Taconic Distillery

Taconic Distillery is the Stanfordville, New York craft whiskey operation that built itself into one of the most recognized Hudson Valley craft producers since opening in 2013 — and the Dutchess County distillery whose 113-acre Rolling Hills Farm property combines the working distillery with one of the most photogenic estate-distillery settings in modern Northeast craft spirits. Founded by Paul Coughlin, Patrick Schiffer, and Steve Nemes in the rolling hills of eastern Dutchess County (roughly 90 miles north of Manhattan in the Hudson Valley wine and farm-food belt), Taconic occupies a purpose-built distillery and visitor center on the family-owned farm property, with the working distillery, an on-site tasting room, and substantial event-space programming integrated across the farm.

The Taconic name references the Taconic Mountain Range that anchors the geography of eastern Dutchess County and the Hudson Valley's eastern border with Connecticut and Massachusetts. The distillery sits in the heart of one of the Northeast's most actively-restored agricultural regions — the Hudson Valley farm-to-table movement that's anchored Manhattan-area restaurants for the past two decades has driven a parallel re-investment in the Dutchess County and Columbia County agricultural land base. Taconic's farm-property setting, combined with its on-site agricultural-byproduct sourcing for some of its mash bills, positions the brand within that broader Hudson Valley agricultural-revival framing.

The product range covers Taconic Straight Bourbon Whiskey (the flagship — small-batch, distilled from New York State-grown corn and aged in new charred American oak), Taconic Straight Rye Whiskey (one of the Empire Rye category members), Taconic Founder's Rye (a higher-tier limited release), Taconic Maple Cask Bourbon (finished in Vermont maple syrup barrels, a regionally-distinctive technique), Taconic Bourbon Barrel-Aged Maple Syrup (an unusual sister product that uses the same barrels for cross-flavor between bourbon and maple), Taconic Apple Brandy, and a rotating range of seasonal limited bottlings. The Maple Cask Bourbon in particular has become one of the brand's most-distributed products in cocktail-program distribution.

The Stanfordville visitor experience makes Taconic one of the most popular Hudson Valley distillery destinations. The 113-acre farm property setting includes the working distillery, the on-site tasting room and event space, the surrounding farm fields, and a small retail program. Tours move through the production floor, the rickhouses, and (in season) the surrounding farm property. The location pairs naturally with the broader Dutchess County and Hudson Valley wine-and-farm-food tourism circuit — Taconic sits within easy driving distance of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, the Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie, and dozens of surrounding farm-to-table restaurants and Hudson Valley wineries.