Inspiration
Connecticut Craft Distilleries to Tour & Taste
Photo: Hartford Flavor Company, Hartford
Every season is the perfect time to come out and discover Connecticut’s growing number of craft distilleries, which are turning heads and winning awards from those in the know. Even more exciting, some of these distillers offer on-site tours & tasting experiences, like vineyards & breweries do. Be sure to visit the places that are already crafting a name for themselves.
Taste Award-Winning Liqueurs
Hartford Flavor Company, Hartford
The Hartford Flavor Company’s award-winning Wild Moon Liqueurs are a ground-breaking line of all-natural, botanically-infused liqueurs, unlike anything else currently on the market. Their Birch flavor has been named among a 50-state lineup of most unique spirits, while their Rose and Chai Spice flavors have won silver medals in New York World Spirits Competition. Located next door to Real Art Ways, Hartford’s cutting edge art and film destination, the Hartford Flavor Company makes its home in a restored manufacturing building where the first pay telephones were made. Today this innovative space houses not only the distillery, but several other artisans, craftsmen, and small businesses as well.
Be sure to visit Hartford Flavor's new Cocktail Parlour on Pratt St, an urban retreat featuring creative libations, a curated farm-to-table menu, and a cozy game lounge; phones are discouraged to encourage enjoying the moment!
Don't forget reservations!
Sip Farm-Grown Moonshine in the Country
Full Moonshine, Canton
Handcrafted using ingredients like freshly pressed apple cider, maple syrup, cranberry and more, Full Moonshine in Canton distills their unique small batch moonshine at a location that can trace its roots back to 1797. Made in the traditional style on the grounds of Hickory Ledge Farm, Full Moonshine is perfect on its own or mixed into your favorite cocktail recipes. Stop in to their tasting room on a Sunday and sample a Pete’s Maple or Circa 1797!
Sample a Batch in the Litchfield Hills
Litchfield Distillery, Litchfield
The Litchfield Distillery makes its home in an old knitting factory in the state’s northwestern hills, specializing in exceptionally distilled spirits handcrafted from the highest quality, regionally harvested grains and ingredients. Products include whiskeys and bourbons, gin, flavored vodkas, agave spirit, and ready-to-drink batch cocktails.
The town of Roxbury Station was a center of the Industrial Revolution. The Shepaug Valley Railroad ran from Litchfield County to New York City. Mine Hill produced silver, steel and granite, and its waterfall powered several mills. Tobacco was grown nearby and rolled into cigars onsite. The Distillery is now located in an 1860 cigar factory, its event space is the iconic 1872 Train Station, and a lumber shed is now its barrel house, where they age our whiskies next to the waterfall. Products include amaro, bourbon, gin, vodka, and rye.
Award Winning Vodka in Bloomfield
Waypoint Spirits, Bloomfield
With almost 11,000 square feet of space in Bloomfield that includes a contemporary tasting room open to the public, manufacturing area and unique event space, Waypoint Spirits passionately craft distills vodka, gin, whiskey, and rum using locally sourced grains and botanicals.
Local Flavor on the Shoreline
Fifth State Distillery
Fifth State Distillery produces craft, small batch gin, vodka and corn whiskey using high-quality, locally-sourced ingredients from grain to bottle. With the motto "Distilling the Spirit of Connecticut,” locally owned and operated Fifth State invites consumers to share the experience of transforming non-GMO, Connecticut-grown grains into high quality spirits, and to sample the nuances of taste and aroma that separate a good spirit from an amazing, deep and complex spirit.
SoNo 1420, South Norwalk
SoNo 1420’s pioneering whiskey mashbill and innovative distilling and barrel aging practices create a nutty flavor paired with a smooth award-winning profile (Double Gold, as awarded by the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.) BLAZE, another Double Gold winner, is a cinnamon bourbon preferred by real bourbon drinkers, crafted in small batches and handmade. Other products include flavored vodkas and ready-to-drink cocktails.
Fine Spirits In The Valley
Connecticut Distilling, Waterbury
Connecticut Distilling challenges convention in every batch it produces. The distillery reclaims surplus beer from local breweries and distills it into bold, nuanced spirits that speak to both creativity and conservation. From reimagining IPAs into bold gins to crafting liqueurs with real espresso and small-batch bourbons with character, the process is rooted in experimentation, collaboration, and a relentless pursuit of flavor.
White Hills Distillery, Shelton
Dan Beardsley of Beardsley's Cider Mill & Orchard opened White Hills Distillery in 2020, more than 170 years after his ancestors started the family farm in 1849. White Hills produces many fine spirits with seasonal locally grown fruits, grains, and botanicals including apples and peaches from its own farm. Products include bourbon, whiskey, brandy, local fruit-infused vodkas, aged rum, gin, and agave spirits.
Farm-Inspired Liquors In The Quiet Corner
Watercure Farm Distillery, Pomfret
Watercure uses its own farm produce and works with other local farms to bring drinkers truly unique locally-sourced handmade spirits. Products include apple-spiced rum, flavored vodkas (including a shiitake mushroom version!), gins, whiskeys, bourbon, and brandy.
Westford Hill Distillers, Ashford
Located on a 200-acre 18th century property, the distillery produces fine flavored brandies, gin, vodka, and more.
Special Delivery
Connecticut, Delivered Right to Your Fingertips
Share your email address to receive our free newsletter and be the first to see the latest travel deals, attractions and news from CTvisit.com!
