Been wanting to take a trip up to the Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery for awhile now, so I finally made the trip up to Gardiner, NY with my family and my cuz. I wanted to take the tour and check out how they make and distill their Hudson Whiskey and other alcohols. The tour starts with you checking in at the beautiful store where they sell their merchandise…from whiskey to coasters. The store has a very rustic feel and is decorated nicely with the perfect ambiance for the distillery. After checking in, you go outside on the deck with your group and tour guide (our guide was Lyon) where he gives you the history of the company, starting out with how the owner’s idea went from “Bunks in the Gunks” to the first distillery in NY since the prohibition. To kick off the tour of the grounds you start in a barn at these massive metal canisters where the mash ferments. You then move on to the room that houses the big copper distills. It’s pretty cool that they’re still using the very first distill that the founder, Ralph Erenzo, started his business using. We continued the tour into the bottling room where there is a little assembly line for filling, corking and labeling. We were lucky enough to be one of the last tours to be shown this original room, but due to their growth, they’re soon moving to a larger building to up production. We finished the tour with the best part – the tasting. Unfortunately, by law, you can only try 3 different alcohols out of their selection, which included different whiskeys, a vodka, a gin, and a few other selections. I tried the Corn Whiskey, Baby Bourbon, and the Maple Rye Whiskey. I ended up bringing home a bottle of Baby Bourbon and Corn Whiskey to enjoy at home! I would’ve cleaned house and probably bought damn near a bottle of everything if I didn’t have the wifey with me. *Side note to all the men out there…I love doing things with my wife but on trips like this maybe keep them at home so you can actually clean house lol (just kidding, you need a designated driver lol) I didn’t even know they made anything else besides whiskey, but I am def glad I know now. Besides loving their bourbons I am now a huge fan of their gins and vodka! Though I have never actually used them myself I also like their bitters and plan on adding them to my next purchase. I have only recently discovered my love for whiskey, so I have not ventured on to making drinks – been just drinking them straight up to get a nose and taste for them. If you take the trip up here, I highly recommend you stop by their restaurant, The Gristmill, after your tour. I truly cannot wait to go back…as a matter of fact, I already have a date with my cousin to do so. Their menu ranges from chicken wings and burgers to steaks, ducks, lasagna, and rack of lamb. They all have their own little twist to make them different from the norm. The bartender, totally drawing a blank on his name, was very personable and one of the best cocktail craftsmen (which he called himself lol) I have come across. He definitely earned the title! He made the best tasting cocktails by far and also some of the wildest. I told him I wanted to try a couple of different types of drinks. He started me off with a drink that had garlic in it, which was surprisingly good! After that I tried a drink with tequila and cilantro…which might be the best drink I’ve ever tried. He was doing everything from putting actual smoke in drinks for flavor and had a ton of his own bitters on the bar to use. When we visited, we sat at the bar with a good friend of mine, Gable, who works at the distillery as a distiller and brand ambassador and is also the son of one of the owners, Ralph Erenzo. He walked us around the restaurant, which has an amazing history and a lot of cool, vintage features. He took us downstairs and showed us some of the original parts of the mill. He also brought us out back and showed us the working dam that’s also part of the restaurant. Nathan enjoyed asking him a bunch of questions lol Now I could’ve went on about more of the history and tastes but I don’t want to give everything away and want to make sure you get the same great experience I did on my first visit!
