Our current Shady Knoll Whiskey products include our Shady Knoll Rye Whiskey, Whiskey and Four Grain Whiskey. We expect to release new whiskey products in the near future.
We grow specially selected rye grains and corn on our family farm to capture the unique terroir of our 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 (often called VNS-variety not specified) that are graded on specifications such as yield, weight and percentage of foreign materials, not flavor — Would you buy wine knowing only that it was made from unidentified grapes without knowing the specific types of grapes and regional terroir?
The mash bill for our Shady Knoll Rye Whiskey and Shady Knoll Whiskey is 70% rye, 15% corn and 15% malted barley. The mash bill for our Shady Knoll Four Grain Whiskey is 35% rye, 14% corn, 27% malted barley and 24% wheat. We grind the grains in the hammermill in our granary, cook them in our mash tun and ferment the whiskey in our fermentation tanks—all done onsite.
Our fermented mash is double distilled “on the grain” in our gas-fired traditional French Alembic Pot Still in order to maximize complex flavors… many distillers separate and remove the grain mash before distilling that reduces the grain influences and many also distill only once in a modern columnar where many complex flavors are not recovered.
We make our cuts from heads to hearts to tails by hand using nose and taste… not automatically.
We maximize flavors by aging our Shady Knoll Whiskey products as follows:
Rye Whiskey: Aged for at least three years in new American oak barrels and then finished for at least three months in used Portuguese Port barrels.
Whiskey: Aged for at least two and one-half years in used Portuguese Port barrels, used Wild Turkey barrels and used Shady Knoll Apple Brandy, Pommeau and Rye Whiskey barrels.
Four Grain Whiskey: Aged for at least four years in new American oak barrels and then finished for at least three months in used Portuguese Port barrels.
Our Shady Knoll Rye Whiskey has won the following awards:
Hudson Valley Wine & Spirits Competition 2018–Best Spirit
American Distilling Institute (ADI) 2019 Judging of Craft Spirits–Silver
Fifty Best’s Best Rye Whiskey 2021—Gold
ADI International Spirits Competition 2022—Silver
Our Rye Whiskey is outstanding either neat or on the rocks, but enjoy this classic “Vieux Carre” first served in 1938 at New Orleans’ famous Carousel Bar:
- ¾ oz. Shady Knoll Rye Whiskey
- ¾ oz. Shady Knoll Apple Brandy
- ¾ oz. sweet vermouth
- 1 teaspoon Benedictine
- 2 dashes bitters
- Stir with ice, strain and serve in rocks glass with Maraschino cherry and two ice cubes
Shady Knoll is proud to be only one of a few distilleries in New York State that grows its ingredients on its farm and is certified as “New York Grown & Certified”