BLACK FLY BOURBON

Our 100% New York corn whiskey, aged in new American oak barrels crafted by the coopers of U.S. Barrel in nearby Wilmington. Hints of oak and sap mingle with a touch of corn-- just enough to remind you that it’s a bourbon whiskey born of Adirondack farmland. A little spice, a clean finish, with a hint of oak remaining.

Black flies are synonymous with the Adirondacks, as anyone spending time here can tell you. Like us, they’re active in the mountains and seek out adventurers making their way through the High Peaks. We grudgingly co-exist with these small but fierce locals (and find that our Blackfly bourbon whiskey is just the thing to take the edge off their bite).

BLACK FLY MAPLE

Our Maple Flavored Corn Whiskey starts with a 100% corn mash, distilled and then aged in our used Black Fly Bourbon barrels. Barrels previously used for bourbon, and then in a sweet twist, handed off to our friends at Black Rooster Maple here in Keene. They age special batches of their maple syrup in our bourbon barrels, returning them to us a few months later (sadly, empty!)  At this point, the barrel sees a third life, full of our corn distillate and a jug of Black Rooster’s un-aged maple syrup. We proof our Maple Flavored Corn Whiskey a bit higher than our other whiskies, for an oaky warmth that balances out the slight maple sweetness. The final product is an aged whiskey full of real, natural maple flavor; a mixture of corn from the Champlain Valley and maple from the heart of Keene, it’s truly the Adirondacks in a bottle.

 

AMERICAN WHISKEY

Our take on American whiskey, with a mash bill of 70% New York rye and 30% New York corn — as with all of our whiskies, crafted from grains grown in the valleys surrounding the Adirondack Mountains. Distilled then aged in our used American oak barrels, this American whiskey enjoys the benefits of what remains in the oak, at rest with the subtle remnants of our bourbon that permeate each barrel’s charred interior. The spice of the rye, melded with the sweetness of the corn, gives this whiskey a bit more complexity, with a strong yet smooth finish. Exhibiting a robust flavor profile, our American whiskey is a true testament to the enduring spirit of those who seek out adventures in our mountains.

BLACK ROOSTER MAPLE

In 2016, we were approached by Kirk and Kristy Bassarab, owners of Black Rooster Maple, the maple sugaring farm they’ve owned and operated in Keene since 2011. They were curious as to what we did with our used bourbon barrels, and as we love all things maple, we were all ears (and tastebuds) when they said they’d like to try aging some of their syrup. Fast forward a few months: Black Rooster Maple successfully debuted a delicious batch of aged syrups, which sold out almost immediately, and we now had syrupy bourbon barrels on hand. The obvious thing to do was to use them again, as Black Rooster's syrup proved that maple and bourbon were the perfect combination. Our Maple Flavored Corn Whiskey was the final product of our grand syrup barrel experiment, and Black Rooster has gone on to also age their syrup in our 1892 Apple Brandy barrels. We’re two small businesses in the heart of the Adirondacks, and we’ve collaborated to create local products with big taste!

1892 FOREVER WILD

Cider from apples freshly pressed by Rulfs Orchard, fermented, distilled, and aged less than thirty-five miles from where the apples were grown and picked. We make our 1892 Apple Brandy in very much the same way we produce our whiskies, letting it rest in new American oak barrels after two distillations. As with our Blackfly Bourbon, you get a touch of that oak in our brandy. It’s crisp and snappy, much like apple cider but without the lingering sweetness. A bit dry, with a floral nose and a taste as pure as the process through which it’s crafted.

1892 Apple Brandy is an ode to Gristmill Distillers’ home, the Adirondack Park. Established by the New York State Legislature in 1892, it encompasses six million acres and is the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous United States. The land was further protected by an amendment to the New York State Constitution at the 1894 Constitutional Convention, which declared the park ‘forever wild’. Our 1892 Apple Brandy is made with New York apples grown on New York land-- forever made in the mountains, forever Adirondacks.

RUSTY PITON

100% corn whiskey, 100% local. We start with spring water straight from the mountain here in Keene, creating a mash with finely milled corn grown by Adirondack Organic Grains in nearby Essex. Distillation results in a smooth white whiskey with a warm, subtle hint of straight-off-the-cob sweetness.

Rusty Piton is a nod to the rock climbers and mountaineers who have come before us, hammering steel pitons into the mountains for protection as they made their ascent (with a bottle of whiskey in tow, very likely.) The name was born of a winter day ice climbing with friends at Silver Lake, an area of cliffs and ice here in the Adirondacks (also involving whiskey, quite likely.)

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