Last week on our way back to Boston, after a NY getaway, we made an impromptu visit to the Hillrock Estate Distillery and boy, was it a great decision. For the record, this was my first time tasting anything from Hillrock.

The distillery itself is off the beaten path located in the Hudson Valley Highlands overlooking its barley fields and the nearby Berkshire Mountains. Lucky for us, we were the only ones there at the time. John (he was amazing) guided us through an in-depth tasting, kindly showed us around their single malt whiskey malting floor and distillery. The day we were there they were distilling one of their rye whiskies.

Although we got a chance to sample a few products in their range, I want to focus this post on my favorite, their Single Malt Whiskey. Their estate grain is grown, milled, fermented, distilled, aged, and bottled all on site at the distillery. They use a traditional malt floor for their barley and the only item not produced at the farm is the peat they import from Speyside Scotland.

The bottle we purchased was aged 5.76 years and produced by Master Distiller Dave Pickerell. Barrel: High Meadow 2016 Harvest. Barrel No: OPX HM #20. Bottle: 254 of 272.

Nose: smoke, cinnamon and caramel
Palate: vanilla, cinnamon, leather, and light smoke
Finish: spices and light smoke
Cost: $118 (what we paid)
ABV: 48.20%

Wow! I’m absolutely impressed. This is good whiskey. It’s lightly sweet, with notes of spices and leather. It has the perfect touch of smoke from the peat. This isn’t the extreme campfire notes that keep away the peat haters. The smoke in here is lightly sweet and spiced. I loved it so much we bought a bottle.

Westland Distillery Whiskey has always been my favorite American Whiskey distiller, Hillrock has inched its way up there along with Westland. If you live in New England, NY or are simply in the area, this place is a must visit. They are producing quality whiskey outside of Kentucky.

Cheers!

Note: The contents on my blog are solely my opinion. To me every palate is different! Although I may or may not like a product, I always recommend for people to try it and make up their own minds.