Media Coverage

Jake Emen discusses White Whiskey on The Whiskey Reviewer, and kindly quotes us about the philosophy of white whiskey in general:

Next in my adventure with white whiskey came Mosby’s Spirit, which I sampled on a recent visit to Catoctin Creek Distilling Company. This didn’t smell like your typical whiskey, either. Instead, there was a light, lemon citrus on the nose, with fresh floral aromas, backed up by a deep grainy profile.

Pure grain was the dominant force when tasting Mosby’s, producing something was, at least for myself, astonishingly easy to drink after my prior experience. Surprised by this, I asked Catoctin’s co-owner and distiller, Scott Harris, about what’s going on in the world of white whiskey these days.

“What I think some distillers get wrong is that they basically produce a spirit that they’re going to be putting away for a long time,” Harris said. “But you have to make money in the short term so you take some of that and you bottle it. So a spirit that should be aged for four years or something like that is oilier, and muskier, and not as pleasant. Some people like it, but not everybody likes it. Therefore, I think they make a mistake of putting something into a bottle which should be going into a barrel.”

So how does one make a better product? “When we started producing the Mosby’s, we aimed to produce a white whiskey that was truly drinkable on its own as a white spirit. It’s meant to be drank white,” Harris said.

Read the full review here.

The Gin is In does a great job of not only reviewing various gins from throughout the world, but they also feature various news and entertainment stories, all relating to gin, of course.  The Gin is In is a fun site and an easy way to let a couple hours at the office slip away unnoticed.

They recently tackled our Watershed Gin, and gave it four out of five "gin-n-tonics".  That's a good review, I think:

Quite nice, robust and while contemporary in flavor, the overall feel of the spirit feels more traditional. The sharpness of juniper in a London Dry is mimicked by pepper, carraway, juniper and a bit of alcohol burn. It reminds me of the mouth feel of a traditional style gin while not quite tasting like one. The combination of the woody Rye and that faint floral character make the exact impression of Watershed Gin kind of hard to place. There’s a lot going on, and its quite interesting, slowly unraveling and revealing itself when tasted neat. Its a very interesting, almost cerebral gin.

Read the full review here.

Becky appeared on the Kojo Nnamdi show on WAMU 88.5. From the show description:

Small-batch craft distilleries are popping up across the country and region. They make everything from gin to rye to vodka, often with a focus on local ingredients and unique flavors. We talk with three local makers about what goes into getting a distillery off the ground and onto shelves at bars and liquor stores.

Other guests for the hour were Mike Lowe, of New Columbia Distillers, and Chris Cook, of Sloop Betty.

It was a great show! You can see the original show site, here.

In the final of three reviews from Guid Scotch Drink, Jason Johnstone-Yellin reviews our Roundstone Rye Cask Proof:

Aged for, up till now, two years, this particular batch of single cask rye is bottled at a natural cask strength of 58% Alc. (116 Proof)

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In conclusion: So very good.  The rye is perfectly presented, the texture is exceptional, and the milk chocolate provides a flavor otherwise unexpected.  In short: Buy it now.  But it's not available now!  Contact the distillery and make sure you're on the list for when the next batch becomes available (my name's already on that list!).

Read the full review here.

Jake Emen visited us in January and subsequently reviewed us on The Whiskey Reviewer. This is perhaps one of the most thorough and accurate pieces of coverage on the distillery:

If you live in or around Washington D.C., then it’s likely you’ve been seeing more and more of Catoctin Creek these days. In 2012, they increased their production to 40,000 bottles, double 2011′s level, and they have formed a variety of local partnerships. So it is that you’ll find the private label 515 exclusively at J&G Steakhouse at the W Hotel in D.C.; or if you went to D.C. Brau brewery, you’d see a rack of Catoctin Creek barrels put to use; or if you went to the 2012 Farmland Feast, you’d have seen their whiskey up for grabs in a charity-auction… and on down the line from there. From top to bottom, Catoctin Creek is a very locally-focused, community-driven operation. Enthusiastic volunteers actually do all of their bottling by hand during their filled-to-capacity weekend bottling workshops.

Read the full review here.

We received another great review, from Guid Scotch Drink.  Jason Johnstone-Yellin runs through the taste profile of our signature Roundstone Rye:

The mashbill for Roundstone Rye is 100% rye flour.  The rye is cooked for 3 hours and then cooled for 3 hours and, given that the mash is such a sticky mess, the solids all remain in the wash.

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In conclusion: Such a good rye!  Very drinkable with complexity that belies its age.  I highly recommended searching for a bottle.

Read the full review here.

Cville Weekly wrote an outstanding and very in-depth article on the state of craft distilling in Virginia.  Giles Morris covered Virginia Distilling Company in Nelson County, Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville, and us as well.  Here he is interviewing Rick Wasmund, owner of Copper Fox:

“It’s not always easy to sell in Virginia. Part of our benefit is that we’re an hour and a half from D.C. There we can self-distribute. I can have a bar owner taste my stuff and if they like it, I can take an order and bring them cases the next week,” Wasmund said.

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“I like the engineering challenges. The physical production challenges of making great whisky. We’re always trying to stretch ourselves and make it better but we’re also trying to make more of it. That’s fun,” he said.

Read the full article here.

We received a very kindly review, from Guid Scotch Drink.  Nice of Jason Johnstone-Yellin to do the review on a spirit which we feel is under-appreciated:

Catoctin Creek, Organic Mosby's Spirit is new make whiskey designed for the bottle rather than the cask.  It's intended to be drunk, rather than matured.  To accomplish this, the head, heart, and tails cuts are made in different places from those made for the spirit destined for the cask.

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In conclusion: Very nice!  A terrifically constructed new make that is very, very drinkable.  The green apple skin on the palate is a veritable treat.

Read the full review here.