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Welcome to May!  Construction continues...

April saw the first full month of construction of our new facility at 120 W. Main St. in Purcellville.  We began construction on April 1st (no foolin'!), and immediately began demolition of the drywall within the old building.  We had quite a few surprises in store:  First, we found an old basement, which we bravely explored, and learned that the building was once heated by a coal-fired steam furnace.  What will become of this basement, we've yet to determine.  Second, when we pulled down the drywall, we discovered a beautiful set of four antique windows with original glass, and two old doors, which were in fantastic shape.  These will now feature prominently in the wall between the distillery and the tasting room.

After clearing out all the drywall, we began working in several areas:  The floor was cut apart so we could lay in new plumbing.  We're putting in cast iron sewer pipes, which will be durable and last for generations to come, and proudly made in the USA.  Major truss repair and replacement was done, removing broken trusses and load bearing walls in the tasting room, and replacing them with steel I-beam trusses to support the weight of the roof.  The tasting room now looks so much larger!  Finally, there were (and still are) many places where the brick work was failing, and needed not only cosmetic, but also structural repair.  In the worst of these cases, steel reinforcing beams were installed within the wall to provide needed support, but the original brick and mortar was carefully saved to ensure the original look was maintained.  (In other words, we didn't want it to look like a patch.)

Looking ahead, we have to finish the plumbing, lay in the electrical, strengthen the remaining trusses, build out the tasting room, and get the equipment and fixtures installed, including a solar array on the roof.  Lots of work to do in the two months we have left in the construction schedule!  We hope to be in our new home sometime in June!

Here are a few photos from the first month of construction.  Stay tuned to Facebook and Twitter for progress reports as we begin this journey.  We will post many photos and status updates along the way...

New pot still is here!

Earlier in April, we took delivery of our 300 gallon pot still, which will become a prominent feature in our new distillery, and will allow a major ramp-up in our production.  The pot still traveled over the sea from Germany, and is now safely tucked away in a barn in Loudoun County.  We'll fetch it once we're a little closer to opening day.

If you'd like to see a video of Scott unloading the still from the truck, enjoy the following.  It is quite a nerve-racking experience to remove a rather pricey piece of factory equipment using a forklift on a gravel driveway!

April was "Press" month for Catoctin Creek

We're not sure why, but sometimes, these things happen in waves.  Catoctin Creek was mention four separate times in the mainstream press in April!  For those of you who subscribe to the Washington Post, we were highlighted in the weekend magazine's column, "Closer Inspection: From grain to glass".  Kris Coronado did a tight little piece describing the journey of a bottle of whisky from its inception as a piece of grain, to it's final bottling.

Northern Virginia Magazine did a feature story on our construction efforts, focusing specifically on our eco-friendly efforts to build a "green" distillery.  Dieter Meyer, our architect, was quoted saying, "Re-purposing one typical existing downtown building is the equivalent of recycling 1.34 million aluminum cans.  A very strong case has been made, that the greenest building is the one that already exists."

Valley Homes and Style wrote a piece called "Gentlemen's Moonshine", in which they covered the distillery from a tourist perspective, and wrote some tasting notes about the distillery's line-up of spirits.

Finally, Modern Luxury DC wrote a story on the life of a barrel, from oak forest in Minnesota, through the distillery, to Art Drauglis, who makes the Langdon Wood maple syrup, to Three Stars Brewery, and finally to Smoke and Barrel, where they use the wood for charcoal in their smokers.

That's some great press, and we're grateful for all of it!

Upcoming Events

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

• May 2 - Miriam's Kitchen Annual Gala - 100 Bowls of Compassion 2013 - Catoctin Creek is pouring!
• May 4 - Whisky and Cigars at National Civil War Medicine Museum - Food, cigars, whisky, and civil war history!
• May 18 - B'nai Israel Baltimore Boat Cruise - A booze cruise for Jews! We're verklempt to take part!!
• May 18 & 19 - Loudoun County Spring Farm Tours - Get demonstrations and tastings all day at the distillery.

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

Cocktail of the Month – The Highly Inappropriate Bartender

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

Welcome to April! Construction Has Begun!

We have finally started construction at our new home on Main Street in Purcellville.  Permits have been obtained, plans are finalized, and demolition has begun!  In the next few months, we will be taking on quite a major overhaul. 

What we are building is essentially a small but modern factory in the nearly 100 year old Case Building. The Case Building started out as a car dealership, "Case Motor Company", in 1921, ironically in the second year of Prohibition.  Through the years, the Case Building has been a car dealership, a furniture factory, a furniture store and outlet, and finally, the latest home of the Purcellville Marketplace.  Soon, it will be our new home.

With the construction, we must completely rip out and replace the electrical system, which was cobbled together in a combination of 1920's era post-and-bare-wire service and Home Depot self-help exuberance.  The building has essentially no plumbing, so we must install floor drains, public bathrooms, and all the plumbing needed for our equipment. 

We must also install sprinklers, a steam boiler, and many other improvements, including a solar array on the roof and a very cool and modern tasting room.  And all this, while preserving and restoring the historic nature of the building.  It is a very big job, which we hope to finish by June of this year. 

In the meantime, we will still be running full time operations, including tastings and tours, at our present Richardson Lane facility.

Stay tuned to Facebook and Twitter for progress reports as we begin this journey.  We will post many photos and status updates along the way...

The Atlantic Companion

Along with our new building, we are also getting a second pot still.  Our new 1200 liter Kothe Destillationstechnik pot still will arrive sometime in the next month.  The new still is the same model as our existing still, only much larger.  With our new bigger still, we'll be able to ramp up production of Roundstone Rye while still having capacity to do "special projects" on the side like peach and pear brandy.

Presently, our newest arrival is on a cargo ship, the Atlantic Companion, somewhere between New York and Baltimore.  For the past few weeks, she's been travelling the North Atlantic from Hamburg, making stops in Liverpool, Belfast, and Halifax. The journey is nearly over, but if you're interested,  you can follow the final ports of call at #ccdcvoyage on Twitter.

We'll be awfully glad to see her when she gets here!  She's got a lot of work to do!

Cask Proof Release April 6

THAT'S RIGHT!  It's BACK!  Last year, the Cask Proof Roundstone Rye sold out in a few weeks.  Be sure to get yours NOW!  We will begin selling the 116 proof version of our very popular rye whisky this Saturday, April 6, at 12 o'clock noon, SHARP!

There will be a limit of two bottles per person, retailing at $64.75 per 750 ml bottle.  I'm sorry, but we cannot take pre-orders for the cask proof.  So, see you on Saturday!

Now Available in Georgia!

We are very pleased to announce that Catoctin Creek is now available in Georgia through Savannah Distributing Company, Inc.

Distribution in Georgia continues our goal to be a dominant east-coast brand.  Atlanta and Savannah are great markets for craft spirits, and we are so excited to begin selling our products through Savannah Distributing Company. Since I'm also an alumnus of Georgia Tech, it is particularly cool to be back in my home state.

Stay tuned for great places throughout the state of Georgia where Catoctin Creek will soon be poured.

Upcoming Events

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

• April 8 - Taste of the Nation - Join us as Washington's best chefs and mixologists combine their talents on behalf of Share Our Strength, a charity to wipe out child hunger.
• April 10 - Whisky Cruise DC - Once again, we'll be on board pouring with several other brands as we drift down the Potomac.
• April 12 - Dinner at Patowmack Farm - Enjoy a five course dinner, expertly paired with delicious cocktails, at Loudoun's finest restaurant.
• April 13 - Taste of the South - Celebrate in Roaring 20's style, as Catoctin Creek pours in the VIP area.
• April 16 - Dinner at Birroteca - This time, we head up to north Baltimore for another great five course dinner with cocktails.

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

Cocktail of the Month – Bright Eyes

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

Welcome to March!

February? What February? That seemed to go fast!

This month, two important things are underway. The first, our new building renovation contract is out for bid. We're hoping to start construction on April 1, just one month away! If you've been following us on Facebook, you've seen various architectural plans which provide a glimpse into our future home.

Secondly, our new still should be shipping out this month from Germany. As with the last one, we will keep you posted on Facebook with the progress of its journey. When possible, I'll have GPS information on the boat, and webcams of the ports when it comes to port. Certainly, the excitement is growing!

All this, while meanwhile, we continue to "embrace the grind" (my new favorite slogan), producing the best craft spirits in the region!

Becky Harris on the Kojo Nnamdi Show on NPR

We must have been on our best behavior last time, because we were thrilled to once again be invite down to the studios of WAMU to participate in a piece on the Kojo Nnamdi Show about craft distilling in the area.

Becky joined Mike Lowe, from New Columbia Distillers in DC, and Christopher Cook, from Sloop Betty, as the three of them discussed the rapid rise of craft spirits in the DC area.

The show is a wonderful summary of the whole state of the craft distilling business, not just here, but nationwide, and if you have an hour to listen, we encourage you to download the podcast or listen here:

http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2013-02-20/distilling-spirits

Limerick Contest Underway!

There once was a tippler named Scott
Who toiled with computers a lot
He set his sights high
Making whisky from rye
And now a distillery he's got!

Feeling inspired? Enter the CCDC Limerick Contest! Top three entries as voted by our spirit-loving fans will win a Catoctin Creek Distilling Company prize pack (no spirits, just fun merchandise).

Enjoy reading through all the submitted entries, here.

The rules:

• Create a new, original limerick about cocktails or fine spirits.
• Each entrant may submit up to three limericks.
• Only family-friendly limericks can be shared on the site.
• Beautiful imagery of Virginia and/or Catoctin Creek spirits and/or other pandering is acceptable, but not required.
• E-mail your entry to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line "CCDC Limerick Contest." Please include your city and state, OR
• You may post your limericks on Catoctin Creek's Facebook page (http://facebook.com/catoctincreek) to share with your friends, OR
• You may tweet your limericks to @catoctincreek on Twitter.
• All entries must be received by 11:59 pm eastern on Thursday, March 7.
• All entries that meet the above requirements will be posted on the CCDC web site and public voting will be open March 8-14.
• Winners will be announced on Friday, March 15 and will receive an awesome CCDC prize pack (no booze, sorry) and St Patrick's Day bragging rights!
• All entries become the property of CCDC and may be shared on our web site, social media pages, or future promotional materials.

Upcoming Events

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

• March 9 - Bottling Workshop - Roundstone Rye - RSVP is required, please check here for details. - THESE FILL FAST, RSVP NOW!
• March 10 - NOVA Roller Derby Silent Auction - Join our favorite roller derby as we raise money for charity while enjoying wine and live music at Dry Mill Winery.
• March 14 - Dinner at Stoney's Kingfisher - Dinner and cocktails at one of southern Maryland's best seafood restaurants. Scott and Katie will be there!
• March 18 - Mad Fox Spirits Dinner - Our second annual spirits dinner at Mad Fox Brewery! Last year, it sold out!
• March 23 - Visual Arts Center of Richmond Party - A fund raiser to support fine arts in Virginia. Don't miss this great party!

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

Cocktail of the Month – Sandi's Banana Nut Cake

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