Hudson Valley Distillery Breaks Prohibition
NOVEMBER 9, 2007 - In the hamlet of Tuthilltown, 82 miles from New York City, a fiesty local distillery is brewing up the first spirits in New York State since Prohibition ended 70 years ago. Ingredients all come from the Hudson Valley, so it is finally possible to drink a proper Manhattan in Manhattan, with Tuthilltown’s own rye whiskey. (For a fully local beverage, best leave out the orange bitters and lemon twist.)
James and I did a wee tour of the Catskill mountains north of NYC, and were amazed to see how rural it managed to be just an hour’s train ride away from the great metropolis. The patchwork of the old farm landscape was still visible, though to our eyes there were far less working farms than there should have been - if one plans to feed eight million people within their 100-mile radius! However, we did make a pitstop at Vinnie’s farm market near the town of Saugerties, where Vinnie himself makes all the canned goods that are on sale, and we bought a smoked trout that a buddy of his had done up. As James joked when we spoke for Slow Food New York City yesterday: on the west coast, farm markets are named things like Rainbow or Healing Heart, so we felt like we’d had a true New York experience buying our produce from Vinnie’s.
When we heard about a local grist mill, we determined to hunt it down. Flour, we wondered? Locals believed it still produced kosher matzo balls, at least. However, when we arrived at the Tuthilltown gristmill it was closed, though a sign listed it as a National Historic Site, having been in continuous operation since 1788. Next door we saw the distillery, also closed (though through a window we saw the copper still gleaming on the second floor). We refused to be put off. Locals had also informed us that Tuthilltown spirits could be bought in nearby liquor stores, so we picked up a small-batch Baby Bourbon, and Hudson Valley apple vodka, both sealed with wax. We’ll wait till we’ve crossed over the border to open them.
While it seems the grist mill is permanenty closed now, after 214 seasons of production, we will drown our sorrow in the perfect local Manhattan. Such is progress. -ADS
