I often get asked at the distillery if our products are gluten free.  The answer to that is an emphatic "YES! They are gluten free!"  People are often surprised by this, because rye grain (and hence rye bread, rye beer, etc.) is LOADED with gluten.  However, the gluten protein molecules are heavy, and do not ascend the column during distillation.  The resultant rye spirit is gluten free.  We've tested it, and it exceeds all FDA tests to be gluten free.

Why do I mention all this?  Well, people who have a gluten intolerance often tell me that they've eliminated beer from their lives, because when they drink it, they get symptoms like reflux and indigestion.  But sometimes, when it's hot outside, you just want a beer!  Something refreshing and fizzy!  Enter the highball:  All the freshness, none of the gluten!

A highball, for those new to this, is essentially spirit+soda.  There are many variants, including the traditional scotch and soda, the rum and coke, gin and tonic... the list goes on.

This delicious highball comes to us from Crude Bitters (@crudebitters) and adds a touch of amaro and bitters, which really adds some sophistication to the simple highball.

1½ oz Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
½ oz Pasubio Vino Amaro
Orange-fig bitters from Crude Bitters
Soda or seltzer

Fill a glass with ice.  Add the rye and amaro.  Top with cold seltzer.  Add 8-10 drops of orange-fig bitters.

Recipe courtesy Crude Bitters.

Some kudos from @fractionsofzero on Instagram:

No long winded post for this one. Just an amazing fresh made botanical sour with delicious gin created by a talented Bar Manager from a wonderful Brand.

2 parts Watershed Gin
1 part butterfly pea tea syrup
1 part lemon juice
⅛th part cassis
Lemon twist
2 dashes lavender bitters, to top

Combine all ingredients in a shaker of ice, strain over new ice in a Nick and Nora glass.

Recipe courtesy Denise Petty. Photograph courtesy @fractionsofzero.

This cocktail is re-posted from @bitbyafox on Instagram. Prairie Rose writes:

On Monday, I did a live tasting of @catoctincreek’s Distiller’s Edition 92 Proof Rye Whisky. And I’ve been playing around with it ever since (as you can tell from this half empty bottle!) Because of its higher proof, I love that it can stand up to a lot of different kinds of ingredients. Like Galliano Liqueur and lemon curd, for instance! I wanted to highlight the bright lemon zest in this rye, and lean into the warmer weather with a sunshiny cocktail recipe. Stay tuned for my interview with@catoctincreek founder @scohar70 on the #bitbyafoxpodcast tomorrow!

2 oz Catoctin Creek Distiller’s Reserve Rye Whisky
3/4 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
3/4 oz Galliano Liqueur
1 tablespoon of lemon curd
🍒 🍋 garnish

Add all ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake until well chilled. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Garnish.

Recipe and photo courtesy Bit by a Fox and used with permission.

Here's another great cocktail from the Instagram account, @fractionsofzero.  Basically, this is an old-fashioned with up-scaled sugar and orange bitters.  Very delicious when paired with our own up-scale Rabble Rouser!

2 oz Rabble Rouser Bottled-In-Bond Rye Whisky
1 tsp (more or less) of granulated maple sugar
dash of smoked blood orange bitters
Flared blood orange

Combine the ingredients in a rocks glass with a big rock.  Flare the blood orange peel over the drink by expressing a chunk of rind in front of a lighter.  You should get a cool flash of fire, to which everyone should clap and go, "Oooh!"

Recipe and photo courtesy @fractionsofzero and used with permission.

This cocktail was the winning cocktail from our recent Battle of the Bartenders, #RVA Edition!  This inventive cocktail comes to us from Jaclyn Beasley, who is the general manager over at Brunch in Richmond.  Jaclyn is recently relocated from the DC area and has moved down to Richmond to start making noise in the cocktail scene there. She is a proud member of the team over at Brunch, but wants to make her presence known and felt throughout Richmond. Keep a close eye on her because she is going to rise up quickly in the now thriving RVA cocktail scene! A champion who truly earned her spot.

2¼ oz Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
barspoon Novo Fogo Silver Cachaça
1 oz banana water*
¾ oz lemon juice
¼ oz vanilla syrup**
¼ oz 10 spice syrup***

Add all ingredients to shaker tin. Shake vigorously. Double strain cocktail into an old-fashioned glass, over ice. Garnish with dehydrated banana peel**** and edible flower.

*Banana Water:
2 bunches of bananas, in any stage of ripeness
Paper bag

Allow bananas to ripen until nearly black in color and very soft; they will begin to ooze. Peel skin (reserve) and mash the bananas with a potato masher. Add mash to a container and place in freezer for 24 hours. Once frozen, remove mash from freezer. Up-end container over another container and strainer to catch liquid, once it begins to thaw. Allow to strain for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

**Vanilla Syrup:
1 quart white sugar
1 quart water
1 cup light brown sugar
2 madagascar vanilla beans
1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Split vanilla beans, scrape seeds from pod. Add seeds, pod and remaining ingredients to a pot. Stir sugar until melted. Allow to lightly simmer for 15 minutes. Strain solids from liquid. You may reserve the vanilla pods again and use to make vanilla sugar, if so desired.

***10 Spice Syrup:
2 pieces of cinnamon stick, broken
2 ea star anise
8 whole cloves
¼ cup white peppercorns
¼ cup Indian Sasafrass
1 quart white sugar
1 quart water
¼ cup Togarashi spice (can be found in Japanese market)

Toast until fragrant, in order of list, all spices, except for togarashi. Add water and sugar. Simmer all spices together for 15 minutes. Add Togarashi spice, simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Strain all solids.

****Dehydrated Banana:
Using the peels from the ripened bananas, trim into rectangles (approx 2"x3"), usually 4 pieces per banana. Place peels skin side down on sheet pan lined with bakers rack, if using oven; Set oven to 150 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 4 hours. If using dehydrator, follow machine instructions.

Recipe courtesy Jaclyn Beasley, and used with permission.

This cocktail was a feature cocktail of one of our recent distillery dinners.

1½ oz Watershed Gin
¼ oz thyme infused simple syrup
¼ oz rose cordial (like Guapo's)
Ginger beer topper
Hibiscus Tea float (we like Dominion Tea in Purcellville)

Serve stirred over ice with a sprig of thyme

Recipe courtesy Lauren Barrett.

This cocktail was a feature cocktail of one of our recent distillery dinners.

2 oz Pearousia Pear Brandy
¾ oz matcha tea
¼ oz lavender infused honey syrup
¼ oz lime oleo saccharum (syrup from lime peels cured in sugar over night)
Blood orange paint garnish (blood orange dust, honey, orange bitters)

Serve shaken and strained over a large ice cube.

Recipe courtesy Lauren Barrett.

This cocktail was a feature cocktail of one of our recent distillery dinners.

2 oz Watershed Gin
1 oz yuzu juice
½ oz vanilla bean infused simple syrup
¼ citric acid water

Garnish with orange bitters and candied ginger. Serve stirred over ice.

Recipe courtesy Lauren Barrett.

This cocktail was a feature cocktail of one of our recent distillery dinners.

2 oz Roundstone Rye Distiller's Edition
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup
splash of aqauafaba (chickpea juice)
float of Cocchi Rosa

Shake first three ingredients with ice, strain, add aquafaba and dry shake. Pour over ice and float Cocchi Rosa. Garnish with a lemon peel and brandied cherry.

Recipe courtesy Lauren Barrett.

This cocktail was a feature cocktail of one of our recent distillery dinners.

2 oz Roundstone Rye 80 Cream*
½ Luxardo
Coffee
Chocolate whip cream
powdered cocoa

Add first two ingredients in a coffee mug, top with coffee then whipped cream, sprinkle with cocoa.

*Roundstone Rye Cream

1 cup heavy cream
14 oz can sweet condensed milk
2 Tbsp chocolate syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp instant coffee
1⅔ cup Roudstone Rye 80 Proof

Blend together, and store in refrigerator for up to 2 months.

Recipe courtesy Lauren Barrett.

This one is another great cocktail from Instagram personality @fractionsofzero.  He's doing a lot of amazing stuff on his Instagram feed right now, including some pretty wacky fish-based mocktails.  (We'll save those for your consideration.)

This is his take on a Blood and Sand cocktail classic:

¾ oz Catoctin Creek Chicken+Whisky Barrel Select Rye
¾ oz Luxardo cherry liqueur
¾ oz Drapo vermouth
¾ oz Blood orange juice
Dehydrated blood orange wheel to garnish.

Shake, strain into a coupe, and balance the orange delicately, poised to fall backward or forward at any moment in time. ⌛

Recipe and photo courtesy @fractionsofzero. Used with permission.

The mint julep is perhaps the most iconic American cocktail, among a field of cocktails which are, by definition, American. The julep is the cocktail of the south, evoking images of horse-farms, warm summer breezes, and sipping cool beverages on a wide porch. The history of the julep dates back to the 1700s, when it was prescribed as a medicinal. This variant uses rye, not bourbon, and uses a brown sugar syrup, which to us has more flavor and is truer to the sugar that would have been found in colonial America.

[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]

6 mint leaves, plus additional for garnish
½ oz brown sugar syrup
Crushed ice
2 oz Roundstone Rye

Muddle the mint in the bottom of the glass, add the syrup and whisky, stir, and add crushed ice and more garnish mint.

Recipe from Colonial Spirits by Stephen Grasse.