A Visit to Hillrock Distillery

There are days when my life definitely doesn't suck.

Last Tuesday, May 22nd, was one of them.

I was introduced to Hillrock head of marketing Danielle Eddy at Pegu Club during Manhattan Cocktail Classic at the Women Behind Bars seminar. She presented me with what appeared to be this mini perfume bottle, which turned out to contain the first solera aged Bourbon made in the USA, produced at Hillrock Distillery in the Hudson Valley. I was very intrigued. After some follow up, it turned out she was arranging trips for spirits professionals to tour the distillery in Ancram, New York the following week. Hired cars with door to door service. Dinner was involved too. Would I like to go? 

Hey, is whiskey wet when the Pope, a bear and a one-legged duck drink it in the woods? 

That Tuesday, our amazing, kind and patient driver, Jones, picked Stephanie and me up in Brooklyn on the way to the other four daytrippers scattered around Manhattan. We had chosen the 80s pop station on Sirius radio to play us out of Brooklyn, and Eddie Grant's "Electric Avenue" provided the perfect soundtrack to rev us up for the day. The fun continued as we picked up USBG (United States Bartenders' Guild) NY chapter VP Marshall Altier and headed west. Publicist and writer Cynthia Parsons McDaniel was next, then Louis 649 owner Zach Sharaga and finally Inside F and B founder Francine Cohen. We were off! 

Though it was a cool, cloudy and wet day, it felt great to finally experience some country scenery after so many months stuck in the city. When we were nearly at our destination, we noticed two lawn chairs sitting on the hill, which to me set a sweet tone for the rest of the afternoon. (We later learned they belong to a local couple known by all as "Chuck and Chuck.")

The distillery is halfway up an impressive hill (hence the "Hillrock"). The founder, Jeff Baker, actually lives on site with his wife, Cathy, in a stylish colonial house a little way's up. We gathered there on the porch before our tour began, and were greeted by Storm (he's the gray one) and Shadow, the regal Australian sheep dogs that not only preside there, but actually appear on the crest of Hillrock's logo. 

First was a visit to the malting chamber, where barley was spread out to begin its long journey. I've toured distilleries before, but this was the first time I actually saw the process. First hand. 

Then we had a look at the stills and mash bins.

We all got to sample the new make as it passed through. It's like a grown up version of tasting from the chocolate river in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! (In our case, we had their full blessing to "touch with human hands." Hey, all that alcohol kills any germs, folks. That's me with Head of Ops Tim Welly, Cynthia in the background.)

I'm excited about the solera Bourbon, aged the same way as certain sherries, with younger whiskey added to older ones to age together and slightly oxidize. Genius idea and some pretty fabulous juice! This is Master Distiller Dave Pickerell (you might remember him from such whiskies as Maker's Mark) taking a sample from the solera. 

We sat down to taste the first two Hillrock products that will hit the market later this summer, the aforementioned Solera and their Single Malt, both excellent and shining examples of American craft distilling made with careful attention to detail. I've mentioned in my articles that although I want to support craft products, too many producers are impatient to see their brand on shelves and start to turn a profit. Thus they don't age their spirits long enough or cut too many corners in the process. This is not the case here. Was especially delicious paired with local foie gras and cheeses.

One of their fun packaging ideas is to sell the single malt directly in a 3 or 5 liter mini barrel with a tap on it. This gives the customer the option to further age and develop the spirit as they store it. Great idea for bars and restaurants, especially.

After our tasting, we went back up to the house where a three-course, chef-prepared meal of local goodies awaited us: spring pea and mint soup, roast beef and veggies with savory Hillrock sauce and bread putting with sweeter Hillrock sauce. All of this washed down with good 1996 Bordeaux, which we brought more of out onto the porch to sip and chat.

There's me with (L-R) Hillrock owner Jeff Baker, Cynthia Parsons McDaniel and Zach Sharaga.

Then, suddenly, as if a planned grand finale had been art directed with the Disney special effects department, the sky began to change, then change back again, resulting in an unbelievable double rainbow over the grain fields!

But soon the rains came in and it was time to head back into the city. Jones still had a long night ahead of him delivering us all back safely.

Behind every great distillery is a great dog, and Hillrock has the fortune to have two of them. Here they are standing guard in front of the house as the clouds rolled in.

Thanks to Danielle, Dave, Tim and especially Jeff and Cathy for such a fantastic and generous experience. Can't wait to see Hillrock Whiskey evolve in all the exciting and creative directions they have in store. 

Going Pink

I've never been much of a pink girly girl. Even when I was very young, my wearing pink phase lasted like five days, and from there I was always drawn to darker, less bright colors. Until now, I never allowed my reds to swing brighter than a muted coral.

But suddenly I'm all about the pink.

What is happening to me?

I recently wrote an article on Lillet Rosé, a juicy pink treat from the classic French apéritif producer. This is pretty great stuff, folks. It's not just me drinking the Aid de Frais. I'm pretty sure this is the rosey culprit. It matches this weather perfectly. One of the things I love about it, besides the lip-smacking flavor, is since it's slightly fortified, I can keep a bottle around to sip from when the mood strikes. Much as I adore rosé vino in the warmer seasons, these days it can be hard to commit to opening a full bottle if I want to be sure to get my money's worth (cheap Jew on a budget that I am.)

Well, this week has sure been up and down. Great highs during the Manhattan Cocktail Classic (above is the Iroquois #2 from Hotel Bars Past and Present at Lantern's Keep) on the weekend and earlier in the week. But once the schmoozing and stunt-drinking ended, and my liver had a moment to stretch, it was back to real life. This means back to chores, chasing paychecks and trying to get some sort of handle on the eternal mystery of the opposite sex.

After all that drinking, I needed a drink.

But just a wee one.

So having finally perfected my oven fried chicken (hint: use an egg wash, flour AND panko, and make sure the baking pan is already hot and sizzling when you add the chicken) after a long day of the above mentioned, I decided to reward myself with just a little of a something. Luckily I had a bottle of just the stuff in my fridge.

Ahhhhh.

I'm thinking I need to find a pink dress to match.

Support the Rack!

Speed Rack, it's cocktails for the boobies!

Last Thursday night were the finals of the competition, which promotes female bartenders from top cocktail spots across the nation and raises funds for breast cancer awareness. The event was founded by   libation angels Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix of LUPEC (Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails) NYC. There were four judges, cocktail industry dignitaries Dale Degroff, Julie Reiner and Audrey Saunders, as well as celebrity chef Amanda Freitag. In each round, the competitors, all regional finalists, raced to execute four different cocktails (taken from a list of 50 standard recipes), one chosen by each judge. The bartender who makes them the fastest and most complete in flavor and overall execution (don't forget your garnishes, ladies) wins the round. Our winsome MCs for the evening were top industry personalities Simon Ford and Chris Patino. And let's not forget the tireless barbacking duties shared by some of NYC's finest, such as Michael Neff of Ward III and Rum House and the lovely Ivy Mix and Lynnette Marrero themselves. 

While the competition is the main event, there's lots happening on the sidelines. This year it took place at the Prince George Ballroom in Murray Hill, which is big enough to allow for several brand-sponsored cocktail booths surrounding the stage. Money is raised through entry fees as well as the selling of raffle tickets, t-shirts and other merch. Here I am getting my rack's worth of raffle tickets.

The brand representatives were definitely an enthusiastic bunch. Here are the ladies of Lillet in their roller derby finest, worn the whole night (all five hours + !) with smiles to match. That's William Grant brand ambassador Charlotte Voisey and Lillet ambassador Amanda Boccato standing. 

This was fun, but also quite the feat of endurance for all involved. It took seven rounds (four regular, two semifinals and one final) in over five hours, including over an hour of preliminary face-offs. Lots of booze to be had, but sadly no water except the one fountain or some plain Perrier (if you asked those making spritzy drinks nicely.) Small bites were provided by Viktor and Spoils and Pies n Thighs, though we could probably have done with more snacks. We even experienced a toilet paper and hand towel emergency. So for those of us who stuck it all the way through, it was as though we were living in an alcoholic version of desert island survival - booze, booze everywhere, but not a drop to drink! At one point, beer was our best source of nourishment.

Still, we happily made it through. In the end, it was down to two feisty ladies from Houston in first and second place respectively: Yael Vengroff of Fitgerald's (though she was one of NYC's own for a while) and Alba Huerta from Anvil and Refuge. 

They say everyone's a winner, but in this case, it was truer than ever. I was tired from watching the event. So I can only imagine how hard everyone worked as competitors, barbacks, judges (that's a lot of cocktail to evaluate!), MCs, promoters, ambassadors, food vendors and everyone working the merchandise and check in. You were all amazing. We thank you from the bottom of our busts!

Some Stuff I Wrote

Hey everyone. Since there hasn't been much left in the tank for my usual posts lately (it will happen again, I swear!) here are some links to stuff I get paid to drink and write about.

The Shamrock Shakeup. Yes, kids. I tried this at home:

Yeah, Mad Men cocktail stories are nothing new. So I upped the ante by designing new ones for certain characters (except Roger, he's old school) to bring them into 1966. Don gets a rye Slurpee.

The Corpse Reviver in time for Easter! Some people can't take a joke...

Not to be outdone by Passover spirits and cocktails. We made Red Sea Sours and Charoset Schlappes to accompany chopped liver and matzo pre-seder. Worth 40 years in the desert, I say.

Sorel liqueur. You will want to drink oceans of this when it hits shelves next month.

And Rum for All! There sure was enough of it...

Make Mine a Negroni! My ode to a favorite cocktail, with some adaptations.

Until next time! (I know, we never talk anymore. I'll be better).

--A

Just Drink It Already! (Another Wine Dinner)

There was quite the panic a couple of weeks ago when my dad's big refrigerated wine storage unit basically had a spontaneous stroke and was pronounced dead. Some hundreds of wines used to their cool, dry environment suddenly found themselves homeless, in the middle of a freak early spring warm spell. Luckily the basement managed to stay cool despite the outside temps, and Dad found a more stylistic and versatile home for them soon enough. A good excuse to reorganize, at least. I helped with some of the loading up, shocked to discover how much there was still left to drink! "Found" bottles included several 2000 Cotes de Nuits, 2002 Lynch Bages, some 2005 one-offs of CDP, more Burgundy and Bordeaux, not to mention some older Brunellos and Barolo. Also a bunch from Cally. Even some random stuff from Oregon!

"Hey, Dad. These aren't going to drink themselves. A lot of this is in its prime now. What are you waiting for?"

I ask this to the man who looks upon most food (and medicine) expiration dates as mere packaging decoration.

(Note: this is a stock photo. But it's not far off).

Last night was the perfect example of why one shouldn't let these beauties go for too long, and enjoy them while they still have some exuberance. While the wines weren't totally dead, let's just say if you took them out to dinner they'd probably complain about the temperature of the soup. Most of them should have been opened and enjoyed at least ten years ago, maybe more.

Over a selection of treats from Sahadis as hors d'oeuvres, we first opened one of the bottles of Nino Franco 2008 Proseccos that was just lying in wait downstairs. It was OK. Probably best in, hellooooo? 2010? The better bottle was Iron Horse 2010 Rosé, a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Very juicy and lively. LIVELY. Operative word here.

Next, over delicious crabcakes, we opened a white Bordeaux, Ch. Montlau 1982. I think one of the main reasons this was ever purchased was the name of the negociant on the label, "A. Schuster de Ballwill, a Moulin Gironde." French Schusters of the Gironde? Why was this never investigated?

Anyway, unlike last time, when the "found" Bordeaux blanc was surprisingly sherry-like and enjoyable, this one, to me, just tasted musty. No fruit left at all. After a couple of sips, I went back to what was left of my sparkling rosé.

Over a satisfying roast beef, scalloped potatoes and string beans almondine, we decanted 1975 Gruaud-Larose and 1982 Ridge Howell Mountain Zin. I got a whiff of perfumed fruit right away after uncorking the G-Larose. And for a little while I think this was putting up an impressive fight to stay vibrant. But after about an hour, the light just went out and it got all soy-saucy, as Stephanie pointed out.

More up to the challenge was the Ridge Zin. Dad asked an interesting question, "Would you be able to tell this was a Zinfandel if tasting blind?" Well, I would have guessed what it wasn't, anyway. It was missing the black fruit and earth of a Cab, the plushness of Merlot, the juicy cherry and dark tannins of Pinot. The closest thing it could be was Grenache. But it really wasn't any of those things, nor did it taste much like classic Zinfandel either. There was still some warm spice left and sweet-tart berries. But this too started to fall short really fast. I had a little of each wine in the glasses after a while, and maybe this was palate fatigue, but I also felt the Ridge went the way of soy sauce after a bit.

Dessert was homemade zabaglione over strawberries. John brought more cookies from Black Hound and our newbie guests, Rebecca and Mitch, brought assorted mini cupcakes from Baked by Melissa as well as berry rugulach. To accompany this study in decadence, we opened a 1994 Graham's vintage Port, which magically matched almost everything on the table. This was concentrated and very sweet, but still had plenty of acidity left for balance. I especially liked it with the creaminess of the zabaglione and the cinnamon of my cupcake bite. Looks like this was snatched up at a great price back in the day too.

Even though some of the wine was slightly disappointing, we all had a blast sipping them and chatting, with classic jazz vinyl playing in the background. Hopefully I've talked my parents into cracking some open for themselves more often. This is what it's been waiting for, after all.

In Like a Lion. A Really Full and Drunk Lion.

I think my dad is finally getting it that we have to step up this family wine drinking thing and get to work on those bottles he's hoarded kept all these years. There are so many that have been raring to go, but keep getting edged out in favor of newer and shinier arrivals. At a recent dinner we drank a Chateau Duhart-Milon 2005, and it rocked. Totally in its prime. This is how you do it. So all those wines from the 70s and 80s? Come on, let's get at them before it's too late. My dad's a Jew. Doesn't he want his money's worth?

Last Saturday was the first of two "wine dinners" between six of us at Casa Schuster this month. Over a delectable array of hors d'oeuvres brought by our friend Beth (who somehow managed to deliciously alchemize gougeres in cracker form, among other treats), we drank the Iron Horse FairyTale Celebration Cuvee 2006, a wine-club only release that was originally produced as a private label for Disney and Castellroig Brut Cava. Both were excellent, especially the Cava which was crisp, tart and biscuity in a way that could rival good non-vintage Champagnes.

On to dinner. Shrimp scampi (sans pasta) with Chateau Carbonnieux Blanc 1988. This was the first time I'd tasted an older, white Bordeaux. I loved how it had oxidized, reminiscent of the funkier white Riojas from Lopez Heredia. It still had some citrus, but it had caramelized a bit, and there was none of that white Bordeaux grassiness left. This was replaced by nutty and mushroom flavors. I know this isn't how this wine is meant to be consumed and it was definitely too old, but I liked it anyway.

Next course was Osso Bucco with mushroom risotto, served in cartoonishly large portions. We started with a 1978 F.Lli Dogliani Barolo from the La Morra commune. The second we opened it I could smell flowers and ripe fruit emanating from the bottle. Once decanted it really opened up. Still had tons of fruit and structure with an earthy balance. Wish some of the leatheriness I love about these wines had been there, but it sure didn't, as the Italians say, a succhiare.

We also drank a 1981 Gruard Larose Saint-Julien. We've been drinking some 1980s from Margaux and I personally think they tasted a bit over the hill and was worried this would be more of the same. But we were all pleasantly surprised at how rich and flavorful this still was. Stephanie was the first to point out the "curry" flavors that came through (cardamom and ginger for sure) and I also think some hibiscus. It's like the Rolling Stones. Yeah, they're up there, but they still put on a show. Bravo, Saint-Julien. Curious to try more from that region now.

We'd already had enough, but since it was out, we also opened a 1989 J. Vidal-Fleury Cotes du Rhone. Not as spectacular as the others, but then again they were pretty tough acts to follow. The Grenache in this blend gave it some dark fruit and cocoa with some coffee and earth, but wish more of the Syrah spiciness and gaminess was still there.  Still, not bad. Nope, wasn't mad at it.

As full as we all were, dessert is often the main attraction at these meals. Why? Because aged sweet wines usually kick major ass! This Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey 1988 was no exception. Dad made a creme caramel, which was an amazing pairing. The dessert and the wine were harmonizing so well, it was as though they'd secretly planned to be consumed together all along. Burnt caramel, cashews and apricots in the wine really stood handled the dessert. The acidic grip kept each of them from feeling overly sweet. It also went very well with the chocolate cookies from Black Hound that John brought over.

Of course by the end we were feeling pretty bluch and wiped out (sadly, no Amaro on hand). Walking downstairs was a tough enough commute for my parents, so imagine schlepping back to Brooklyn. Especially on an early March Saturday that is apparently the first of three St. Patrick's nights in the city. Ugh. After all that top notch partaking, I was particularly irritated at all the amateur drinkers stealing my cabs in Murray Hill! Well, the walk to the F train helped it all go down a bit, I suppose. Fitness karma.

I can't believe we're doing this again in three weeks! (Sorry, liver. You've been warned).

Keeping Busy

I haven't had much time for blogging these days. Yes, I'm done with marketing school, but I've been using my down time wisely. I think my TV remote is wondering if I'm seeing other devices.

One of the big things is that I am building a lot of momentum with my spirits articles. Here is the one I am most proud of to date:

And on the same bent, my article in Mezcal:

And tequila:

These were my agave trifecta. But there is much more to come this month about other spirits, some reviews, and a couple of fun topical roundups.

I am also working on another personal project which I will reveal in the coming months. It's still incubating. To me, posting anything about it now would be as tasteless as sharing sonogram images (sorry, parents. I think that's really gross). It's just not ready for its closeup. In due time.

But I'll be back soon! Enjoy your Leap Day. Do something good with it.

Cheers,
Amanda