Taconic distillery was founded in 2013 by Paul Coughlin and Gerald Valenti as Millbrook Distillery until the change to the present name in 2015, located in the Hudson Valley of New York. A farm to bottle operation, the grains and water are all sourced locally and the distillery has a whiskey-central focus. They are also active in the American Distilling Institute, the American Craft Spirits Association and the New York Distillers Guild. The regular Dutchess Private Reserve is a straight bourbon named after the county in New York the distillery is located in and approximately four years old. This particular edition was aged in new oak barrels for 3.5 years before being finished in ex-cognac casks from Remy Martin for a further six months.
Bladnoch Vinaya
Bladnoch distillery was founded in 1817 and, located along the River Bladnoch, is the most southerly distillery in Scotland. It is the fourth-oldest distillery in Scotland and, owned by Australian businessman David Prior starting in 2015, is the oldest independently owned one. The distillery produces for two brands; one the main Bladnoch brand and the other called Pure Scot. Their current master distiller is Dr. Nick Savage, and they have been producing whiskies from a mix of new and aged stock since the brand’s relaunch in 2017. The Bladnoch Vinaya is matured from a mix of first-fill bourbon casks and first-fill sherry casks. Vinaya is a Sanskrit word meaning respect and gratitude, and is meant as a warm acknowledgement to the distillery’s founders.
Wood Hat Twin Timbers
Wood Hat Spirits was founded in 2012 by Gary Hinegardner. It is so named from one of Gary’s non-distilling hobbies: carving wooden hats. When not carving a wide variety of those hats, Gary and his team are creating bourbons and whiskies made using Missouri sources, from the wooden barrels to the grains using the only wood-fired still in the United States. While the offerings explore a wide variety of corn varietals, the creativity can also be seen in finishes. The Wood Hat Twin Timbers begins as their Rubenesque bourbon made of blue corn that is at least two years old, but then finished in charred pecan barrels, providing both oak and pecan to have voice in the whiskey.