Van Brunt Stillhouse

Van Brunt Stillhouse is a New York State Farm Distillery in the heart of Red Hook Brooklyn. While the idea of a farm distillery in a big city seems somewhat ironic, we take our state farm license class to heart and think of ourselves as an extension Thor Oeschner's organic farm near Ithaca, the primary source of our grain. We believe in the strength and value of local economies. First, the industrial era of the 19th century, then prohibition in the 20th century and finally the development of “Modern” market forces have dissolved the ties to “tradition” of distilling in America. Daric, our master distiller, did not grow up distilling with his grandfather, nor did he start pushing a broom in the distillery as a teenager. He was an enthusiastic home brewer/cider maker who was drawn to the pre-industrial age of distilling, when distillers were farmers who wanted to add value to their farm produce. This means Daric is not shackled to what factory distillers could reasonably produce in their massive ethanol plants. Daric follows his own path to create remarkable whiskies that are unlike anything else in the marketplace.