Catoctin Creek Opens New Distillery

Catoctin Creek Distilling Company, the first (legal) distillery in Loudoun County since before prohibition, moved into a fabulous new pad at the end of August. The Distillery’s glorified storage unit in an industrial park is now a thing of myth and legend; their new home on Purcellville’s historic main street is ready for visitors. Move over, wine tastings – it’s time for tastings of locally made, small batch whisky, gin and brandy. It’s time for a field trip.

The building – whose life for the past hundred years includes time as a car dealership and a furniture factory – is newly emerged from a $500,000 renovation. It has also been tastefully modernized: the solar panels on the roof offset about 85% of their electricity usage.

The tasting room is spacious, and the exposed brick walls and wood beams provide a rustic ambiance. The distillery is in the next room, and tours are available daily (or you can just press your face against the windows). They still run their popular ‘bottling workshops,’ where you get to milk the ‘whiskey cow.’

In addition to tasting Catoctin’s products directly, the Distillery now offers cocktail flights. Shown here (l-r) are the Negroni (using Catoctin’s uniquely peppery Watershed Gin, Campari, sweet vermouth), the Horse’s Neck (Roundstone Rye, ginger ale, garnished with lemon peel), and the Bloody Mosby, which features Catoctin Creek Mosby’s Spirit aka moonshine (and lemon, Worcestershire, Cholula, Old Bay, pepper, horseradish, clam juice).

There were more cocktails. They were delish.

Cactoctin’s award-winning spirits start their lives in these giant blue drums, where the rye mash ferments. Think of oatmeal, mushily sitting in your cereal bowl for a few days. And then a few more. Except it’s rye.

Once fermented, the mash goes into one of two stills. Co-owner Scott Harris is leaning against his original still; the much bigger one on the left is a new addition (as you can tell by copper’s brightness). The custom-made hybrid pot column stills are made to order in Germany. Starting this month, the large still will allow Catoctin Creek to double its production to meet the region’s thirsty demand.

After distillation, the spirit goes into a barrel for aging, and emerges as whiskey.

The spent rye mash is given away for free to local farmers, who feed it to livestock. It’s also available in the tasting room gift shop in the form of gourmet dog treats.

Catoctin Creek spirits are both organic and kosher – and they’ve made it easy for you to announce this at your local synagogue.

Why are you still reading this? Go get a drink.

Catoctin Creek Distillery, 120 W Main St, Purcellville, VA; 540-751-840; http://catoctincreekdistilling.com/

Tastings are $5; specialty cocktail flights and season offerings are $10; the distillery has an ABC license, so bottles can be purchased on-sight.

First photo by Rick Martin courtesy of Catoctin Creek Distillery; all other photos by author.

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