Hello Pathfinders and Happy November!
There’s an autumn chill in the air and we’re glad that the harvest has come. Our signature Bloody Butcher corn is in the bin drying down for storage to use all year to make fine corn whiskey and feed our beef cattle. This year we’re happy to participate in the Valley Craft Network Studio Tour, a collection of 13 artisans. We’re excited to release our first small batch of bourbon in handmade jugs with tumblers in collaboration with Foxcross Pottery.
Valley Craft Network Studio Tour
Here at Pathfinder Farm Distillery, we’re one of 12 stops on the Valley Craft Network Studio Tour on November 19 and 20 from 10am – 5pm (always the weekend before Thanksgiving). It’s going to be a chilly weekend so we’re cooking up hot cocktails including a hot toddy, spiked Hot Chocolate, and Hot Apple Pie Moonshine Cider. You’re welcome to try samples of our moonshine and check out our micro-distillery. Smithsburg Tractor Society will be displaying and demonstrating some antique tractors and demonstrating corn grinding. At 4:00 pm Saturday we’ll do a demonstration mash of the corn ground that day! The whiskey made from that mash will be bottled and sold at next year’s Smithsburg Farmers Market to benefit the Smithsburg Tractor Society.
Bourbon Batch #1 Release
Uncle Nate’s been talking about the bourbon release for a while now and since it’s batch #1 he wanted to make it special. The release date is November 19 during the Valley Craft Network Studio Tour. The initial release is pure bloody butcher corn whiskey and was aged six and a half months in a new charred oak barrel. To commemorate our first batch, and because the release coincides with the Valley Craft Network Studio Tour we wanted to use a special hand-crafted bottle. During a visit to Dirk Martin’s studio at Foxcross Pottery, Nate saw a beautifully handcrafted bottle that reminded him of the shape of our still. Over sips of fine corn whiskey and fruit-infused moonshine, a friendship and plan developed to collaborate on a special release as a part of the Valley Craft Network Studio Tour.
If you’re interested in picking up a bottle, visit our website on November 18 at noon for a link to purchase your gift set. The gift set includes one handcrafted bottle of bourbon and two tumblers presented in a wooden crate, reminiscent of those used by moonshine runners to transfer their wares. The purchase price is $220 including tax.
2022 Corn Harvest
The culmination of our year was last week when Farmer Lorn brought his big green combine harvester up to shell 38 acres of our Bloody Butcher corn. The stalks were over 10 feet tall and full of ears of our beautiful heirloom corn. Our corn was grown on neighbor’s farms and hauled back to Pathfinder in our Moonshine wagon and run up into the bin. Thomas helped run the combine and John and Pappy ran the tractors to get the corn up into our bin. We’re running the blower and heat to ensure the corn is good and dry to store all year to meet our distilling needs and those of other local distillers. If you’re a distiller and are interested in giving Bloody Butcher corn a try we have it available for sale at the farm for $50/50lb bag. Smaller quantities are available for $2/lb.
