The dog days of summer are among us, and it makes it a hard time to be a distiller.

With temperatures peaking above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, we're really struggling to keep cool as we continue to work at making whisky and gin.  Mind you, this job generates lots of heat, and we have no air conditioning in the distillery (except for the fermentation room), so ours is truly a labor of love.  And our desire to get you guys more spirits as soon as we can!

We are now shipping our spirits into Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, and we're just starting to see some awesome restaurants carrying our products.  Around home, we have the wonderful Magnolias at the Mill in Purcellville, the Greene Turtle and Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg, just to name a few.  And let's not forget Patowmack Farm in Lovettsville, where we are doing cocktails paired with dinner on August 6.  Further afield, the first restaurant in the District to carry our spirits is the well renowned Passenger on 7th Street NW. Look for more and more as we ramp up on our distribution, and don't be shy to ask your retailer or server, "Can you get me some Catoctin Creek?"

Another wonderful milestone occurred just before July came to a close.  We received our first order from northern California!  Now, if you're out in the Lake Tahoe or Sacramento area on vacation, you should be able to find our spirits there as well.  This is a great new market for us, and we're excited that folks are interested in organic spirits across the nation.  We'll need to ramp up our production to meet the growing demands, but this is a good problem to have.

There are lots and lots of cool activities coming up this fall.  Whether you want to learn to be a distiller, or just want to hang out with us for a little while, there's a little something for everyone.  Briefly, they are:

• Interview on the Mike O'Meara radio show, August 6 at 10:30am (http://www.mikeomearashow.com/)
• Dinner at Patowmack Farm Restaurant, Aug. 6, 7pm  (Not too late for reservations, call the restaurant!)
• Next bottling workshop, tentatively planned for August 21, 10am (RSVP now to reserve a free space)
• Whisky Cruise on the Hudson, New York City, August 26
• Loudoun Fall Color Farm Tour, October 16-17 (a free event)
• Autumn distilling workshop, October 23.  Register online
• Whisky Fest in New York City - November 9

You can find out much more about any of these on our website at http://catoctincreekdistilling.com/enjoy/events.  Of course, tours are always free.  Just call ahead to make sure we're there.

As always, there is 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 haven't had too much traffic in FourSquare yet, so any of you who wish to be the mayor of our distillery, better get crackin!

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

Cheers!
Scott & Becky

June has passed, and so we reach the halfway point of 2010.

June saw a few milestones in our distribution, as we picked up distribution in Maryland and the District of Columbia with Bacchus Importers, Ltd. Bacchus is the premium distributor of high end and craft spirits in the Maryland and DC area, so we were naturally pleased to partner with them for selling our spirits north of the Potomac. Look for the spirits to start to arrive in stores this summer. And if you go into your local stores or restaurants, be sure to ask for Catoctin Creek!

In June, we were also pleased to obtain our final approval for our USDA certified organic labels. The new labels should roll out on products starting in July. Same great products as before, it's just that now they bear that coveted "organic" mark, proving our commitment to high quality spirits and sustainable practices.

We have several great events coming up in July and early August. Keep an eye out for the following:

• July24 - Catoctin Creek Distilling Workshop
• July 31 - Bottling Day - Volunteers Wanted
• August 6 - Catoctin Creek Dinner at Patowmack Farm Restaurant

For more information on these, or any other events, check our web site: http://catoctincreekdistilling.com/enjoy/events

If you are a Virginia customer, it still helps to give the ABC manager the ordering codes when asking for our products. Some of the stores are becoming more familiar with the product, but some are still learning. If you are in a store and cannot find our product, ask the clerk to look up or order the following:

• 27030 - Roundstone Rye
• 952482 - Mosby's Spirit (special order by the case - 6 bottles)
• 952483 - Watershed Gin (special order by the case - 6 bottles)

Some stores will even sell you the special order products by the bottle. (Ask real nicely, and they might for you too!)

Finally, we were thrilled beyond words to be highlighted in a story on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. The news story is a great little history about starting the distillery, and we never get tired of watching ourselves! Check it out on our web site: http://catoctincreekdistilling.com/news/media/146-nbcnews

As always, there is 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.

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

Cheers!
Scott & Becky

In May, we started selling... And what a wild ride it's been!

As Richmond began distributing our spirits to the various stores in Northern Virginia, we were overwhelmed to see the Roundstone Rye flying off the shelves. Reports from Loudoun County ABC stores were that the product was selling out within hours of arrival. This is always encouraging for a new business, and we thank all of you who have bought a bottle. We truly hope you enjoy your rye whisky.

Sales have settled into a more normal clip now, with the product generally available in all stores throughout the Commonwealth. If you are in a store and cannot find our product, ask the clerk to look up or order the following:

• 27030 - Roundstone Rye
• 952482 - Mosby's Spirit (special order by the case - 6 bottles)
• 952483 - Watershed Gin (special order by the case - 6 bottles)

With sales in Virginia underway, we're starting to see our spirits showing up in local bars and restaurants--The Ashby Inn in Paris, VA, and the Old Brogue in Great Falls, VA--to name a few. If you have a favorite restaurant or bar, ask them if they carry your local spirit--Catoctin Creek--and if they do, let us know about it! If they don't, tell them they should!

On our web site, we've expanded our section on cocktails and recipes. Many of our Facebook friends have sent in great cocktails, like the Sazerac and the Maryland Mint Julep, which we are happy to share on our site. Have a favorite cocktail that we don't know about? Send it to us and we'll post it!

May was also the month when we received our official organic certification. Organic is really important to us. Besides affirming a standard of care for sustainable practices, organic equals truly better spirits. Why? Well, when you have grain that has been treated with synthetic pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers, those chemicals attach to the grain. And if distillation is anything, it's the art of concentration. When you distill the grain, those chemicals come through in the spirit, giving "off" flavors and foul chemical taints that must be absorbed by the charred carbon in the barrel. But when you use 100% organic rye, as we do, the spirit is clean and crisp, and absolutely wonderful on day one. I guess that's why Jason Wilson, of the Washington Post, called it "a beautiful unaged whisky." Thanks, Jason. We definitely agree.

Keep an eye out, for in the coming weeks, we'll be announcing another bottling party. These are great fun, where we set up an assembly line of volunteers to bottle and pack cases of Roundstone Rye for shipment. The last time, we had 20-30 volunteers, and we cranked through 60 cases of rye in less than two hours! Everybody had a great time, got a free lunch, and was able to sign their name on a bottle or two.

As always, there is 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.

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

Cheers!

Scott & Becky

Another busy month for us at Catoctin Creek Distilling Company...

In April, we were in bottling mode. Bottling was fun. We had a great team of volunteers who came in, and we rocked in one day what had been planned for two! It was a truly historic event, as we signed and shipped the very first bottles ever from our distillery. Plus, it was nice to meet up with some of our Facebook fans. We bottled over 90 cases of our first spirits for delivery to Virginia ABC in Richmond. As Scott was driving down I-95 with a pallet of spirits in his truck, it dawned on him he was fulfilling his lifelong dream to run liquor down I-95! Mind you, he was doing so driving 35 miles per hour with his hazard lights flashing! Must protect those spirits!

With the spirits delivered to Richmond, we now wait for the Virginia distribution machine to kick in so that the spirits are delivered to all of the stores we designated. Literally any day now, you should see Roundstone Rye on the shelves of your local ABC store. If you don't see it, ask for it! (Product # 27030). If you are a restaurant wishing to order all three spirits (including the Watershed Gin and Mosby's Spirit as well), you can use the ABC special order to ask for a mixed case (two of each spirit). You can find more information on buying our spirits here.

For those of you in Maryland and DC, we will be available there soon--we'll keep you posted on the web site.

In April, we also had our organic inspection. This went extremely well, and we are very proud to be nearly completed with what has been a very non-trivial process. Why organic? Being organic guarantees our spirits, and the ingredients that go into them, are free from synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers. The water we use is filtered for purity. We are independently inspected each year to ensure our compliance with these and other regulations governing the production of organic food. In short, the organic label guarantees you a high level of transparency and accountability in how we produce our spirits. It underscores our commitment to providing you the highest quality spirits and to protecting and restoring our environment.

In May, be sure to check out the Loudoun Farm Tour and Purcellville Heritage Day, on May 15-16. We'll be in full production mode that weekend, and we'll show you the complete process of making whisky from mashing through distillation. You can stick your nose in a barrel and take a whiff, and you can meet some mighty fine people that help us keep the distillery running. Mark your calendars for this fun and informative weekend!

As always, there is 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.

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

Cheers!

Scott & Becky