Caledonia Spirits

Patrick Amice invited us to Barr Hill in Montpelier to enjoy maple month with Caledonia Spirits.

Patrick tells us Caledonia Spirits was “started by a beekeeper, Todd Hardie, and a local homebrew store owner, Ryan Christiansen.  Todd is committed to local agriculture, he now runs one of the largest organic farms in Vermont, Thornhill Farm, and also is starting a grain collective to help support local organic farmers, Champlain Valley Grain Center.   Ryan, our head distiller and President, is committed to sustainability, local agriculture, and supporting the local economy.

“Our teams at the bar and in the distillery have always valued and featured local maple throughout the year.  Our head of retail, Riva Reynolds, is the owner of Stannard Farm Maple Syrup, a wood-fired maple sugarhouse in the Northeast Kingdom.  They provide us with maple syrup that we use in our bar for our smoked maple old fashioned, 3 tree tiki, twist of Vermont amongst others, and our food program for our Tom Cat Maple glazed pork belly, smoked maple salmon, and maple-roasted carrots and labneh.”

We toured the impressive Montpelier facility where Caledonia’s spirits are produced. It was a coliseum!

Patrick told us that Riva, head of retail, also barrel-ages maple in barrels that have previously held Barr Hill Tom Cat Gin. Caledonia takes these barrels, and barrels that other maple makers, such as Sweet Stone in Hardwick, and Runamok in Fairfax, used to age their maple in, and then age their Tom Cat Gin in them once the maple has been emptied.  This gives the barrels an extra life, and is used in one of their customer-favorite products, Maple Barrel-finished Tom Cat, sold in the Montpelier store.

Barr Hill has become a popular tourist stop in Montpelier, and events during maple season offer opportunities to join specialists in working with maple in food and beverage.