Seldom Seen Farm’s annual pancake breakfasts March 7 and 14 will feature the launch of the farm’s newest product – Seldom Seen Whiskey Company Maple Cask Finished Rye Whiskey.
Seldom Seen Farm’s annual pancake breakfasts March 7 and 14 will feature the launch of the farm’s newest product – Seldom Seen Whiskey Company Maple Cask Finished Rye Whiskey.
Farm owner Kevin Holy recently began selling the whiskey in a new retail shop at the farm, 10055 Madison Road in Montville Township.
As word spread, customers began stopping in for a taste at the counter — and often left with a purchased bottle, Holy said in a recent interview.
“It’s very sweet — there’s not too much burn to it,” he said, explaining he ages the rye whiskey in bourbon barrels previously used to age his award-winning maple syrup.
“The whiskey picks up the char from inside the barrel,” he said. “A million different flavors come out of the wood.”
Holy and his wife, Morgan, have been tapping maple trees on the 60-acre farm since 2012, gradually converting the property into a sugar bush.
“We started with 10 trees and a turkey fryer,” Holy recalled.
Today, about 4,000 trees are connected by blue tubing and, with recent warmer temperatures, the red maples have begun producing sap.
The race is on to process it using reverse osmosis, then finishing it in traditional evaporators to caramelize the sugar and give maple syrup the color and flavor customers crave, Holy said.
Unlike years past, when sap was collected in buckets and hauled to storage tanks, Holy’s operation is automated. Sap flows from the sugar bush to the sugar house behind the remodeled barn.
Now, the biggest chore is boxing orders of maple syrup and shipping them to customers across the country, he said.
“We ship the syrup nationwide. But most of our sales are here on the farm at all hours, every day,” Holy said. “It’s probably the biggest revenue for the farm.”
This year, he hopes the custom whiskey will provide an additional revenue boost.
Securing all the paperwork and permits for a liquor license proved challenging, though not unexpected, he said.
“The alcohol industry is the most regulated industry in the world, next to pharmaceuticals,” he said.
While waiting for the license, Holy proactively worked with local restaurants and businesses interested in carrying the whiskey. He was unable to deliver the product until February, when he received approval to sell the small-batch spirit, he said.
It is currently served at The Hambone in Hambden Township and Daydream Farm Winery in Trumbull Township.
The liquor license arrived just as sap season began, making for an exciting start to spring, Holy said.
Currently, Holy purchases the rye whiskey, ages it in bourbon barrels and produces a 100-proof product — about 50% alcohol by volume, he said.
The idea for maple-finished whiskey grew from relationships Holy developed in Kentucky and Texas, where he sources bourbon barrels used to age his maple syrup, he said.
Over nearly 10 years, he built connections with distilleries that have since become partners in the whiskey venture. Friends at Pine Bluffs Distillery in Wyoming have been especially helpful in launching the Montville project, he said.
Holy plans to fully stock the sales room at the back of the barn in the coming weeks and add finishing touches to the shop this summer.
More information about Seldom Seen Farms products is available at seldomseenmaple.com and seldomseenwhiskey.com.
ANN WISHART/KMG
Kevin Holy holds a bottle of Seldom Seen Whiskey Company Maple Cask Finished Rye Whiskey in the warehouse at his farm in Montville Township. He is introducing the whiskey, aged in the bourbon barrels he used to age maple syrup, at the Seldom Seen Farm pancake breakfast March 7 and 14.
ANN WISHART/KMG
Seldom Seen Farm in Montville Township is known for it award-winning maple syrup processed in the sugar house on the 60-acre farm by Kevin Holy, his wife, Morgan, and their children, Chase, 12 and Cora, 7.
ANN WISHART/KMG
Seldom Seen Farm owner Kevin Holy displays a gift basket of maple syrup products from the farm, including a bottle of Maple Cask Finished Rye Whiskey, a new addition to Seldom Seen Farm’s business. It will be introduced at the Seldom Seen Farm pancake breakfasts March 7 and 14.
