New York Distilling Company, one of the oldest craft distilleries in New York City, is moving and introducing a new whiskey. Opened in 2011, this distillery made Williamsburg, Brooklyn, its home until last year. In March it will open a new facility, three times the size of the original, in Bushwick. The new distillery will open for 90-minute tours, with a fee and reservations required, beginning on March 1; it will eventually open a new public cocktail bar and tasting room, but it will not be called the Shanty, as it was in Williamsburg. In addition, it is retiring its longstanding Ragtime Rye and replacing it with Jaywalk. The new rye is distilled from Horton rye, a grain varietal with roots dating back to 17th-century New York that the distillery has nurtured, growing it in the Finger Lakes region, over the past eight years. “This is the rye we have been dreaming of for 13 years,” said Allen Katz, the distillery’s co-founder. Three ryes will be bottled under the Jaywalk label: straight rye, a blend of 6-, 7- and 8-year-old ryes and 92 proof ($50 for 750 milliliters); bonded rye, 100 proof ($55 for 750 milliliters); and heirloom rye, cask strength, so named because it’s made from 100 percent Horton rye ($119 for a 700 milliliters). The new whiskies are robust and complex in their flavor, not merely spicy like many ryes. They will all be available starting Feb. 15 from Bottlerocket, in Manhattan, Brooklyn Wine Exchange and Gnarly Vines, in Brooklyn, and online. ROBERT SIMONSON
New York Distilling Company, 573 Johnson Avenue (Gardner Avenue), Bushwick, Brooklyn, nydistilling.com, jaywalkrye.com.
A Sweet Anniversary
Since 1924, Local Hive, a honey company based in Greeley, Colo., has been selling domestic raw, unfiltered honeys, labeled according to their geographic and floral sources. To commemorate its century in business the company has introduced a new wildflower honey, a blend from a number of regions that’s floral with something of a woodsy aftertaste.
Local Hive 1924 Golden Age Wildflower Honey Blend, $11.99 for 16 ounces, localhivehoney.com.
A Wine Company That Supports Prison Reform
The Prisoner Wine Company based in St. Helena, Calif., is known for its white and red blends, with grapes, often uncommon, obtained from scores of vineyards. As for the name, it came about because the original owner, Dave Phinney, received a reproduction of the painting “Le Petit Prisonnier” by Francisco Goya, and decided to use it on the label of a red blend as an unusual way to represent an unusual wine. Constellation Brands bought the company in 2016 and over the years has made donations to nonprofits that support prison reform. In 2023 it also started donating three percent of the price of the red blend to those causes. Doubling down, a series of special releases, called Corrections, was started last year, with labels showing art related to incarceration. This year, just being introduced, is a magnum wrapped with a reproduction of “Apokaluptein:16389067” by Jesse Krimes, who created it from 2010 to 2013 on 39 prison bedsheets during his 70-month sentence. The wine company is donating $75,000 to the Center for Art & Advocacy, founded by Mr. Krimes, along with five percent of sales. The wine, a red blend reserve, is sturdy yet sleek, has restrained fruit and keeps its 15.5 percent alcohol under control.
2021 Corrections Reserve Red Wine, 1.5 liters, $150, theprisonerwinecompany.com.
