Hillrock Estate Distillery crafts whiskey from field to glass in small batches in New York’s Hudson Valley. Designed as a passion project, every detail of their malt house, barrel room and distillery feels expertly put together. The brand embodies luxury, history, and contemporary trends all at once, and produces mighty fine whiskey while doing it.

Their spirits start in the field, with estate grown and heirloom grain. From the beginning, the operation is an historical ode to when the Hudson Valley was an important and successful region for grain and artisan spirit production. Once harvested, the grains are floor malted in their visually stunning malt house, which also houses a room for smoking the grain. The mash is distilled in a copper pot still before getting put into one of their exciting aging tracks.

The experimentation comes in the aging process, with a unique solera system among the options. Just like in Spain, rows of barrels are stacked with a portion of the spirit taken out of the bottom row and topped off with the row from above. The barrels are never fully emptied, creating a blend of whisky that shows layers of complexity. Sherry, port, madeira, and sauternes barrels are used for finishing different expressions, adding extra layers of flavor and finesse.

In 2018’s Ultimate Spirit Competition their four competing expressions all scored above 90 Points.