Silver Brothers is a New York State farm distillery located in the Hudson Valley. The distillery focuses on creating terroir-driven whiskeys from estate-grown grain and select New York State farms. The Silver Brothers Spirits (located at the former home of Old Chatham Sheepherding) is located in the town of Old Chatham in Columbia County, on a 220-acre farm. This is a complete farm-to-bottle estate whiskey operation. All their whiskeys are distilled, barreled, aged, and bottled right there.
The new distillery was founded in July 2020, and is owned by Matthew Greitzer and his wife, Kim Driessen-Greitzer. The company is named after the founders' twin sons. The sons share the initials "A.G.", which correspond to the chemical symbol for silver (derived from its Latin name, argentum). The operation has been working to make estate whiskey since that July. They have four to five years of whiskey in the barrels. The tasting room is now open, and they are currently offering three bottlings for tasting and sale. They offer two different rye whiskies, and just debuted their American Single Malt.
The first whiskey I tried was the 3 Year Rye Whiskey, Batch No. 1 92 proof. This is a limited release. "A marriage of three thirty-gallon barrels filled in April of 2023, Batch No. 1 carries a three-year age designation, as well as the Empire Rye seal on release. Each bottle is hand-labeled and numbered in sequence," states the distillery. This rye whiskey was sublime. I've been tasting these whiskies now for two years, and eagerly anticipated the bottlings and releases from this boutique distillery. The whiskey starts of with healthy doses of caramel, baked apple and pear, a hint of orange zest, and a nice wallop of pine and fresh cut grass. The same flavors come across on the palate as well as toffee, honey, biscuit, with big notes of ginger and Christmas spices, and a hint of white pepper. Vanilla and caramel and pepper linger. An exceptional rye whiskey. BTW, with a sprinkle of water, the over riding nose and palate becomes Black Cherry is a most luscious way. Again, super impressive.
The next whiskey was the Silver Brothers 3 Year Rye Whiskey Single Barrel release Barrel No. 8. 55ABV This whiskey was released as considerably higher proof. This starts off with fresh cut pine, dark plum, wet slate and earth, and big black pepper. The flavors here were more intensified, but the smoothness of the spirit was incredibly impressive. Candied orange and ginger came through at the end with the black pepper. Again, so impressive and a real statement whiskey.
Silver Brothers instantly catapults to be counted among the state's best producers - Hillrock Estate, Ten Mile, and Klocke among them. And they absolutely succeed. Welcome another crown jewel to the state's repertoire of exceptional, hand made, boutique, higher end offerings. Really looking forward to the future of Silver Brothers Distillery.