Yesterday, I was at the Massanois Fine Wine & Craft Spirits tasting at Kindred, in Saratoga Springs. A lovely tasting. One of the spirits that truly stuck out was the rye whiskey from The Better Man Distilling. Located in Patchogue, out on Long Island, the distillery was founded by Anthony Gruppuso. Anthony was successful auto repair shop owner of 20 years and internationally published sports photographer of nearly 10. Abby Gruppuso is head of Operations. Peter Cornillie is the head distiller. Stephen Gruppuso is head of sales.
 |
| Stephen Gruppuso |
The Better Man Grand Optimist Empire Rye Whiskey is a official Empire Rye, meaning 75% MUST be New York State-grown rye grain. This whiskey make up the rest with malted barley from Dennis and Jeanette Nesel at Hudson Valley Malt. An Empire Rye whiskey must be mashed, fermented, distilled, barreled and aged at a single New York State distillery. There was no corn or wheat in this whiskey.
I have a love of Empire Rye as a concept - especially having appeared in the Craig Dacey-Balas Brothers documentary Fire, Water & Grain back in 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVngKqjlW2w
The resulting whiskey is outstanding. The whiskey starts of with a lovely nose - cut grass, lots of spice, notes of citrus and pine, and caramel. The mouth feel was excellent, rich and flavorful. Caramel, apple, big Christmas spices, and black pepper came through. A lovely dry butterscotch-vanilla finished the dram. An excellent whiskey. Truly well done!
p.s Loved the Yuzu Gin from these folks as well. Moonstruck Yuzu Gin is a bright and refreshing gin featuring the unique Japanese citrus fruit. Yuzu is an East Asian citrus fruit, resembling a rougher lemon, known for its unique, aromatic flavor that blends tangy, tart, bitter, and floral notes, often compared to a mix of lemon, grapefruit, and mandarin orange. This gin has notes of citrus zest, sorbet, and pine on the nose, with lemon curd, juniper, and mint on the palate. A terrific gin with a unique flavor.
