The Albany Distilling Company

Albany Distilling Co. Ironweed Bourbon Bottle Release Announced

— Few quick bottle updates for today. First one comes from our local distillery, The Albany Distilling Co. They’ve been selling their white whiskey for a while now and they just announced they’re taking reservations for bottles of their Ironweed whiskey today, for bottling the first week of December followed by a bottle release on December 7th. Details can be found on their Facebook announcement.

We’ll be emptying the barrels over the weekend of December 1st, and bottling the first run of our Ironweed Bourbon that week. We’ve tasted it, and we’re very, very proud of what we’ve made.

We’ll be debuting it at an event on Friday, December 7th (details to follow), and the first day of sales at the distillery will be Saturday, the 8th.

We’ll be selling it for $44/bottle at the distillery, including an engraved (beautiful) whiskey glass.

The Albany Distilling Company (link) | 78 Montgomery Street, Albany, NY (map) | All The Albany Distilling Company Posts

Altamont Vineyard & Winery’s HalloWine Festival

— Great time at this year’s HalloWine Festival. This was both Elise and my first time at HalloWine and also first time at Altamont Vineyards. It’s definitely worth the trip back.

It was great to meet the guys from the Albany Distilling Company and The Chocolate Mill Café, see local food celebs Yono and Dominick Purnomo, Elliot Cunniff, and everyone else participating in the competition.  It was a cold and rainy night and the folks from Altamont Vineyard did everything they could with the large tents and heaters. Luckily we stayed dry, had some good food, wine, and cigars. Check out the pics below.

Yono and Donna Purnomo from Yono’s.

A couple of dishes from Giovanni S. Morina, chef-owner of Gio Culinary Studio.

An assistant of Ryan Huneau’s, executive chef from the Mallozzi Group, plating one of Chef Ryan’s dishes.

Marla Ortega, chef-owner of Illium Cafe, plating one of her dishes.

One of the dishes from Chef Elliot Cuniff of Creo.

Master Pastry Chef Frank Vollhammer, chef-owner of The Chocolate Mill Café.

While the desserts were not in the competition, they were some of my favorites for the night.

And finally the winning dish from Chef Yono…

…followed up with him accepting his award. Congrats!

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Altamont Vineyard & Winery (link) | 3001 Furbeck Road, Altamont, NY (map) | All Altamont Vineyard & Winery Posts

Hop Harvest Party at The City Beer Hall

— Man, this was a good time and I’m really disappointed that I had to leave so early. Unfortunately, I had this, 30 Days to Dogfish Head Night AND a tasting at Chez Fuj to all make happen in all night.

Lotta great local brews were there that night, including my locals faves Chatham Brewing and Crossroads Brewing. I grabbed some Dr. Loomis Pumpkin Ale from Crossroads, but not before getting some of Chatham’s Hop Crop IPA through what I can only imagine is the area’s first Hop Rocket. These things are badass:

Got to taste a few other beers with the owner of City Beer Hall and Jeremy of Remarkable Liquids, chat up Matt from Chatham and Russ from the Homebrew Emporium for a while and bullshit with the guys from Albany Distilling Company. The visit was short, but a good one. Can’t wait until their next event like this.

The City Beer Hall (link) | 42 Howard St Albany, NY 12207 (map) | All The City Beer Hall Posts

The Albany Distilling Company

— Pretty awesome meeting the guys from The Albany Distilling Company at the Altamont Vineyard’s HalloWine Fest last night. I’ve read about them in the past but I failed and they completely fell off my radar so I’m glad I caught them before they open up next week. They were pouring their white whiskey which had a surprisingly great taste (little bit of a burn on the back end but that’s to be expected and will mellow out during the barrel-aging process). I thought it tasted even better than the white whiskey at Maker’s Mark, interestingly enough.

Anyway I would be doing all of you beer nerds a complete injustice if I didn’t ask the all important question: What are they doing with the spent bourbon barrels? Thankfully, they said the Albany Pump Station is chomping at the bit to get their hands on them. I would love to see that collaboration happen on a super-local bourbon barrel aged robust porter or imperial stout. Make it happen guys!

Don’t forget to check out The Albany Distilling Company’s grand opening THIS Friday. It starts at 11 with a ribbon cutting and they’ll be slinging whiskey until midnight. Be there!