Coverage in the Loudoun Now newspaper:

Catoctin Creek Distillery was formally recognized in three categories at the Loudoun Chamber’s Small Business Awards on Friday, Nov. 13, following a year that saw the Purcellville company expand its market overseas into the UK while pivoting to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic at home.

The distillery, founded by Scott and Becky Harris, took home three awards at the chamber’s virtual ceremony: Main Street Business of the Year, the People’s Choice Award, and the evening’s highest award, Small Business of the Year.

The first award, the People’s Choice Award, caught the Harrises off guard, with Becky rushing to get back into frame in front of their computer at home—“Becky was upstairs putting away dinner when we got that, so we truly did not expect that,” Scott said.

You can read the full story, here. 

Photo courtesy Douglas Graham, Loudoun Now.

Catoctin Creek continues to rack up the gold medals, with a clean sweep of the Whiskey and Barrel Consumer Choice Awards 2020.  All three of our Roundstone Rye products, the 80 proof, 92 proof "Distiller's Edition," and cask proof, received gold medals in the judging, while the 80 proof received the coveted Consumer Choice Award in the "Under $51" category, while the cask proof received the Consumer Choice Award in the "$51-100" category.  About the competition:

Over 30 vetted consumers and over a dozen whiskey industry and media professionals gathered on October 10th at Bub City Rosemont IL, a premier bourbon and whiskey bar and restaurant, to participate as judges at this awards event. Judges are listed on the website - www.wabcca.com

An awards competition years in the making and long overdue – Consumers want to know the preference of their peers. Founders Dave Sweet and Mario Campa have more than 35 years of combined international spirits experience, hosting and consulting in tasting events and awards across North America, Europe and Australia. Currently owning and operating the Whiskey and Barrel Nite tasting events across the US and avid whisky enthusiasts themselves, they are truly in tune with what consumers are looking for.

You learn more about the competition and see the other winners, here.

We are delighted to learn that Tripadvisor has awarded us the Travelers' Choice 2020 Award.  From our entire team at the distillery, and especially those in the tasting room, who work so hard to give each person a wonderful experience, we say, Thank You!

About this award:

Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

You can view our listing (and give us a review if you like!), here.

Vote for Catoctin Creek Today!

Catoctin Creek has been selected as a finalist for the Main Street Business of the Year for the Loudoun County 26th Annual Small Business Awards. Cast your vote today to help us win the People's Choice Award and spread the word to your friends and family! Please note, you can vote only once per person/device.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Michael Veach reviewed the three flagship spirits in our Roundstone Rye lineup:  the 80 proof, the 92 proof, and the cask proof.  Really good tasting notes from the reviews, and he even offers a cigar pairing.

About 7 or 8 years ago, I was a judge at the ADI conference at the Starlight Distillery in Indiana. That is where I met Scott Harris. He and his wife Becky founded the Catoctin Creek Distillery about that time and I had a chance to taste the new-make spirit for their rye. I liked it. It showed real promise. They had everything fundamentally correct and I enjoyed the flavors I tasted in the rye spirit. I have been looking forward to tasting their aged rye ever since that meeting.

A few weeks ago, they sent me three bottles of their rye at different proofs. I like them.

You can read the full reviews, here.

We received a really wonderful review from Carin Moonin at The Whiskey Wash, regarding our #InThisTogether Rye Whisky that was done for charity.  We scored a very rare 5 out of 5 stars!  Yet, such a funny and insightful review. What's coolest is how much Carin seemed to enjoy the product:

Palate: Honey. Wonderful. Like how mead has always been described to me, versus how it actually tastes (i.e., mead is disgusting). But this is not. This is fantastic. It marries together all sorts of weird influences and makes it work, like a beautiful child from sexy parents. All the genetics of this whiskey are there and the outcome is marvelous. The mouthfeel is thinner than some but not at all tinny.

It is really delicious. I could drink this, neat, over and over again. It doesn’t need a damn thing. I want to try more of their whiskeys under better circumstances and it’s evident why they have received so many accolades. Well done.

You can read the full review, here.

The guys over at the Whiskey and Kicks Show recently interviewed brand ambassadors John Shope and Avalon Haas (of Virginia and DC/MD/DE, respectively).  This was a really fun interview, with an interesting insight into the life of these two wonderful sales employees.  Enjoy!

One of our sales managers, Avalon Haas (aka the Unicorn Whisky Fairy), has a really wonderful interview with the folks at The Glass Less Traveled.  Enjoy this!!

Nice coverage in the Washington Post about how even if liquor sales are up, the craft spirits category is not seeing the same boom. Laura Reiley writes:

The narrative had been that people were buying all kinds of liquors, but we were skeptical,” said Scott Harris, co-owner of Catoctin Creek Distilling in Purcellville, Va., which makes its flagship Roundstone Rye, as well as gin and brandy. “The market has seismically changed.

You can read the full store, here.

DCist did a great article talking about our #InThisTogether Infinity Barrel Rye Whisky.  This benefit project supports local hospitality workers who have been out of work since COVID-19 began.  Writing from the article:

All the proceeds are going towards charities supporting out-of-work and struggling restaurants, bars, and their workers: Restaurant Workers Community Foundation, an advocacy and action nonprofit created by and for restaurant workers; USBG’s Bartender Emergency Assistance Program; Ayuda DMV, which provides social services and language access services to low-income immigrants; and Southern Smoke, a crisis relief organization for people in the food and beverage industry.

You can read the full story, here.

Nice to see the article about Becky Harris on Spirit Hub:

But living in the birthplace of American spirits, the idea of opening and operating their own independent distillery was an notion that had always appealed to the couple.

Becky was influenced by Virginia’s rich distilling history. Especially where rye whiskey was concerned.

“Rye was one of the most important products in colonial times,” Becky explains. “George Washington had one of the largest distilleries of his time. And we were inspired by that to focus on rye. Make it from scratch. And create a whiskey that speaks to the past, present and future of Virginia Rye.”

The Harrises decided on the name Catoctin Creek as another homage to their Virginia Roots.

You can read the full interview, here.

How nice to be included in this video of "5 southern companies that make great whiskey."

Scotland and Ireland aren't the only places where fine spirits are distilled.  There are plenty of companies in the Southern U.S. that craft whiskey and show it off at tastings, tours, and other events.  If you're a whiskey lover, check out the five distilleries listed here."

Check us out at #5, starting about 4:38 in the video above.  Just click the image to bring up the video.