sky 254 years ago.
Hand-Dipped, Flame-Labeled, and Limited
As a small distillery, White Dog's process is also a throwback to old-school distilling techniques, with most steps — including dipping each bottle of Sabin's Spirit in a red wax seal — accomplished by hand. That red wax is no accident — it calls back to the wax seals of colonial correspondence and the era's tavern culture, when bottles were sealed and stored in the same backrooms where political plots were hatched.
The label for Sabin's Spirit features a flame motif to invoke the burning of the Gaspee. Every design detail on this bottle has been considered with the source event in mind. For the collector and the history enthusiast alike, it's the kind of release where the packaging reinforces the contents — not something that can be said about most commemorative spirits, which too often settle for slapping a portrait of a Founding Father on a generic label.
White Dog Distilling: The Pawtucket Micro-Distillery Behind the Pour
Founded in 2016 by Carlo and Alecia Catucci, White Dog Distilling is a testament to their shared passion for crafting premium spirits. With backgrounds in science and culinary arts, they embarked on a mission to create exceptional distilled beverages that would captivate both newcomers and connoisseurs alike. Joined by lifelong friends Vin Greene and Eric Sylvestre, Carlo and Alecia cultivated more than just a team — they fostered a distilling family, affectionately known as "The Pack," and together they transformed a historic mill space in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, into a thriving micro-distillery and tasting room.
The micro-distillery is located in the historic Lorraine Mills, and their pack is dedicated to crafting finely distilled spirits and cocktails, offering whiskey, rum, gin, limoncello, and flavored moonshines. "White Dog is slang for moonshine," says co-founder Alecia Catucci. "Every spirit starts out as moonshine. It's the recipe that determines if it's whiskey, bourbon, gin or rum." The distillery's tasting room opened in April of 2018 in what is now its current production room.
The distillery's location inside the Lorraine Mills — itself a piece of New England industrial history — is fitting. Rhode Island was the birthplace of America's Industrial Revolution, and the mills that once powered the state's economy now house some of its most creative small businesses. White Dog, operating out of that same landscape of repurposed history, seems almost preordained as the outfit to take on a project like Sabin's Spirit.
A First for White Dog: Volume Aging and Historical Society Collaboration
The whiskey has been in the works since 2025, when the RIHS approached White Dog about creating a signature spirit for the 250th. The collaboration was a meaningful escalation for the distillery. "It's the first time we've aged this volume of alcohol, whiskey specifically," said Alecia Catucci. "It's exciting to do that for the first time with the Rhode Island Historical Society."
Alecia says the couple enjoyed being a part of a whiskey that celebrates the 250th anniversary. "We want to be around for the next one," she says. That remark — aimed at the nation's semiquincentennial a full quarter century away — speaks to the kind of long-game ambition that characterizes the best craft distillers. They're not here for a single commemorative batch and a press release. They're building something they intend to still be standing when the country turns 300.
The Rhode Island Historical Society: Guardians of a Revolution's Forgotten Opening Act
The Rhode Island Historical Society is the state's oldest and only statewide historical organization, dedicated to honoring, interpreting, and sharing Rhode Island's past to enrich the present and inspire the future. Founded in 1822, the RIHS is an advocate for history as a means to develop empathy and 21st-century skills.
The partnership with White Dog is a savvy one for the RIHS. Commemorative spirits have emerged as one of the most effective vehicles for historical storytelling in recent years, reaching audiences that museums and academic publications rarely do. A well-crafted whiskey bottle on a shelf, with a label that invites questions and a flavor profile that rewards curiosity, can introduce a new generation of Americans to a story they've never heard — in this case, the story of a burning ship and a tavern full of men who decided they'd had enough.
The commemorative whiskey debuted at the Rhode Island Historical Society's Golden Ball gala on Saturday, June 27, with limited preorders available through White Dog Distilling, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Rhode Island Historical Society. Bottles are available to preorder from White Dog Distilling for $50, with proceeds benefiting the Rhode Island Historical Society.
Gaspee Days and the Living Memory of the Affair
Rhode Island has never entirely let the Gaspee story fade. For decades, Rhode Islanders have commemorated their part in the rebellion with festivals, road races, and an annual reenactment off what's known today as Gaspee Point. More than 250 years later, that history continues to be celebrated through Gaspee Days, an annual series of events organized by the Gaspee Days Committee. "It's an honor to wake up every day, look out at the cove and say, 'This is where it all started,'" said Natalie Abernathy, president of the Gaspee Days Committee.
For Abernathy and many others in the state, the Gaspee Affair was nothing less than "the first shot of the Revolutionary War." That claim is not without historical backing. In an incident that some regard as the first naval engagement of the American Revolution, colonists boarded the HMS Gaspee — a British vessel that had run aground off the coast of Rhode Island — and set it aflame. The debate over whether it was the first shot, or merely among the first, is ultimately academic. What matters is that the men in those longboats, fueled in part by whatever they'd been drinking at Sabin's Tavern, struck the opening blow before anyone had used the word "revolution" to describe what was coming.
A Broader Trend: America's 250th and the Spirit Industry's Response
Sabin's Spirit is one of the most historically grounded releases in what has become a competitive landscape of semiquincentennial commemorative spirits. To celebrate America's 250th anniversary, and in partnership with the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission, the Virginia Spirits Board brought together nine distilleries from across the commonwealth for an unprecedented collaboration — a limited-edition trio pack featuring Botanical Gin, Aged Rum, and cask-strength Four Grain Whiskey. WhistlePig, too, has released a collectible lineup of commemorative spirits to honor the 250th birthday of the United States in 2026 — a distillery known for pushing the boundaries of independent American whiskey, marking the year with exclusive releases designed for the true connoisseur and history enthusiast alike.
What sets Sabin's Spirit apart from those releases — both admirable in their own right — is the specificity of its historical anchor. It isn't a broad salute to the nation's founding. It is tied to a single night, a specific tavern, a documented set of conspirators, and a fire that lit up Narragansett Bay over two and a half centuries ago. That kind of precision is rare in commemorative spirits, where the tendency runs toward sweeping patriotic narratives rather than granular historical events.
The 85/15 corn-malt grain bill also distinguishes it from the modern craft whiskey releases flooding the market. Most craft distilleries launching an anniversary expression reach for high-rye mash bills, barrel finishes, or single-malt profiles that reflect contemporary consumer preferences. White Dog went the other direction — toward authenticity and historical plausibility. The question they appear to have asked themselves was not "what sells in 2026?" but "what would those men at Sabin's Tavern have actually been drinking?"
What It Means for Whiskey Enthusiasts — and History Lovers
For anyone who collects historically significant American whiskeys, Sabin's Spirit checks every box. It is limited in production, tied to a documented historical event, made by a small craft distiller with a hand-finishing process, and benefits a reputable historical institution. The $50 price point makes it genuinely accessible — this is not a bottle priced for billionaire collectors or hype-driven flippers. It's priced for the kind of person who wants to drink well and think about what they're drinking.
The red wax seal and flame motif label give it a shelf presence that translates the story before a cork is ever pulled. The whiskey is described by White Dog as "featuring notes of honey and caramel, its finish, perhaps like its inspiration…" smoky but with a lingering sweetness. That finish is the key tasting note. Smoke in a whiskey this young — aged in bourbon barrels at a micro-distillery scale — requires careful barrel selection and timing. The fact that White Dog landed a genuinely smoky profile without resorting to peated malt or artificial finishing speaks to the distilling discipline that went into this project.
There's also something to be said for the ritual of drinking this particular whiskey with some intentionality. Pour it on June 9th, the anniversary of the Gaspee burning. Pour it at a summer cookout where someone inevitably asks whether the Revolution was inevitable. Pour it and tell someone about John Brown, about Sabin's Tavern, about the fact that the British never managed to prosecute a single conspirator because every witness in Rhode Island suddenly went deaf, dumb, and blind the morning after the fire. These are the stories worth preserving — and sometimes the best vessel for them is a glass.
Pickup, Availability, and How to Get a Bottle
Sabin's Spirit is available for pickup starting on Friday, June 26th. White Dog Distilling opened pre-sales for Sabin's Spirit as a whiskey distilled in honor of the 250th anniversary of America's founding. The whiskey was created for the Rhode Island Historical Society and was unveiled at the RIHS Golden Ball commemorating the anniversary in June. Those unable to attend the Golden Ball gala can preorder directly through White Dog Distilling's website and arrange pickup from the Pawtucket distillery, located at 560 Mineral Spring Avenue inside the Lorraine Mills.
Given the limited production run and the distillery's micro-scale operation, this is not a release that will sit on shelves waiting for procrastinators. White Dog has never operated at volume — their entire identity is built around small-batch, handcrafted production. That means when Sabin's Spirit sells out, it's gone, and no amount of historical significance will reopen the barrel.
For those within driving distance of Pawtucket, there is something additionally satisfying about visiting the distillery itself to pick up a bottle. Nestled in the heart of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, this micro-distillery and tasting room offers an immersive experience from grain to glass. The Lair — White Dog's speakeasy-style tasting room — is the kind of place where a pour of Sabin's Spirit over a conversation about revolutionary history feels entirely appropriate. The setting, inside a mill that has seen more than a century of Rhode Island history, adds one more layer of context to a whiskey that is already swimming in it.
This is exactly the kind of release the American craft spirits industry needs more of — not another age-statement flex or celebrity-endorsed label, but a bottle with a real story, made by real people, in a real place, for reasons that run deeper than the quarterly numbers. When the nation turns 250, the best way to toast it isn't with something generic. It's with something that remembers why the country exists in the first place — fire, defiance, and all.
