teaberryblue: (Default)
teaberryblue ([personal profile] teaberryblue) wrote2010-08-11 11:55 pm

Whiskey Time!

For my birthday, my parents took me on a tour of the Tuthilltown Distillery in Gardiner, New York.

The story of whiskey in New York is a funny one. You know what a Manhattan cocktail is, right? The Manhattan was called a Manhattan for a reason– because New York state was known for their abundant rye whiskey.

But then Prohibition came along, and the distilleries closed. When Prohibition ended, in many other parts of the country, the stills went back to work, but in New York, they stayed shuttered. Tuthilltown Distillery didn’t open until…I think 2005? I might be wrong on the year, but around then, and that was the first distillery in New York to produce whiskey since Prohibition ended. It is a tiny microdistillery inside an old mill granary on an 8-acre farm (which appropriately grows hops), but they make some of the best whiskey I’ve ever tasted. So when we found out they gave tours, I was really excited.

Click the link for massive awesome pictures of the distillery!

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Mirrored from Antagonia.net.

[identity profile] fourzoas.livejournal.com 2010-08-12 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
I'm not much of a whiskey drinker (I'm a vodka girl), but I think I might could be persuaded to give this a try. The pictures are great!

[identity profile] zia-narratora.livejournal.com 2010-08-12 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
Ahh, vodka is really the only liquor I don't drink-- I like liquor with complex flavors, and good vodka tends to be of the "distilled for absolute purity" variety. Although Tuthilltown made a not-so-much-distilled vodka with apples that I want to try. I think it's called "Spirit of the Hudson."

This stuff is phenomenal. It's one of the best American whiskeys I have had the pleasure of drinking.

[identity profile] smammers.livejournal.com 2010-08-12 06:00 am (UTC)(link)
Oooh, neat! I have recently started to really appreciate whiskey -- mostly Jameson and the like. Do you have any suggestions for other types of whiskey around the same price point? I'd like to branch out but not spend a lot of money.

(Anonymous) 2010-08-12 12:42 pm (UTC)(link)
I really only have a very vague concept of prices on liquor; it's not something I pay attention to, to be honest. When you say "the like" do you know what other types you've had? Are they all Irish whiskeys or are they all the more available standard bar whiskeys?

[identity profile] zia-narratora.livejournal.com 2010-08-12 12:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Whoops! I was signed out!

[identity profile] trouserminnow.livejournal.com 2010-08-12 06:54 am (UTC)(link)
i'm dead jealous. you know i had to harangue the dude who was down here for tales in his absence til he showed up and intro'd himself at gg. i love their rye and will not carry another until i can get this one.

(Anonymous) 2010-08-12 12:33 pm (UTC)(link)
They just signed a distribution deal with WGS and part of that is going to quintuple production (I got to see their new bottling line that isn't in yet), so it's going to be way more available. They are also going to seriously need more stills; I'm not sure what they're doing about that.

It was kind of neat, because I guess that's all going down in the next six months, but this was still the original set-up.

Also: do you know they are doing an absinthe? I am curious to see how that turns out, since a lot of American absinthes are shit but I sort of expect them to take it seriously and scientifically.

Wanna be more jealous? I got a bottle from the final batch of a special edition whiskey they're not going to make for another 7 years :-D

[identity profile] zia-narratora.livejournal.com 2010-08-12 12:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Whoops, I was signed out!

[identity profile] liret.livejournal.com 2010-08-12 01:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Whiskey is awesome!

[identity profile] i-smell-apples.livejournal.com 2010-08-12 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm a history geek who finds Prohibition fascinating so that's an awesome bit of trivia. To throw a random bit back at you, my suburb at home is Melbourne's last remaining 'dry zone' - or one of the last two, I can't remember now. Governed under the same laws as came in in 1920 and every year people call for the liquor ban to be lifted, and there's a poll, and the result is resoundingly in favour of keeping the ban. LOL.