golden harvest farms inc. 3074 us route 9, valatie ny 12184

McCormick Distilling Company in Weston, Mo., recently introduced its new 360 Vodka, which is being marketing as an 'eco-luxury' brand, catering to those with a green conscience. In New Hampshire, Flagg Hill Distillery makes its General John Stark Vodka from apples, and also offers selections made from Massachusetts cranberries and New Hampshire maple syrup. In New England, Vermont Spirits based Passumpsic, Vt., uses maple sap as the base for its Vermont Spirits Gold Vodka and pure milk sugar for its white vodka. Harvest Spirits is one of a growing number of vodka distilleries in the Northeast. While selling Core Vodka to restaurants and liquor stores is important, Grout says the higher priority is drawing people to the farm to tour the distillery and buy straight from the source. He sees vodka-making and selling as part of the farm's overall marketing strategy, one that includes agri-tourism.

We are as much farmers as we are distillers,' said Grout. It also permits the sale of vodka at the distillery - a key element in the overall plan. The new licensed, established with some effective lobbying by Grout and Crowell, allows Harvest Spirits to sell up to 35,000 gallons of its Core Vodka per year.

The two clicked, and have been going full-steam on the business model, as partners in Harvest Spirits, LLC.Īfter an investment of approximately $250,000 - which included $100,000 for the German-made copper still, housed in a former cold storage warehouse at the farm - the company secured a newly created New York Class D farm distillery license. With those points in mind, micro-brewer Tom Crowell brought the vodka idea to Derek Grout, whose grandfather purchased the farm in 1956. Those apples are also an ideal source of the sugar needed to combine with yeast in the fermentation process that produces vodka - the best-selling liquor in the country

Golden harvest farms inc. 3074 us route 9, valatie ny 12184