What happened to spring?  It seems we've backslid into winter with this cold blustery weather we've been having in April.  Well, grab yourself a nip of whisky, and steel yourself, for surely summer is coming soon!

New York... Here we Come!

After a few weeks of getting our brands registered in the State of New York, we have finally sealed the deal by sending our first pallet of spirits up to the big city!  Last week, a half ton of spirits left harbor in Purcellville, Virginia, on a steam ship bound for the Big Apple!

In the coming weeks, we'll be traveling up there to meet with new accounts... restaurants, bars, and liquor stores... to tell our story and pour our spirits.  If you live in New York City, drop us a line and let us know where we need to be!

Cool New Shirt Designs in the Gift Shop

We have some cool new retro t-shirts in the gift shop.  Available in sizes from small through 2XL, in jersey gray, slate blue, and chocolate brown, they feature a classic fellow enjoying a Catoctin Creek Manhattan, with our retro "Think Global... Drink LOCAL!" on the back.

Available only at the store, for $15 each in the finest quality cotton, and pre-shrunk so you know they will still fit after the first wash.

April was Watershed Gin Month at Catoctin Creek

Every few months or so, we crank out another batch of our gold medal winning Watershed Gin.  The process is one we always enjoy, as the smell of juniper and fresh herbs permeates the distillery for days.

We start with the choicest fresh juniper, crushed by hand before combining with other herbs like coriander, anise, cinnamon, and orange peel.  The herbs are then macerated into our rye-base spirit, at which point we produce a "gin wash" that can then be distilled.

As we distill the gin wash, the herbs line up into fractions which come through in separate sections of the gin hearts run.  We carefully select the best of these flavors, while holding back the harsh and bitter elements, to produce a gin that is lovely and unrivaled in the ranks of hand-crafted modern style gins.

Be sure to pick some up next time you're out; summer is coming, and nothing says summer like a Gin and Tonic!

Upcoming Events

There are a variety of great events planned for March that should prove entertaining and educational:

• May 4 - DC Invitational Golf Tournament - Enjoy a day of golf and beverages at Lansdowne Resort.
• May 10 - OHMH Benefit Tasting - Join us at the Light Horse in Alexandria as we sip cocktails and raise money in support of a girls' school in Kenya.
• May 15 - NY Indie Spirits Expo - We'll be pouring in NYC! Come meet Kirsten and Chad, our brand ambassadors.
• May 17 - Bunce-Aroo - Enjoy the finest local singer-songwriter music as we sponsor this eclectic concert once again.
• May 19-20 - Spring Farm Tours - We'll be doing demos again of our production, but this year, on Saturday only, we'll also have farm-raised, Catoctin Creek rye-mash fed, pulled pork sandwiches! Oh, man, you don't want to miss these!
• May 19 - Preakness Party at Morven Park - We'll be pouring at Morven Park as we watch the Preakness!

For the full list of events, check our events page.

Cocktail of the Month - Catoctin Gin Front Porch Sippers

Cocktail hour will never be the same with one of these delicious beverages. Enjoy with friends on the front porch during a lazy hot summer evening.

Catoctin Creek Watershed Gin
Peeled and seeded cucumber, cut into rough chunks
Fresh lime juice
Lime rind zest mixed with a bit of sugar for the rims
Lime wedges
Thinly sliced pieces of cucumber with the peel ON for garnish
Club soda

Rim the glass with the lime sugar, and fill with crushed ice.

Add four chunks of cuke, the juice from two lime wedges, 1 tsp of sugar to a shaker and muddle in the shaker.  Add 1½ oz gin, 1 oz of lime juice, 1 to 1½ oz simple syrup with ice in the shaker, and shake well.

Pour contents of shaker over ice and garnish with thin slices of cuke. Enjoy!

For the watermelon version just switch out watermelon for the cucumber in the recipe - garnish with the lime/sugar rim and add a small chunk of watermelon and a mint leaf to the rim to make it pretty!!

Courtesy Cheryl Bunce. Photo courtesy Cookie and Kate and used with permission.

See this cocktail and over sixty others on our cocktails page.

In Closing...

As always, there are lots of fun and information on our Facebook and Twitter pages, where you can stay up to date with the daily activities at the distillery.  We do tours and tastings every day except Sunday, so stop by and see us sometime!

Remember, "Think Global, Drink LOCAL!"^SM

Cheers!
Scott & Becky

Happy Spring, everybody!  We've made it through March, and sidestepped what was a pretty mild winter.  With flowers blooming and warmer weather, we're looking forward to some great events in April and the coming spring months.  Read on for more information...

New York... Here we Come!

Our biggest news in March was signing the deal to get into New York City.  Yes, very very soon, Catoctin Creek products will be available throughout New York City.  Available through Blueprint Brands, a subsidiary of Union Beer Distributors, you should be able to start ordering our products in your favorite stores and restaurants in April.

We've expanded our production to handle the anticipated demand.  (We certainly don't want to lose out any product here in the DC region to take on this new market.)  We're now working two shifts every day and putting away almost twice as much spirit as we build up for New York.

Ah, New York!  If we can make it there...

Cask Proof Roundstone Rye... Coming Soon

In the next few months, we should have a new version of Roundstone Rye available.  By popular demand, we're releasing a limited set of cask proof Roundstone Rye, bottled at 58% ABV, or 116 proof.  Seriously strong rye, this stuff will be gorgeous for those aficionados who prefer a little stronger dram.

As with every bottle of Roundstone Rye, each bottle is small batch and single barrel whisky.  Look for news on how to get yours in the next month or so.

Washingtonian: "Hidden Gem of DC"

We were thrilled to be chosen as one of the "Hidden Gems of DC" by Washingtonian magazine.  The magazine highlighted visiting our distillery for tours and tastings.

As a reminder, we are open Monday through Saturday each week, and tours are only $5 per person, with tastings at prescribed times through the day.  Check our website for full details.

Upcoming Events

There are a variety of great events planned for April that should prove entertaining and educational:

• April 13 - Happy Hour at Boundary Stone - Join Catoctin Creek, DC Brau, and the guys at Boundary Stone Public House for a great happy hour on Friday the 13th.
• April 14 - Catoctin Creek Distilling Workshop - If you are interested in the art, science and business of distilling, then this is the seminar for you, plus you'll get to see hands-on distillation in progress from beginning to end.
• April 21 - Partners Since Prohibition - Join us at Lansdowne Resort for a great evening of food, wine, beer, and spirits, celebrating local producers throughout Loudoun County.
• April 22 - Oysterstock - April 22 is Earth Day, and we're joining up with Poste restaurant this year to sponsor their Earth Day party, with proceeds going to restore the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

For the full list of events, check our events page.

Cocktail of the Month - Catoctin Creek Margarita

Warren Bobrow did a very nice review of our Mosby's Spirit on Foodista, and this cocktail was his inspiration after the tasting. We so often hear that people taste silver tequila when they taste our Mosby's, so why not a margarita? Delicious!

3 oz Catoctin Creek Mosby's Spirit
1 oz Cynar
½ oz raw Agave syrup
1 oz Tuaca Vanilla/Orange liqueur
4 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
Mexican Molé Bitters from Bitter End

In a cocktail shaker filled ½ with ice, add the liquors, the Agave syrup and the lime- juice.

Shake and strain into a short cocktail glass with a hunk of lime as a garnish. Add one-two drops of the Mexican Mole’ bitters to each glass at the end and give a quick stir to complete.

Courtesy Warren Bobrow, and used with permission.
Photograph courtesy Ralph and Jenny on Flickr and used under Creative Commons Attribution license.

See this cocktail and over sixty others on our cocktails page.

In Closing...

As always, there are lots of fun and information on our Facebook and Twitter pages, where you can stay up to date with the daily activities at the distillery.  We do tours and tastings every day except Sunday, so stop by and see us sometime!

Remember, "Think Global, Drink LOCAL!"^SM

Cheers!
Scott & Becky

In yet another very entertaining and informative review, Warren Bobrow lays out the history of Moonshine in a brief review of three artisan products:  Mosby's Spirit, Few's White Whiskey, and Tuthilltown's spirit:

Sharp on the nose, sweet organic grains give way to vanilla elements and candy sugar finish. Cork finished bottle is a nice way of showing that the quality of the product within is carefully made and cared for, right down to the packaging. No screw tops here! The flavors of freshly toasted Rye bread smeared with sweet butter and spicy apricot jam comes into view. There is toasted rye bread in every sip, along with a light burn in the mouth. Un-aged Rye takes on notes of hoe-cakes drenched in maple syrup with vanilla like notes on the finish. Some say this White Whiskey tastes like Tequila! This is tasty stuff- I see a white “Margarita” cocktail when I sip this spirit.

Read the full review here.  There's also a smashing cocktail with the review, which we've included here.

In their March/April 2012 issue, Viva Tysons Magazine does a feature story on our distillery:

After one particular trip to Ireland, where the Harrises spent time at the Bushmills [distillery]--the oldest distillery where Irish whisky is made--Scott decided that he wanted to open a distillery near their Virginia home.

"It was a crazy idea and my wife really didn't think I would do it," the 41 year-old says.  "I kept thinking back to the Bushmills [distillery] and being on that factory floor with those massive copper kettles and stills and seeing the entire production, and I said to myself, 'I want this.'"

You can read the full story, below, or get your copy near Tysons, McLean, Falls Church, Great Falls, Oakton or Vienna.

Purcellville, VA – Catoctin Creek® is now available in New York through Blueprint Brands. and will soon be available at fine restaurants, bars, and retail stores throughout the New York area.

"Distribution in New York has been a major goal since we started our distillery, and we are absolutely thrilled to begin selling our spirits through Blueprint Brands,"  said Scott Harris, owner of Catoctin Creek Distilling Company.  "We've had so much interest in our spirits from New York retailers; it is wonderful to finally achieve this milestone.  In anticipation of our growth into this market, we have expanded our current production capacity by running two shifts per day, and are now in the process of an equipment expansion to triple our present production capacity."

"We are pleased to add Catoctin Creek to our portfolio of craft beer, spirits, and beverages," says Jay Frary, VP of Sales & Marketing for Blueprint Brands, a division of Union Beer Distributors. "The handmade spirits from Catoctin Creek are well-recognized for their organic and boutique quality. They will be well-received in the New York marketplace."

Currently, the following spirits will be available in New York:

Catoctin Creek Organic Mosby's Spirit®
Catoctin Creek Organic Roundstone Rye®
Catoctin Creek Organic Watershed Gin®

Catoctin Creek Distilling Company is the first distillery in Loudoun County Virginia since before prohibition. Certified organic and kosher, Catoctin Creek produces high quality spirits and liqueurs: rye whisky and gin from organic sources, brandy from Virginia wines, and seasonal specialty liqueurs. At Catoctin Creek, high quality and organic spirits and liqueurs are our passion. For more information, contact us at www.catoctincreek.com or 37251C East Richardson Lane, Purcellville, VA 20132. Tel: 540-751-8404.

In 1996, L. Knife & Son acquired Union Beer Distributors which grew dramatically in the next decade as the primary distributor of Anheuser-Busch products for Brooklyn, New York. In 2003, Union Beer obtained a powerful catalog of both domestic and imported craft beer brands. Union Beer has since expanded into the realm of spirits by developing Blueprint Brands, a division focusing on the sale of artisanal craft spirits to 14 counties of New York. Blueprint is continuously supplementing their growing portfolio to reach the highest level of stylistic breadth with the most sought-after brands available. For more information on Blueprint Brands, contact Jay Frary at 1213 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211. Tel: 718-497-2407.