DanG Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 A buddy of mine is in town from Virginia and so we finally made the trip up to Gloucester to visit these guys. I'd already tried their rye and liked it enough to want to go see their distillery. They have free tours Monday through Saturday at 10am and 1pm with a free tasting at the end of their vodka, gin, rum, and of course the rye. The distillery isn't large. They have one still with 2 columns -- you can see it in the background in the attached photo. Aside from that, they have the equipment for fermentation and mixing, plus the barrels that hold their whiskeys and the rum. Although they're only selling rye whiskey right now, they've also got wheat and barley whiskey in barrels right now. Bob also told me that they plan on starting to make some fruit brandies in the future, starting with apple and peach brandies... good, classic American fruit brandies. I'm looking forward to it! When trying the ryes, he let us taste rye from both barrel #2 and #11. The #11 tasted like the rye from #10 which is the one I bought -- a little bit more in-your-face with a sharper flavor. The #2 has a much fuller body and flavor, and I liked it a lot more. Some of that rye spiciness still comes through, but it felt better balanced. So I bought a bottle of that to take home with me ($36) as well as a bottle of their delicious molasses-based rum ($28). Their gin is quite good too, though I like the junipery ones but they have a number of other spices in there to balance out the juniper. I didn't take a bottle as I have enough gin at home already. If you live in the area, I'd highly recommend a visit. If you're just visiting, you should go to Gloucester and Rockport anyway, so give them a visit too! Edit: Their website is www.ryanandwood.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalessin Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 So close to home! I'll have to see when I can stop by... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanG Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 Give them a call -- I'm pretty sure they don't actually have enough people coming in to do 2 tours every single day... so Bob might be able to show you around whenever it is you can come.Also, Vinnin Liquors in Swampscott now has their rye from barrel #2. I had the stuff from #11 and #2 is better, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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