Our story starts long before there was a distillery in Yonkers.

Roots in a Moroccan village

Our family’s spirit is older than our building.

   Mahia: literally “water of life” in Arabic  is a traditional Moroccan fig spirit that for generations was made in Jewish homes and tiny backyard stills. In the small town of Taznakht, in southern Morocco, David’s grandparents, Saada and Moshe, and his parents, Joseph and Tamou, were among the families known for their mahia.

   There were no written recipes, no lab equipment, just experience and instinct: fresh figs and other fruit, wild fermentation, a copper still, and a steady hand on the fire. Mahia was shared at family tables, sold to neighbors and even to local rabbis and Muslim families in town  a quietly unifying ritual in a place where hospitality mattered.

   As a child, David watched this process up close. He learned how to crush fruit, read a bubbling ferment, and taste the spirit as it came off the still. Those lessons stayed with him long after he left Morocco.

From software & trading desks to a tiny New York still

Life took David far from Taznakht. He moved to the United States and built a career as a computer-software engineer. Dorit, born in Israel, developed her own career as a foreign-exchange trader, quoted in leading financial publications. 

But the mahia never left.

In their New York apartment, David kept making small batches of fig spirit the way his mother had taught him — by feel, not by formula. Friends would come over, taste it, and ask for another bottle. Slowly, a simple family tradition started to look like something more. 

After the passing of his parents, David felt a responsibility to carry the family craft forward instead of letting it disappear with the older generation. Together, David and Dorit decided to take a leap: to leave the safety of their careers and build a distillery that would honor a 125-year-old Moroccan recipe in a new home.

A Moroccan spirit finds a home in Yonkers

Nahmias et Fils Distillery began humbly  first in cramped spaces, then in a modest facility in Yonkers. What started as a micro-distillery with a single copper still has grown into the first distillery based in Yonkers, dedicated to producing unique, award-winning artisanal spirits. 

We remain proudly family-founded and owner-operated. Our Mahia is distilled in Yonkers from 100% figs  primarily ripe California fruit  following the same family method David grew up with in Morocco, now translated into a modern, carefully controlled process. 

The recipe we use today traces back to around 1900, passed down through the Nahmias family and adapted for our German copper pot stills. We ferment the fruit, make careful cuts, and add only a delicate touch of anise, echoing traditional Moroccan profiles without overpowering the figs themselves.

Mahia: preserving a rare tradition

For most Americans, mahia was completely unknown when we started. In Morocco, it was once a beloved household spirit; in the United States, it had practically vanished. Today, Nahmias et Fils is recognized as the only distillery in the U.S. producing traditional mahia at scale from figs, keeping this almost-lost Jewish Moroccan tradition alive in a new country.

Our mission is simple:

• Respect the old ways  fruit-driven distillation, no shortcuts.

• Share the story of Moroccan Jewish culture and hospitality.

• Invite people to discover a spirit they’ve likely never heard of, but immediately recognize as honest and beautiful once they taste it.

Legs Diamond & the Hudson Valley connection

As our mahia found its audience, we felt called to tell another New York story this time, through grain.

Working with organic rye from New York farms, we began distilling whiskey that became our Legs Diamond line, named after the legendary Prohibition-era bootlegger who once moved illicit rye whiskey through this region. It’s our way of tying old-world Moroccan techniques to the rebellious, jazz-age history of New York spirits. 

From figs to rye, our philosophy stays the same: minimal intervention, careful cuts, and a relentless focus on texture, aroma, and balance in the glass.

A tasting room with a Moroccan heart

Our distillery at 201 Saw Mill River Road in Yonkers houses both our production and our tasting room a space with a distinctly Moroccan feel. Guests can sit among barrels and copper, taste Mahia and Legs Diamond side by side, and learn how a family recipe from a village in southern Morocco ended up flowing through a Hudson Valley still. 

We host tours, tastings, and private events, welcoming neighbors from Yonkers and visitors from around the world who are curious about figs, rye, and the story behind the bottle.

Why we do what we do

Our story is about more than figs, rye, or awards.

It’s about a Moroccan boy watching his parents distill in a courtyard and later deciding, with his wife, to rebuild that world in Yonkers.

It’s about honoring grandparents whose craft might have vanished, and instead turning it into a living, breathing distillery that welcomes guests five days a week.

And it’s about sharing something rare a spirit that carries memory, migration, and resilience in every sip.

Welcome to Nahmias et Fils Distillery.
We’re honored to share our story, and our spirits, with you.