Barr Hill Reserve Tom Cat

Barr Hill Reserve Tom Cat barrel aged gin – now in Vermont at Caledonia, Hardwick and the Burlington and Montpelier farmer’s markets (see dates on web site). Soon after March 15, Tom Cat comes to Vermont state stores and to Astor Wines & Spirits, NYC (courageous cat).

Barr Hill Reserve Tom Cat barrel aged gin is our newest craft spirit at Caledonia Spirits. Tom Cat is simply our Barr Hill gin that we age in new American oak barrels for a few months. The oak barrels impart a woody, whiskey like flavor, which dances with the botanical components of organic juniper and raw northern honey present in our Barr Hill gin. The resulting spirit is soft, eloquent, and pure.We chose to name this spirit Tom Cat because we view it as the modern day adaptation of 18th Century England’s most revered spirit, Old Tom. After it was outlawed by the Spirits Act of 1750, rebellious pub owners would hang a wooden plaque shaped like a black cat to inform the passersby of their defiance of the ban. Deposit a few pennies through the cat’s mouth, and a bartender would pour a ration of Old Tom to be sipped through a tube between the cat’s paws.

“Caledonia County Fare”: dairy meets distillery in Caledonia County, Vermont

from the story in the Burlington Free Press, with credit to Sally Pollack

What do you get when a beekeeper, dairy farmer, bartender, and distiller share a meal? “Caledonia County Fare” cocktail, of course!Johanna and John Laggis, farmers and our friends in Hardwick, make the delicious kefir that Todd Hardie brings to the Caledonia Spirits team. Kefir is a cultured milk drink with loads of probiotics and microorganisms that offer medicinal support to the digestive tract. In Todd’s words, “It’s pure medicine.” At the farm with about 500 milking cows, Johanna Laggis makes two gallons of kefir a day. She feeds some to her calves and some to friends.

The inspiration for the “Caledonia County Fare” cocktail came at a dinner where the Caledonia Spirits team shared an evening meal with their local friends in agriculture and business. Sip and enjoy; this cocktail is best savored after a meal because it offers digestive support.

Caledonia County Fare
2 oz Barr Hill gin
2 oz kefir (we use Butterworks Farm in Westfield, Vermont)
½ oz raw honey simple syrup*
splash of Caledonia Spirits elderberry cordial
seltzer water

Directions: Combine Barr Hill gin, kefir and honey simple syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake well. Pour over ice into a Collins glass. Top with seltzer and a splash of Caledonia Spirits elderberry cordial.

*To make honey simple syrup, combine one part raw honey with one part water. Heat gently until honey melts. Cool before adding.

Live from the Hive: Spring is on the way

As March begins, the cold continues unabated. Let’s feast our eyes on something other than more snow and ice. This photo shows a worker honey bee on a sumac flower. Sumac blooms in June and is a major food source for Vermont’s honey bees. This picture is a reminder of the coming of spring. The amber blob on the bee’s back leg is pollen.

The beekeeper checks on the hives in March and feeds the colony honey or some form of sugar if necessary — this is the month when colonies can starve. Believe it or not, if the temperatures warm up, we will begin to see the bees venturing out for the first pussy willow and alder pollen of later this month, at least in southern Vermont. The spring equinox arrives on March 20th, when the day and night are of equal length. Happy Spring!
honey bee on a sumac flower

field report from Todd:

I am on a four week journey West to share Caledonia Spirits, and am amazed by:

• the rest of our country does not have three feet of snow.
• the miles of GMO corn in Illinois and Indiana are staggering.
• the support across our country for the agriculture, spirits, wine, cheese, seeds, vegetables, soy, and maple products, from those who love Vermont and are now away; we are very grateful.

Caledonia Spirits will release its first whiskey in May. Early Riser corn whiskey is named for the corn that Jack Lazor of Butterworks Farm supplies to Caledonia. It has been aging in new American oak barrels and the first barrel is ready to bottle.
200 bottles of the first barrel will shared as part of a benefit in May to help Jack pay for his medical expenses.

thank you for your interest in and support of our work with organic honey, grains, and elderberry,

Todd D. Hardie

Andrew Pinault, Caledonia Spirits Distiller, filling a barrel of Barr Hill Reserve Tom Cat

“Each batch is aged in new American oak barrels for 3-4 months.  While resting in the barrels, the gin is constantly transforming.  The charred oak barrels contribute to the brown color of the spirit and give our Barr Hill Reserve Tom Cat its complex flavor.  This is our first brown spirit at Caledonia.  Weeks of discussion with the TTB lead to us not being able to use the word “gin” on the label (as raw honey is added after distillation and then it goes into a barrel), we are calling this Barr Hill Reserve “Tom Cat.”  We hope to release Tom Cat in February.” – Andrew Pinault

using organic grain to make whiskey

Butterworks Farm
Jack Lazor loading 1,000 lb. of organic corn onto our truck at his grain mill, Westfield, Vermont.

It is an honor to be using Jack’s organic corn to make whiskey and vodka.The quality of this corn is so wonderful that after 18 days in a new American oak barrel, the whiskey was so good that I wanted to bottle it then. Ryan is in charge of this, and said I had to wait: we will have our first release in 2014.

Maybe I am reacting to our family in Edinburgh; for most of the last 125+ years, they waited for 12 years to release their whisky at J.W. Hardie. Now in Vermont, we do not have the time, money or patience to wait 12 years, and I am grateful that our whiskey is so good as a youngster.

When I finished with ag school and started working with the elders of beekeeping in the Finger Lakes and then Vermont, if you had told me that how you treat your family, bees, and employees goes into every jar of honey, I would have thought you were kooky. But this was what was revealed after many seasons with our colonies of bees, and now we are seeing it with organic grain.

A few months ago, Ryan and I went to talk with Jack about his grains. First there was a long walk to the rear field to move the fence for the Butterworks Farm herd of cows. This is Vermont’s original organic yogurt dairy, making wonderful products for over 30 years. With rotational grazing, the cows get new grass every 12 hours. This keeps the grass and legumes young and nutritious and spreads out the manure.

We moved long lines of fences around in the dusk, and as darkness settled over these fields, it was clear that Jack knew his land well and could navigate by a little starlight. At this time in my life, I am treasuring the relationships where more is said by speaking less. I like walking next to Zorro the horse, accompanying him to and from the field and the barn, without a lead line with and just with a few words. With Jack, it was clear that this land had been cared for, loved and respected by the 38 years that he and his family had been stewards here.

The history of distilling has its roots in agriculture. This has been one way to get a return in your crop, preserve a crop and transport it more economically. We are now seeing how the growth of farm based distilling in Vermont, New York and Quebec is giving support to family farms, organic agriculture and healthy soils, and rural communities and businesses.The courage, creativity, and collaboration in Vermont now is not new; it goes back over 300 years.

joyous holidays to you,

thank you for your interest in and support of our work with organic honey, elderberries, and grain,

Todd D. Hardie

Ryan Christiansen, head distiller

What is your heritage, and where did you grow up?
My great-grandfather came from Denmark in the early 1900’s in search of farm land. He settled in East Montpelier. I grew up in Plainfield, a great little town with a strong, vibrant community, which resembles Hardwick in its agriculturally driven population. This summer we began building a house in Plainfield, which should be finished this winter. I’m excited to be back to my roots.

How did you come to distilling?
I’ve been studying fermentation for about 10 years. I opened a home brew store (Local Potion) 5 years ago. Small scale brewing at home was really fun, but after a few years, I realized that I craved a production environment. I always thought that I would be a brewer, but after hearing Todd’s vision for Caledonia Spirits, I knew that this was where I needed to be. After many experiments wih beer and winemaking, I was ready for a new set of variables, which distillation has provided. It’s a new wave of fascination to add to my love for fermentation.

What’s your favorite winter activity?
Snowshoeing and brewing beer, because in winter time the cold weather helps to cool the beer. My winter hobbies are driven by the temperatures.