We received some more press on the trade tariffs, this time from France's TF1 television station.  Translating the summary of the article, to English, and the original French:

When Donald Trump's policy penalizes American companies
Donald Trump has upset the rules of world trade in recent months, like the customs duties of 25% introduced on some European products. This policy was very popular in the United States, initially. However, it is starting to have negative consequences for some American companies. A crankback that concerns even everyday consumers. This topic was broadcast in the news broadcast of 20H of 03/11/2018 presented by Anne-Claire Coudray on TF1. You will find in the program of the 20H news of November 3, 2018 reports on current political economic, international and cultural, analysis and rebound on the main topics of the day, topics in the regions and surveys on topics that concern the daily French.

---

Quand la politique de Donald Trump pénalise les entreprises américaines
Donald Trump a bouleversé les règles du commerce mondial ces derniers mois, à l'exemple des taxes douanières de 25% instaurées sur certains produits européens. Cette politique était très populaire aux États-Unis, au départ. Cependant, celle-ci commence à avoir des conséquences négatives sur certaines entreprises américaines. Un retour de manivelle qui concerne même les consommateurs quotidiens. Ce sujet a été diffusé dans le journal télévisé de 20H du 03/11/2018 présenté par Anne-Claire Coudray sur TF1. Vous retrouverez au programme du JT de 20H du 3 novembre 2018 des reportages sur l'actualité politique économique, internationale et culturelle, des analyses et rebonds sur les principaux thèmes du jour, des sujets en régions ainsi que des enquêtes sur les sujets qui concernent le quotidien des Français.

Watch the video, here.

We had a lovely event last month, The Battle of the Bartenders, where some of Loudoun County's top mixologists came together to sling cocktails and compete to see who had the best drinks.  Proceeds went to support CORE (Children of Restaurant Employees), who support those in our industry in need.  It was a great wild evening, and definitely for a great cause.

Eric Kozlik reviewed the evening in his Modern Bar Cart podcast. You can listen to the full episode, here, or go over to his site and subscribe, here.

Our founder, Scott Harris, headed up to Frederick this week to chat with the guys at the Uncapped podcast.  After nearly ten years in business, Scott reflects on how they got started, the financial, competitive, and legal environments then and now, and reviews some of the recent awards from the New York competition.

You can listen to the podcast, here, or head over to their site and subscribe, here.

Catoctin Creek was named #3 in USA Today's "10 Best" awards, in the category of "Best Brandy".

While Catoctin Creek might be best known for its flagship rye whiskey, the Virginia distillery also makes the state’s first commercial grape brandy since the founding of the Commonwealth. This 1757 Virginia Brandy, made from locally grown wine grapes, is aged in French oak barrels for at least two years.

You can read the full article, here.

We were thrilled to meet Mark Gillespie, the personality behind WhiskyCast, a very popular national podcast on (you guessed it) whisky.  Mark tasted, among other products in our line, our Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye Cask Proof.  We think he liked it:

93 points.  This rye whiskey from Virginia’s Catoctin Creek Distillery is often hard to find, but well worth the effort. The nose has soft spices and touches of toffee, vanilla, honey, and charred oak. The taste starts off with dark fruity notes of raisins and plums, followed by spicy notes of clove, allspice, and a hint of coriander while toffee, vanilla, and caramel notes add balance in the background. The finish is very long and rich with lingering spices and a hint of honey. This is cask-strength rye whiskey that doesn’t taste like it’s cask-strength! Excellent!

Read the full review, here.

Louisville Business First did a story on our launch into Kentucky last week.  David Mann writes:

[Scott] and his wife, Becky Harris, started a rye whiskey distillery, Catoctin Creek Distillery, in Purcellville, Va., in 2009 — just before the spicy whiskey drink catapulted to a ubiquitous offering at bars and liquor stores everywhere.

...

The company's product hit shelves here recently — It's available at 8UP, Westport Whiskey and Wine, Total Wine & More, Taste Fine Wines and Bourbons and other places. The company uses Heidelberg Distributing Co. in Louisville.

You can read the full story, here.

Catoctin Creek has been nominated in USA Today's "10 Best" awards, in the category of "Best Brandy".  Please go to the link below and VOTE for us every day!  From the article:

While Catoctin Creek might be best known for its flagship rye whiskey, the Virginia distillery also makes the state’s first commercial grape brandy since the founding of the Commonwealth. This 1757 Virginia Brandy, made from locally grown wine grapes, is aged in French oak barrels for at least two years.

Voting is now closed.

Becky Harris was featured today on Great Day Live! on WHAS TV in Louisville, Kentucky.  This week, we're launching Catoctin Creek into the Kentucky market, and today's show was celebrating that launch, and featuring our distiller dinner tonight at Decca restaurant.  You can watch the full video, here.

We had the pleasure of hosting Inside Loudoun at our distillery last month.  They had a great time sampling our seasonal cocktails, and visiting with Denise, our tasting room manager:

Sipping the spirits at Catoctin Creek is part of the experience. Visitors can make reservations (necessary on weekends) to try flights of their Roundstone Rye, Watershed Gin and brandies straight, or make choose to enjoy them mixed into incredibly creative cocktails by bartender brainiac, Denise Petty. Every recipe from the monthly changing drink menu captures the season and features locally-sourced juices, syrups and bitters.

You can read the full story, here, or watch the video above.

We were absolutely delighted to be part of the One Nation Under Whisky podcast.  If you're a whisky nerd, who wishes to know all the details, this is a fun, clever, and not-taking-itself-too-seriously podcast. Love, love, love it!

Give it a listen, here.

While President Trump and EU chair Junkers met to begin the process of negotiating the tariffs, Catoctin Creek received more press coverage as an unintended victim on the ongoing trade war.  Both BBC (UK) and ARD (Germany) have stories on the issue, featuring out distillery:

From the BBC article, "Now in the craft distilling industry [in the United States], we have small distillers like ourselves in all fifty states," says Scott Harris, founder of Catoctin Creek.  "If these trade negotiations go on for many months, or a year or more, then we're really going to have to re-evaluate our European strategy. and it means we may have to pull back from Europe for a while."

From the ARD article, "The difficult thing about being in the whisky business," says Mr. Harris, "is, you know, we've laid down whisky years ago in anticipation for markets for today."

Here are links to the various web, radio, and TV spots:

• BBC Web Coverage, 2018 July 26
• BBC Radio Coverage, 2018 July 26
• ARD Web Coverage, 2018 July 26
• ARD Radio Coverage, 2018 July 26
• ARD TV Coverage, 2018 July 26

The BBC audio was also picked up by American Public Radio, which ran it on the Marketplace Morning Report:

• Marketplace Morning Report, 2018 July 27 (minute 4:30)

Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) highlighted our company as an example of how the trade tariffs are hurting US small businesses, particularly manufacturing and agriculture jobs.  From their press release:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, pressed a Trump Administration official on President Trump’s trade war and the concerns he’s heard from Virginia farmers and business owners about the negative effect it is having on their business. In a Committee hearing on tariffs, Kaine, with a bottle Catoctin Creek Whiskey from Purcellville, VA in hand, told the success story of the Loudoun County company’s expansion and how that is now at risk because of the trade war that the Trump Administration has created with our allies.

You can watch the full video, here.

Further coverage:

• Loudoun Times Mirror, July 12, 2018
• WVTF Public Radio, July 13, 2018

Photo courtesy Kristen Dill.

Bloomberg has continuing coverage of the Trump Trade Tariffs, and their unintended impact on craft distillers like us. Janine Wolf reports:

For the Harris family in Purcellville, the European market was supposed to represent 25 percent revenue this year—a significant share for a company of just 20 employees. It started spending the $100,000 in 2013 with a focus on Germany and Italy, with the expansion into its new markets expected to take off this year. Now, Catoctin Creek won’t be sending another shipment to the continent until either tariffs are lifted or a European customer places an order where they're swallowing the tariff cost.

"The only option that we’re really left with,” Scott Harris said, “is to tread water and see how long this will [shake] out."

Read the full story, here.

Scott Harris (our founder and general manager) was on Fox Business this week, on Countdown to the Closing Bell with Liz Claman, discussing trade tariffs and their impact to our small business.  This is great insight into the unintended consequences of this trade war with the EU, in a non-partisan forum.  This topic isn't about politics, but rather, about allowing free and fair trade between the EU and the USA so small businesses like ours can grow and create good paying American jobs.

“The impact of these tariffs is going to wipe out all the benefits we got from the tax cuts for our particular business,” he said during an interview with FOX Business’ Liz Claman on Wednesday. “That’s really disappointing for us.”

See for yourself in the video above, or for the full story, click here.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Wenn ja, können Sie gerne erfahren, wie sich die Trump-Zölle negativ auf amerikanische Whiskyhersteller wie Catoctin Creek auswirken. Dies ist eine übersetzte Version der ursprünglichen AP-Geschichte von Bruce Schreiner.

US-Whiskybrennereien bangen um Exportgeschäft — Echter Bourbon könnte schon bald deutlich teurer werden. Grund sind die von der EU verhängten Vergeltungszölle auf US-Produkte. Doch nicht nur Verbraucher dürften künftig unter dem Handelsstreit leiden. Viele Whiskeybrennereien in den USA blicken mit Sorge auf die Handelsstreit.

Sie können das Video anzeigen, indem Sie auf das obige Video klicken oder hier klicken.

Do you speak German?  If so, you can enjoy learning about how the Trump trade tariffs are negatively affecting US whiskey makers like Catoctin Creek.  This is a translated version of the original AP story by Bruce Schreiner. 

US whiskey distilleries are worried about export business - real bourbon could soon become significantly more expensive. The reason is the EU's retaliatory tariffs on US products. But not only consumers are likely to suffer from the trade dispute in the future. Many whiskey distilleries in the US are worried about the trade dispute.

You can view the video by clicking the video above, or click here.

Further German language coverage:

• Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, July 3, 2018

Owen Fairclough, reporting for CGTN America, does a thorough job explaining the perils that small whiskey producers, such as ourselves, face due to the trade tariffs.  He writes:

Distilled spirits have enjoyed huge growth in the U.S over the last 20 years and are now manufactured and exported from 42 U.S States. The impact of those tariffs is being felt across the country.

According to the Distilled Spirits Council, nearly half of the exports are being targeted by tariffs. And it’s not just the liquor.

The tanks used in the distilling process are made from European metal – and even they’ve been hit by tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

You can read the full story, here.

Local news channel WJLA ABC 7 covered our story on the trade tariff impacts on our whiskey business.  Tim Barber reports:

Distilling whiskey takes time. And so does positioning a small business for a big, overseas expansion.

“These are solid, good American manufacturing jobs and these are being impacted,” says Scott Harris of Catoctin Creek Distilling Company in Purcellville.

Right now, the price of his most popular bottle is $45 overseas. But if the tariff turmoil continues, that price could jump to $56 per bottle.

You can read the full story, here.

The coverage continues.  Vanity Fair has a story sweeping up the impact of the tariffs across a broad set of industries, including ours:

American whiskey makers are worried the E.U.’s retaliatory 25 percent duty on whiskey will obliterate its export business, with Scott Harris, a founder of Catoctin Creek Distillery, telling the Times, “We are just launching into the European market now in a big way, and . . . we’re probably going to see all of our European sales now come to a screeching halt”

Read the full story, here.

More coverage from the New York Times on the Trump trade wars, and how they're hurting our growing small business.  Alan Rappeport reports:

A self-described free-trade Republican, Mr. Harris is disappointed with the path that his party has taken on trade.

“I remember just two years ago we were talking about pushing hard for the Trans-Pacific Partnership so we could open markets in Asia, but all of that has just been turned upside down,” Mr. Harris said. “It really is quite puzzling.”

Read the original story, here.

Fox5 DC came out to Purcellville to interview Scott Harris, founder of the distillery, about the impacts of the trade tariffs on his growing small business.  Matt Ackland reports:

Starting on Friday, the European Union has slapped a 25-percent tariff on whiskey and other products. Harris said he has already produced more product for his European customers and worries what he will do with it if those customers go away due to higher prices.

“I have been asked, ‘Does that mean we’re laying people off?’” Harris said. “No, we’re not laying people off, but we may not be hiring anybody for a while now either.”

You can read the entire story, here.  Or click the image above to see the video.

The Associated Press released a story this week, and it featured Catoctin Creek.  The gist of the story is that the Trump trade tariffs will appreciably harm both big producers and small producers alike, just as the US whiskey market is set to explode in Europe.  The timing could not be worse.

[Scott Harris, Founder at Catoctin Creek] worries his overseas distributors might drop his spirits if the dispute drags on, and consumers will quench their thirst elsewhere. Already, rye whiskeys are coming out of Ireland and Scotland, he said, and with a bit of internet digging, "I could probably come up with a German distiller who's making a corn spirit that could, for all practical purposes, be very similar to bourbon."

The story was released nationally, and showed up in many newspapers.  We like the version in the Sacramento Bee best, because it included some cool photos at the distillery.  Read that, here.

Original AP story, here.

Scott was invited down to Fox News to talk about trade tariffs and how they'll negatively impact small business and large business alike in the spirits sector.  Trade wars like the one proposed are direct threats to the growth and expansion of manufacturing and agriculture jobs across all 50 states.  Click the video below to learn more.

Nine years have passed since our first appearance on Hotmixology.  Check us out again with our Roundstone Rye!

 

So very cool to have a great review from Bourbon Paddy, who reviews whiskey from his home near Dublin, Ireland. As we are just starting our entrance into the UK market (not Ireland just yet, unfortunately), it's great to see Paddy's detailed review.  From the review, he writes:

This is a very nice easy drinking rye whisky; it’s smooth, flavourful, well-balanced, and not just an over-oaked fiery wall of young rye spice and barrel char. What stands out for me is despite coming across young and grain forward on the nose, those bold and spicy rye grain notes are very well balanced by the rest of the flavours as you sip giving a spicy rye with a fruity edge. At times it is hard to believe that this is a 100% rye mashbill because of all the beautiful flavour notes that emerge as you chew this; however, I put this down to the fact that this isn’t sourced (so no familiar MGP notes here) and Catoctin’s considerate approach when making this whisky.

You can read the full review, which includes detailed notes on nose, palate, finish, as well as production notes, here.

Photo courtesy Bourbon Paddy.

On Wednesday night, Scott Harris, founder and general manager of Catoctin Creek, appeared on Fox 5 evening news to talk taxes, economic development, and whisky sours.  Key points raised during the quick interview:

• The reduction in Federal Excise Tax has allowed small businesses like ours to invest in jobs--good high paying jobs--that improve our local community.
• We also invest in other businesses like farms and other suppliers, further boosting the local economy.
• The tax savings allow us to invest in our own business with about $1M more of equipment coming online in the next year, allowing us to get more of our product to more people.
• And finally, May is whisky sours month at Catoctin Creek, and a hibiscus, strawberry, lime whisky sour is a beautiful thing!

Watch the full clip, here.

It was very nice to receive a 90 point review from WhiskyCast this week! We definitely enjoy seeing other people's tasting notes. Palates can be very subjective and vary from person to person, but it's always nice when they like our whisky! From the review:

Score: 90 points

This edition is bottled at 46% ABV, compared to the 40% strength of the standard Roundstone Rye, and the difference clearly shows. The nose is very aromatic with notes of honey, butterscotch, bitter lemon, linseed oil, and muted spices. The taste is tart and spicy with cinnamon and clove balanced by lemon zest, honey, vanilla, and a nice touch of butterscotch that comes out late and sticks around through the finish, along with muted spices and a touch of lemon zest. Nice!

You can read the full review, here.

You eat, live and breathe this region. Who better to judge which restaurant has the best bite to eat, which store delivers the greatest products and which venue offers the most entertaining events? So, Northern Virginians, tell us the local spots that make living here all worth your while.

Thank you to all the great readers of Northern Virginia Magazine who voted Catoctin Creek as Best Distillery for 2018!  We are delighted with the news!

Look for more in the upcoming June issue of the magazine!

Coming soon!

Women have worked hard to win some of the most rewarding and difficult jobs in a male- dominated industry – distilling fine spirits and brewing beer. Join our conversation and sampling with four women who’ve blazed trails to craft acclaimed spirits and world-famous beers: Lesley Gracie, Master Distiller for Hendrick’s Gin, Becky Harris, Chief Distiller for Catoctin Creek, Allison Parc, creator of Brenne Single Malt Whisky, Hollie Stephenson, Head Brewer for Guinness North America.

If you are not able to personally be present at the Total Wine Livestream event this weekend, here is a link to the Livestream on YouTube, or continue to watch this space on Saturday, March 3, 4pm.

We are very pleased that Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye Cask Proof was a category winner at the World Whiskies Awards 2018.  It won for the category of Best American Rye under 12 years of age. 

You can read the full article, here.

Nice mention on the Travel Channel web site:

[O]ne of the top boutique rye makers in the country, Catoctin Creek Distilling in Purcellville, Virginia.

Award-winners for their Virginia-crafted 80 and [92] proof rye, Catoctin Creek was singled out recently for a Good Food Awards for those distinctive spirits.

This family-run distillery in Loudon, County Virginia produces rye, gin and brandy from local Virginia wines. Forbes offered this enticing description of Catoctin’s Roundstone Single Barrel Rye Whisky, “Delicate at first, this single-barrel rye gains in strength on the tongue, with flashes of herb, pear, white chocolate, whole-grain toast, and gentle spice.” Sold!

Read the full story, here.

If you're purchasing whiskey for the holidays, Forbes has a nice recommendation: us!

Catoctin Creek Distilling Co. Roundstone Single Barrel Rye Whiskey &endash; Purcellville, VA (SRP $45)

Delicate at first, this single-barrel rye gains in strength on the tongue, with flashes of herb, pear, white chocolate, whole-grain toast, and gentle spice.

Read the full article, here.

Want to get your hands on some Rabble Rouser? Astor Wines & Spirits in NYC has some at a great price!! From their review:

Staff Pick Notes

Do you long for a robust whiskey? Rabble Rouser is easily the best I've had all year. What it lacks in age statement and pedigree is more than made up for with real character. Tasting it for the first time, I enjoyed a depth of flavor I've never experienced with another rye. It reminded me of Belgian waffles baked dark and chocolate chip cookies without the sugar. Big spice, too. This caramelized grain flavor is the antithesis of what people dislike about young craft whiskey, that unresolved raw flour sensation on the mid-palate. In a category full of heritage brands, scarcity performs a strange seduction. I guess some people enjoy the hunt for whatever the whiskey blogs are talking about, but if you'd like something more than a trophy, give Catoctin Creek a shot.

- TT

Read the full review and order the product, here. WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!!

The Good Food Awards has named two of Catoctin Creek's products -- Roundstone Rye 80 Proof and Roundstone Rye 92 Proof -- in their 2018 spirits category.  The press release for the Good Food Awards writes [bold highlights ours]:

The 15 categories the Good Food Awards celebrate -- from spirits to cheese to coffee -- comprise over $200 billion in America's gross domestic product, a greater portion than the cattle and pork industries combined. The 2018 Finalists represent the vanguard in each of their industries, setting new standards for gastronomic excellence as well as social and environmental practices that have over time proven to be adopted by the rest of the industry. Each Finalist rose to the top in a blind tasting of 2,057 entries, and also passed a rigorous vetting to confirm they meet Good Food Awards standards regarding supply chain transparency, environmentally sound agricultural practices, humane animal husbandry and deep community engagement.

View the complete list of 2018 Good Food Awards finalists, here.

Jack Berninger does a really nice profile piece on the distillery and what motivated us to get started with rye.  Quoting the story:

"We settled on rye for three reasons,” Scott said. “No. 1, it was delicious; 2, nobody was making anything like it at the time. It was unique; and 3, it was the historical whiskey grain of Virginia.

Those seemed like good reasons to hitch our wagon to the rye train.”

You can read the full story, here.

Catoctin Creek featured prominently in a news story on the US/UK free trade relationship. You can view the story, here:

And read further background on the topic, here.

Nice to show up in the Roanoke based Local Roots restaurant cocktail for this news piece about September and Virginia Spirits Month:

Read the full story, here.

Many thanks to Wayne Curtis, writing for Garden and Gun, in this feature on Old Tom Gin and our special Pearousia barrel version.  Wayne writes:

For the Pearousia Barrel Old Tom Watershed Gin—a third limited bottling of which was released this past spring—Purcellville’s Catoctin Creek ages its acclaimed Watershed Gin, distilled from local rye and wheat, for four months in barrels freshly emptied of pear brandy, that classic Southern spirit. The result’s dense floral aroma filigreed with toasty oak convincingly changes the geography of gin.

You can read the full story, here.

Photo courtesy Kelly Magyarics.

Kelly Magyarics writes in DC Refined about our bottling workshops.  If you haven't had the opportunity to attend one of these free events, you really are missing out on the fun!

Ever take a distillery tour and say to yourself: “I’d love to give that a try”? Well, while you can’t technically make a batch of their award-winning Roundstone Rye (that would be the job of co-founder, chief distiller and former chemical engineer Becky Harris), you can get a taste of the booze producer life at Catoctin Creek Distilling Company. Each month on a Saturday, the craft spirits operation holds a free bottling workshop for curious spirits fans (and anyone who’s ever wanted to be part of a production line.)

You can read the full story, here.

I hope you'll enjoy this little podcast by The Sports and Spirits Podcast interviewing our founder, Scott Harris.  A little history about Catoctin Creek starts at minute 53:00.

Listen to the full podcast, here.

The podcast is located on iTunes, here.

Loudoun Now did a great article on our recent growth and the investment by Constellation Brands.  From the story:

“With the advent of increased competition even locally, it really takes more resources to support your brand,” she said. “We were trying to grow ọṙḡạṇịcally but it gets more and more difficult to see sales consistently stay level when you don’t have the support that you need. We were looking for a strategic partner.”

You can read the full story, here.  Photo credit: Douglas Graham, Loudoun Now.

David Wondrich does a fantastic piece on peach brandy in The Daily Beast. I love the history presented. I always learn from Mr. Wondrich. We are so happy to be included in his review as well:

From Purcellville, Virginia’s popular Catoctin Creek distillery there’s the Short Hill Mountain Peach Brandy ($30/375 ml), which explores the funkier end of the spirit’s flavor spectrum. It offers notes of honeysuckle and aged tobacco in the nose and is thick, rich and sweet on the palate, with plenty of peach skin.

We still have it available at the distillery for only $29 per bottle. Get yours! In the meantime, read the full story, here.

We've been in the Washington Post "Going Out Guide" before.  It's always super nice to be covered in this esteemed newspaper.

This month, Fritz Hahn did a fantastic story on the craft distilling scene in DC.  Things have certainly exploded since 2010, when we came on the scene in the District!  When we started selling in DC, there were two (us and Copper Fox).  Now there are over ten... and more each year!

About Catoctin Creek, Fritz writes:

The 80-proof original, a young (almost two-year-old) whiskey with lots of rye spice and caramel and woody notes, is a solid all-purpose rye for cocktails. The 92 proof ($52.79), released in 2014, takes the spice and sweetness up a level and is great neat or with ice. The cask strength ($89), is a must-try for serious whiskey aficionados; it's released in limited quantities twice per year.

You can read the full story, here.

Our second beer collaboration, this one with Adroit Theory Brewing Company and called Día de los Muertos, will be available on November 12 (November 2 for VIP members).  Warren Rojas does the full backstory at Washington City Paper:

Next to scrutinize the end result was Becky Harris, Scott’s wife and Catoctin Creek’s chief distiller. As she siphoned the resulting whiskey from its cask, she couldn’t help gush about the collaboration. “I’ve been waiting for this one for two years,” she says as she pulls a dram of the experimental beverage they dubbed “Día de los Muertos” American Malt Whisky.

“The name of the original beer was Día de los Muertos. So it made sense to name the whiskey the same,” [Mark] Osborne [founder of Adroit Theory Brewing Company] says of the ominous moniker he came up with.

The whiskey smells of roasted malt and shines as brightly as copper. It’s less forceful on the palate than traditional rye whiskey, but still has a rich mouthfeel, conveying definitive hoppiness balanced by caramel notes.

You can read the full story, here.

I hope you'll enjoy this little podcast by The Whisky Guy interviewing our founder, Scott Harris.  A little history, a little whisky, and a lot of fun!

Listen to the podcast, here.

The podcast site is located here, and we recommend you check them out and subscribe:   http://www.thewhiskyguy.com/020-2/

Holiday Lettings is a branch of TripAdvisor from the United Kingdom.  They recently listed the top ten coolest distilleries to visit in America.  Catoctin Creek came in at number TWO!  

From the article:

Although Prohibition put a damper on America’s ability to drink in the 1920s and 1930s, the recent emergence of craft distilleries has put drinking spirits back on the map. We searched high and low to find the coolest distilleries across the country to sip top-notch beverages. The distilleries on our list pride themselves on using locally-sourced (when possible) ingredients to produce high-quality spirits ranging from classic whiskies to off-the-wall flavoured vodkas. Each can be savoured in the form of a tasting flight or mixed into a craft cocktail. No matter what you order, there’s nothing like tasting spirits straight from their source.

Read the full article, here.

In an article that covers unusual cask finishes—everything from fish barrels to Tabasco barrels—it was cool to see The Spirits Business pick up a story on our Maple Finished Cask Proof:

One of the quirkier expressions created by [Catoctin] Creek in the name of “research and development”, this whisky is created by finishing ‘cask proof’ Roundstone Rye in a Langdon Wood maple syrup barrel. According to Catoctin, the resulting liquid is “not cloying or sweet”, but instead offers “a smooth maple flavour that blends perfectly into the whisky”, with “a maple finish that goes on, and on, and on, and on…”.

You can read the full story, here.

 

Hot on the heels of the American Whiskey Masters, where Catoctin Creek received a gold medal and two silver medals, Nicola Carruthers at The Spirits Business called out ten best whiskey values from the USA:

Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye Cask Proof caught the attention of the panel and was accordingly awarded a Gold. The bottling was described as “very balanced and opened well with water”. Judges found it to be a good example of a rye whiskey due to being “sweet” on the nose but with “rye characteristics”.

You can read the full story, here.

We recently submitted a bunch of our spirits to be reviewed in the American Whiskey Masters in London.  The contest results have yet to come in, but apparently, now that the blind-judging is completed, the judges were allowed to pick and choose their favorite spirits to take home with them.  Mark, from Malt Review, who also writes for Whisky Magazine, does a splendid job reviewing our Roundstone Rye Cask Proof.  I particularly like his color note: "polished mahogany."

In the mouth: quite a chewy texture, but a wonderful balance of sweetness and bitterness from the wood as a first impression. And it follows very well from the nose: again, that tartness from the redcurrant, with wood tannins creating a nice cloying mouthfeel. Peppermint. Then the sugary goodness: molasses and prunes again. Blackcurrant. Elderberry. A slug of port before drifting into a slightly woody finish. For it’s the balance on the finish, again of the sweetness and the bitterness, which makes this such a great whiskey.

Read the full review, here.

Stefanie Gans, writer and food critic for Northern Virginia magazine, does a big article in the July 2016 issue about all the growth in distilleries in the Northern Virginia area.   We're pleased to be featured alongside others in the region, including KO, Bowman, and Belmont Farm, to name a few.  There are also some fantastic photos by Rey Lopez, one of our favorites in the area, so be sure to check this one out!

"If I can learn how to make contact [lenses]," Becky Harris says, she could master the age old distilling process.  Now she starts her days at 6 a.m., making the mash with local rye and water, letting it sit, ferment.  The stills stand next to floor-to-ceiling windows facing the center of Purcellville, what was once a town known for its temperance enthusiasm.

You can read the full story, here.

Thrillist just came out with their list of top local distilleries, as voted by top DC bartenders.  We're so happy to be included in a list of very fine local providers!

"Roundstone Rye is a great whiskey -- robust, sweet, and spicy -- great in cocktails or neat. Catoctin shares a lot of values with us: they source locally and pesticide-free. They care about their quality, and it shows." -- Todd Thrasher, bartender/owner of the Eat Good Food Group (PX, Restaurant Eve, etc.)

Read the full story, here.