march-2013

E
The Brooklyn
hooch revolution
There’s a new artisanal distilling movement growing in New York, sustained by a
group of enthusiastic and dedicated young entrepreneurs and hobbyists. A thirsty
Joe Warwick discovers a scene that is above ground, legal and very, very tasty
very big distillery tends to have some sort of tourist
trap of a bar attached, but the sort of joint that
you’d actually want to drink in, one that makes
great cocktails, attracts hip locals and just happens to have
its very own distillery attached are often in short supply. In
fact The Shanty, opened in an old rag-trade warehouse in
Williamsburg, is the only one that I’ve ever come across.
Since it opened in December 2011 as an annexe of the
newly founded NY Distilling Company, the nascent distilling
trend in New York City has turned from a trickle of hard
liquor to a steady stream, with nine artisan distillers now
operating in Brooklyn, and one in the Bronx.
“The great ethnic diversity of the city has given swift rise
to a variety of spirits, liqueurs and vermouths,” says Shanty
co-founder and spirit expert-turned-distiller Allen Katz. “At
the same time, the decline of Wall Street five years ago left a
collection of unemployed people with more than a few dollars
and the confidence and desire to build new businesses.”
On a more practical level, a gradual change in New York
State law has made it more affordable to distil, where less
than a decade ago, red tape and licensing costs had made
it economically unviable. Call it a hangover from Prohibition,
but it took 72 years from the repeal of the 18th Amendment in
1933 for alcohol – or at least legally produced alcohol – to be
distilled again in New York State, which at its peak in the 19th
century was home to over 1,000 distilleries.
In 2005, Tuthilltown Spirits in the Hudson Valley was the
first company to take advantage of a change in New York law
that made affordable Farm Distilling Licences available –
issued only if the bulk of ingredients used were of New York
origin. So began the trickle of spirit production, the first to
be openly distilled in New York since 1920.
Although more distilleries have since emerged across the
state, it’s in urban New York City rather than rural New York
that the micro-distillery movement has really taken off. You
don’t need to be a farm to gain a Farm Distilling Licence and
since Kings County Distillery in Brooklyn Navy Yard began in
2010 (now the city’s longest-running distillery), New York
City now has 10 distilleries, six having opened in 2012; three
years ago there were none.
The spirits being produced range from bourbon, rye and
corn whiskeys to vodkas, gins and rums, plus more esoteric
tipples such as grappa (made with wine from New York
vineyards) and liqueurs made from cacao and hibiscus. For
the most part, we’re talking about artisan spirits – hipster
hooch and experimental recipes being produced by hobbyists
in small batches, a world away from industrial distilling.
Katz sees New York’s distillery movement as an extension
of what is going on elsewhere in American food and drink.
“There is a great entrepreneurial spirit that has returned to
the idea of ‘manufacturing’,” he says. “There has been a
progression from the concept of cocktail culture being
inherent to the history of American gastronomy, to actually
producing spirits and related products.”
The distillers are already being embraced by the city’s
best bartenders, who are as keen to use a quality local
alcohol in their cocktails as chefs are to use the best local
produce. From this April, the spirits produced here can be
sold in farmers’ markets, making what are often tricky-todistribute
products much easier to obtain.
It’s been nearly a century since illicit stills supplied the
speakeasies that fuelled New York during the ‘Roaring
Twenties’. Now, once more, New York is the city that never
stops distilling. To celebrate this renaissance we bring you
40 MARCH 2013
FLY TO new york daily. brusselsairlines.com