Hudson Whiskey

Nothing shady about this Back Room Deal, just some good ol’ smoke and spice.

The story of the first new Whiskey distillery in New York since the Prohibition is a mix of chance and determination. In 2001, Ralph Erenzo purchased a property upstate to build a climber’s ranch where tourists could practice rock climbing on the nearby cliffs. Since the neighbors were not great fans of this idea, making it clear in a not-so-neighborly way and since similarly like family, you can’t choose your neighbors, but you can choose your actions, Erenzo changed his plan. He looked around, saw grain-producing family farms, a mill and water from a limestone aquifer and decided it was about time New York got a new craft Whiskey distillery. (This was 2003, mind you, before every US neighborhood had its own craft distiller.) A couple of law amendments and some trial and error later, Hudson Whiskey is famous for embodying the New York boldness. William Grant & Sons probably agrees, since it acquired the company in 2010.

A Straight Rye Whiskey, Back Room Deal is first aged in new, charred American oak barrels. For the second part of maturation, ex-Hudson Whiskey Bourbon barrels are sent across the Atlantic where they are filled with peated Whisky. (Well, where else would you send them for peated Whiskey.) Once returned and emptied, the barrels are filled with Sraight Rye Whiskey to finish maturation. Bottled at 46% ABV and crafted from exclusively locally sourced grains, this is a pure Rye expression, bold and unapologetic, but at the same time refined and artful. An homage to New York.