Welcome to Shady Knoll: Where a Lawyer’s Dream Met 120 Apple Varieties

 

Short Version (TL;DR)

Shady Knoll Orchards & Distillery is a family-owned Hudson Valley distillery in Millbrook, NY, that grows its own apples, rye, wheat, and corn for its award-winning apple brandy and whiskeys.

  • Where: 37 Brush Hill Road, Millbrook, NY, about 90 minutes north of New York City.
  • What: More than 120 varieties of cider apples, plus rye, wheat, and corn, with every step of production done on the farm.
  • Proof: Its Rye Whiskey won Double Gold and Best American Rye Whiskey at the 2024 ADI International Spirits Competition.
  • Visit: Tasting room appointments are available year-round. Call 214-850-8409 to book.

A family-owned Hudson Valley distillery is quietly making some of the finest craft spirits in America.

There’s a story that begins on Wall Street and ends in an apple orchard south of Millbrook, New York. It’s not the kind of story you hear often in the craft spirits world, which is probably why Shady Knoll’s spirits taste like nothing else you’ve had.

The Beginning: A Lawyer’s Obsession

In 1980, Rick Kneipper and his wife Sherry bought a quiet country farm outside of the Village of Millbrook, NY on a country road that dates back to the late 1700s. They named the farm Shady Knoll and allowed neighbors to graze cattle and horses and grow corn. Rick was a lawyer on Wall Street at the time. But he had a memory from childhood: his grandfather, a dairy farmer, teaching him what it meant to work the land.

For decades, that memory sat dormant. Then, in his 50s, Rick decided to resurrect it and make Shady Knoll into an operating farm.

He chose apples. New York grows more apples than anywhere except Washington State, and for centuries, apple brandy, what the French call Calvados, has been the mark of craft and terroir. So in 2011, Rick planted over 1,800 trees representing more than 120 different cider apple varieties. Many were rare European heirlooms: Medaille D’or, Mettais, Porters Perfection, Ashmead’s Kernel, Benet Rouge. Each one brought its own flavor to the soil.

The Craft: Small Batches, Zero Shortcuts

Once the orchard was thriving, Rick’s son-in-law Andrew Richards joined as Head Distiller in 2015, and the real work began. In 2016, Shady Knoll installed a gorgeous 850-liter French Alembic Charentais Pot Still, the same type used in Cognac and Calvados production for centuries. It took two technicians from France and a nine-ton ocean crossing to make it happen.

Today, every step of production happens on the farm. They grow their own apples, rye, wheat and corn. They process and ferment everything themselves and double-distill in that French still. Then barrel-age in American oak and finish in used Portuguese Madeira and Port barrels. No shortcuts. No outside production partners. Just family, farm, and spirits that taste like where they come from.

The approach mirrors Normandy tradition: their apple juice ferments naturally for 6 to 12 months without added yeast, the way it’s been done for centuries. The result is a complexity you can’t rush.

What They’re Making (And Why It Matters)

Shady Knoll’s flagship is their Apple Brandy, a spirit built from the unique blend of 120+ cider apple varieties grown on their farm. It’s a flavor profile you literally can’t find elsewhere. They also produce Pommeau (apple brandy blended with fresh apple juice), and a full line of whiskeys made from their own rye, wheat, and corn.

The whiskey story is particularly interesting. Rick, Andrew, and their family love whiskey, so in 2015 they planted rye. Now they produce Rye Whiskey, Single Barrel Rye Whiskey, Shady Knoll Whiskey, and a Four Grain Whiskey that combines their own rye, wheat, and corn with malted barley sourced from other select New York farms. The mash is fermented and distilled on-site, aged in new American oak, and finished in used Portuguese Port barrels.

Awards & Recognition

The accolades speak for themselves:

Shady Knoll Rye WhiskeyShady Knoll Apple Brandy

These aren’t participation trophies. These are competitions where judges taste hundreds of craft spirits from around the world.

The Experience: More Than Tasting

Shady Knoll is as much about place as it is about product. Their tasting room sits on the same working farm where the apples grow and the still operates. You can see the orchard and grain fields. You can see the equipment. You’re tasting spirits in the same place where they were made, in the terroir that shaped them.

For weekend travelers from New York City or anywhere in the tri-state, Shady Knoll offers something increasingly rare: a glimpse into how craft spirits are actually made, by the family making them.

Why Now

When Rick first dreamed of craft distilling, there were fewer than five craft distilleries in the United States. Today, there are over 2,200. But most of them don’t grow their own ingredients. Most don’t control every step of production. Most don’t have 40+ years of family history on the same piece of land.

Shady Knoll does. You can literally taste it.

Visit Our Hudson Valley Distillery

Shady Knoll Orchards & Distillery is located at 37 Brush Hill Road, Millbrook, NY 12545, about 90 minutes north of New York City. They’re beautiful tasting room overlooks their working orchard. For Tasting Room Appointment:

Call: 214-850-8409
Email: rick@shadyknolldistillery.com

Whether you’re a spirits enthusiast, a Hudson Valley explorer, or just curious about where your bottle came from, a visit to this Hudson Valley distillery is a glimpse into craft spirits made the old-fashioned way.

You can also order directly online and have their spirits shipped to you.