Shady Knoll Orchards & Distillery stands out as a remarkable addition to the expanding craft distillery sector in the United States. Nestled in the scenic Hudson River Valley, it is located about an hour and a half’s drive north of New York City. This charming distillery and its accompanying orchards are situated just south of the picturesque Village of Millbrook in Dutchess County, on a country farm with a rich history dating back to the late 1700s.
This Millbrook-based establishment draws on the talents of family members to create its renowned apple brandy, pommeau, and whiskey, all produced right in Dutchess County. The farm cultivates its own apples, rye, and corn, infusing its apple brandy and whiskey with the unique qualities of the land, or terroir. Shady Knoll Orchards & Distillery’s Apple Brandy is particularly notable for its depth of flavor, achieved by blending over 120 different varieties of cider apples alongside other types of apples grown in their orchards. Notably, all processing, fermentation, distillation, barrel aging, and bottling take place on the farm in meticulously controlled batches, yielding distinct, high-quality, specialty craft-distilled products.
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Shady Knoll Orchards & Distillery Homegrown & Handmade Products:
Shady Knoll Apple Brandy
Their apples are their most unique ingredient—they combine over 120 varieties of European and American apples grown with loving care in their orchard to create their Shady Knoll Apple Brandy… compared to 4-30 varieties grown or purchased “locally” by other distillers (only aware of a few different craft distillers that produce apple brandy from their homegrown apples). They pick their apples by hand only when the apples tell them they’re ready to maximize their juice and taste, which means they pick constantly.
Shady Knoll Pommeau
They combine their aged Apple Brandy with fresh apple juice from their orchard and then rest the combination in their used Shady Knoll Apple Brandy barrels for at least three months to create an excellent aperitif drink known in France as Pommeau.
Shady Knoll Whiskey
Their current Shady Knoll Whiskey products include their Shady Knoll Rye Whiskey, Whiskey, and Four Grain Whiskey. They expect to release new whiskey products in the near future. They grow specially selected rye grains and corn on their family farm to capture the unique terroir of their family farm… compared to most craft distilleries and all commercial distilleries that source commercial grain from an anonymous blend of unidentified grains from unidentified farms.
Shady Knoll Whiskey is 70% rye, 15% corn, and 15% malted barley. The mash bill for their Shady Knoll Four Grain Whiskey is 35% rye, 14% corn, 27% malted barley, and 24% wheat. They grind the grains in the hammermill in their granary, cook them in their mash tun, and ferment the whiskey in their fermentation tanks—all done onsite.
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