The combination of maple syrup and whiskey seems to be a winner, with a number of manufacturers jumping on that bandwagon and producing some version of a maple-infused whiskey. Tuthilltown Spirits is breaking the mold a bit, though, by using a rye base to better represent it’s New York roots. So how does it stack up?

History

• Check out our article on the Tuthilltown Distillery for a more in depth look at the history of this distillery!

The facility itself dates to 1788, when the eponymous Mr. Tuthill founded a grist mill to supply flour and other grains to the local region. The area became known as Tuthilltown (although that won’t help if you put that in Google – try Gardiner, NY instead) and is the quintessential bucolic New York location.

The distillery started when a former professional rock climber named Ralph Erenzo purchased the land in 2001, planning to build a bed and breakfast to share the beauty with other New Yorkers looking to escape the busy urban cities. After some difficulty obtaining permits, those plans never came to fruition, but by 2003 Ralph had enlisted the help of Brian Lee (an engineer by trade) and decided to turn his plot of land into a distillery. If they couldn’t bring people to the land, they could bring a taste of the land to the people.

Over the next few years, the two built the distillery from the ground up — essentially creating the blueprints of how to run a farm distillery in New York (blueprints which others would soon follow). Using locally sourced ingredients and recipes true to the history of the region, they built a strong following and in 2010 the distillery was purchased by William Grant & Sons. Since then, the day to day operation has remained in the hands of the local New Yorkers, but thanks to that investment they have been able to greatly improve their output and start distributing their spirit to a much larger audience.

Product

• Learn More: What's the Difference Between Whiskey, Bourbon, Scotch, and Rye?

New York used to be known for its rye whiskey, which makes sense given the proximity to Canada (and the Canadian proclivity for rye whiskey). Tuthilltown wanted to bring back that rich history of rye whiskey production with their Do the Rye Thing, which becomes the base for their Maple Cask Rye.

This used to be a 100% rye based whiskey, but recently about 5% of the mash bill has been taken up by malted barley to improve the taste. Naturally, all of the rye is locally sourced from New York, with the malted barley being the only outsourced product.

Almost every part of the whiskey making process happens on-site. At least, the important bits do. The grain comes in pre-milled (the 1788 grist mill building still exists, but it would take about four hours to make a single bag of flour – not economical) and is cooked and fermented on-site in large vats. Originally, the distillery used an old pasta sauce cooker for the process, but the 2010 acquisition meant bigger custom built equipment is used these days instead.

Once the rye and barley combination is fermented, it is batch distilled in their hybrid pot still (which is a small copper pot still with a short column section on top), and the resulting spirit is filled into new charred oak barrels and socked away in the distillery’s rickhouses for a period of between one and four years. To aide in the maturation process, heavy bass sounds are pumped through the warehouse at night to force the spirit into every nook and cranny of the barrels.

But here’s where things get even more interesting:

Tuthilltown ships a selection of their old used whiskey barrels to an unnamed maple syrup manufacturer in Vermont, where they are used to mature some of the maple syrup product. (Side note: I’ve had a bottle of a bourbon barrel maple syrup in my fridge for years and can attest — it’s absolutely delicious on pancakes and just about everything else). Once the syrup manufacturer is done with the barrels, they are shipped back to Tuthilltown. The same oak casks, now infused with maple syrup goodness, are then filled with some of their Manhattan Rye for finishing.

Once the whiskey is properly matured in the maple syrup casks, it is shipped to a New Jersey facility for bottling and distribution.

Packaging

This packaging is a bit of a travesty, in my opinion.

The bottle remains the same as it has been: a plump short, cylinder with a gently sloping shoulder. The bottle is capped off with a wood and cork stopper, which is a slight improvement from the last version, but the wax seal is now missing.

As for the label, I truly loved the old branding for their Hudson whiskey line. It was rustic but simple, a beautiful and elegant design that was equally at home in a modern bar or the strong mid-century aesthetic of the TWA Hotel. It was fantastic.

That, however, is completely out the window here. In their re-branding, they have gone instead for bold and simple — think less Michelangelo and more Mondrian. It feels more urban, and claims to borrow the styling of the New York City subway system. Which works… kind of… if someone already told you that’s what its suppose to evoke and if you squint real hard. In an informal and highly unscientific poll I conducted among some of my New York-based family and friends, consensus was that they could barely see the resemblance even after I told them about the NYC subway reference.

The NYC subway style guide is available to purchase. They can look this stuff up. Lines are denoted in colored symbols, not colored stripes. Stripes on subway signs are at the top, not the bottom. They got the font right, but really that’s the only thing. I can understand them wanting to make some changes so as not to be sued by the city, but this makes it downright unrecognizable.

In short, they tore down Penn Station and put up Madison Square Garden in its place.

Neat

There’s a lot of similarity in aroma to the Do the Rye Thing product. I get the caramel and vanilla that you usually associate with barrel aged spirits, but layered on top is an apple cinnamon-esque spice that makes me think of candied apples at Halloween. Or apple cider doughnuts. But mingled in there is definitely the sweet aroma of maple syrup, just in the background.

The liquid is smooth and has a good weight to it, not too viscous and not too thin. There’s a sweetness that wasn’t present in the original rye as well, which adds a bit to the texture.

I described Do the Rye Thing as having a caramel and vanilla with a hint of black cherry flavor profile. This is still a valid description for the taste — but starting a couple moments after taking a sip, there’s now a black pepper taste that comes in and lingers long after the spirit has left. It’s not overpowering, but instead more of a pleasant taste that compliments the other flavors perfectly.

Up until this point, the maple syrup hasn’t really been a major component of the flavor profile. It’s likely accentuating the brown sugar notes a little bit, but near the finish is where it really kicks into high gear. There’s a sweetness here that isn’t typically seen in rye spirits that gives the whiskey a bit of a cushion — where normally that black pepper spice has a tendency towards a harsher tone, the maple syrup is like a delicious pillow of pancakes that allows for a soft landing. Added into that are the nutty flavors you’d expect from a good maple syrup, which is almost making this akin to a walnut old fashioned straight out of the bottle.

On Ice

With the addition of some ice, we’d expect the lighter and more delicate flavors from the distillation process in the rye whiskey to take a back seat and let some of the stronger flavors from the maturation process shine through instead — and that’s exactly what is happening here. The components that I’d associate with the raw ingredients like black pepper and black cherry have been significantly reduced in strength, becoming background characters and letting the maple syrup and barrel aging flavors become more prominent.

Specifically, the maple syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla are really the primary elements at this point. Pretty close to the eponymous Short Stack of pancakes, with maybe a slice of rye bread somewhere on the plate and a tiny slice of fruit.

Honestly, in this format it might actually be a bit too far on sweet side of things — at least, for my personal preference. It’s a bit more viscous than I’d prefer, and seems unbalanced.

Cocktail (Old Fashioned)

This is perfection in a glass.

On its own, the Do the Rye Thing makes for a great old fashioned. The flavors are vibrant and it balances well with the angostura bitters. But in this case, the added maple syrup brings a sweetness that makes it perfect for this application. I don’t even think you need any sugar muddled with the bitters — just add a couple dashes to the whiskey and serve.

What really kicks this up to the next level is if you add a bit of citrus to the mix. We’re already deviating from the standard old fashioned format with this whiskey, so why not lean into it a little bit? Go full out “breakfast platter in a glass”? A slice of orange — better yet some orange bitters — gives it that tiny bit of acidity and brightness that really pulls the whole cocktail together.

Fizz (Mule)

There’s really no daylight between the flavors in this spirit and the Do the Rye Thing when mixed into a mule. That’s not a bad thing — this is still a great cocktail — but there’s nothing that the maple syrup really brings to the table. It’s buried under the ginger beer and (depending on your recipe) the lime juice.

Overall Rating

What I really appreciate is that this is a maple-infused whiskey that’s done right. I’ve had some other whiskey varieties that just dump the maple syrup in the spirit, which makes for an overly sweet liquor or just obliterates the underlying flavors. In this case, though, there’s just enough maple syrup to improve the flavor without doing any harm in return. The result is an amazing whiskey that this former New Yorker keeps permanently in stock in his liquor cabinet.

All reviews are evaluated within the context of their specific spirit classification as specified above. Click here to check out similar spirits we have reviewed.

Overall Rating: 5/5
The perfect version of a maple syrup infused spirit.