Graverobber Unholy Rye Whiskey

It's baaaack! Friday, September 13 will mark the resurrection of Graverobber Unholy Rye Whiskey (750ml, 80 proof, $34.99), a wickedly delicious spirit crafted with maple syrup tapped from mature maple trees grown amid a colonial era graveyard on New Hampshire's Great Hill Farm — right down the road from Tamworth Distilling.

Revived due to popular demand just in time for Halloween, the sinister sipper is now available in a larger and scarier bottle – year-round! Previously, it was a limited-edition annual release hand-bottled at 200 ml and sold out quickly every year. Tamworth Distilling, known for its innovations and unique flavor inspirations, refined and upgraded processes to bring this highly sought after whiskey to a bigger audience.

Brave imbibers are encouraged to order a bottle if they dare…. Graverobber Unholy Rye is available now  for pre-sale, and will be on shelves in New Hampshire state liquor stores soon after. 

Click here for their site.

Gallows Hill Spirits

We traveled to Allentown, PA to a distillery with an interesting story.  Bob Piano, the owner of Gallows Hill Spirits, traced his lineage back ten generations and learned that his 8-times great-grandfather Samuel Wardwell was tried and executed during the Salem witch trials in 1692.  His distillery embraces this fact the same way the town of Salem, Massachusetts does - with a desire to educate the public while having some fun with the iconography.  The tasting room is part museum and part tavern.  The back wall behind the counter is a replica of the facade of Salem's "Witch House."  On the walls there are tributes to the 20 people executed during the trials.  Bats and witch hats abound.

The best part is that a full catalog tasting revealed that every one of their spirits were high-end products with extremely unique flavors.  We were really impressed, and the staff and owner made us feel incredibly welcome.  Would love to revisit closer to Halloween.  

Below are some photos and our take-home bounty (a limoncello and an amazing cinnamon liqueur that will go perfectly in spiced cider)...

Click here for their site.

Hannibal's Table

Last night, we headed into Philadelphia for the Wilds of New England dinner hosted at the Elwood Restaurant.  As huge fans of the strange spirits of Tamworth Distilling, we couldn't resist a menu that boasted oddities like venison scrapple, smoked trout brandy, beaver stew, and green crab whiskey.

The presentation was phenomenal.  The spirits were brilliant and paired perfectly with each of the five courses.  The atmosphere was fun and light, as we all knew we were partaking in some kind of bizarre and peculiar taste-testing.  It felt like the sophisticated Halloween dinner outing I've been craving my entire life (that's a sad sentence).

The neatest part of the evening was talking to the chief distiller from Tamworth.  Hearing about the complex process involved with creating each spirit made each sip something really special.  We also talked with him about his new and yet-to-be-released The Devil's Footprints.  Can't wait to try that one.

The menu:

Venison Scrapple (on antlers), served with The Deerslayer Venison Whiskey.

Green Crab Soup (with a small potato crab cage in each bowl) made with invasive green crabs, served with Crab Trapper Whiskey (also made with the invasive jerk crab).

Trout with brown butter and pumpkin - served with the brand-new smoked trout brandy (with tiny briny roe in the bottom of each bottle).

Beaver Stew, served with Eau De Musc castoreum-flavored whiskey.

Apple tart with caramel ice cream, served with Tamworth Garden VSOP Apple Brandy.

It was a perfect menu and an amazing evening out.

Christmas Is Coming: The Devil's Footprints

Currently available for presale from Tamworth Distilling...

With a renowned source of botanical heat, Fire Cider has long been a New England staple.

To further enhance its existing herbal base, we mixed our own New Hampshire apple brandy with a traditionally-inspired blend of peppercorns, hot peppers, ginger, and Prickly Ash extract.

The result is a mighty spirit worthy of the name ‘The Devil’s Footprints.’ Potent, spicy as hell, and absolutely delicious.

Click here for their online shop.

Cocktail: Autumn In Manhattan

Invented a cocktail for the season (and for to-go cups).  Should be good warmed up, but we've only done a chilled version.  

The Autumn in Manhattan:

4 ounces apple cider

2 ounces bourbon

1 ounce Sherry

1 ounce Ploughman's The Plenum (apple & cherry vermouth)

Now Drinking: Super Spiced

Mix this stuff with some of that apple cider the supermarkets sell this time of year...the ones that are spiced...and you have yourself something awesome.

The Smoking Sour

A sophisticated drink for Halloween.



1.5 oz Johnnie Walker Double Black (or any really smokey scotch)
1.5 oz Campari
3/4 oz Bramble Wild Blackberry Brandy
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
5 dashes Regan’s orange bitters
5 dashes Bitter Truth aromatic bitters (can substitute Angostura, but you’d probably need a few more dashes since it’s not as bitter)
Lemon Twist (garnish)

Stir the lot in a Boston Shaker with ample ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon to offset the blood-like color.

drinksanddiatribes.com

Root

The search is on...

It is distilled from organic sugar cane grown in the U.S., and has a lively, burnished rose-gold color.
Incredibly unique in flavor, fairly clean on the palate with strong notes of birch, peppery herbaceousness, spices, citrus and vanilla bean.
Very aromatic in the glass and finishes medium dry and exceptionally full-bodied.
A truly original spirit with a strong enough backbone to hold up in cocktail; a classic, but like nothing else.

Image source.

ArtInTheAge.com