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.