Albany Distilling Company

Loved this tasting.
A beautiful etched Ridel tequila stemware glass to boot!
The place really needs to dress up the entry a bit. Got there after sundown and had to call friends, already inside, to send out a search party. Sheesh!
Once inside we were given a brief overview tour, including a nice munch on some grain, a very cool explanation of the workings of their beautiful still and time for Q&A, as well.
This was followed up by a wonderful ¹⁄₃ shot of each of their whiskies… 5 in all: unaged, bourbon, rye, straight malt (scotch) and 10 Pin Cider brandy (see pic).
They helped out with a group photo, in front of their still and made the whole tour exceptional.
I liked the rye the best and purchased a bottle. Everyone I’ve shared it with has said they need to get down there…

Keep in mind the tour cost $ 5. The «tour» is of the two room distillery (pretty small); however, the owner is very passionate and knowledge. His knowledge does sort of make up for there not being a whole lot to see.
THEN…
comes the tasting part. This was the best part!!! Because of liquor laws we couldn’t try everything the distillery make but it was nice to put a taste together with my new knowledge of whiskey. Best 5 bucks i ever spent
Tip: if you book on Groupon you get to keep your signature glass

The tour was so great! Rick did our tour (I know him personally from one of my clients, but he still did a great job) and he definitely knows A LOT about the whiskey business. This place makes award winning booze, which I can definitely get down on. The tour was a little over a half hour with a tasting at the end.
Note: Due to their licenses, they can only do tastings of their whiskeys. No vodka or rum. Also, you can’t purchase the vodka or rum there, but they’re available at nearby liquor stores.

Visited this past weekend and had a great time. They have an intimate space that hosts their tastings, tours and production. Our tour had more than 20 folks and it was extremely informative about the process. They gave out 3 samples of their products and offered mixed cocktails for sale. I purchased a bottle before leaving to support the energetic couple that runs things. Definitely recommend stopping by for the tour and a drink.

Visited again and their offerings keep growing. They have an excellent vodka, rum, whiskey and rye. Come on Saturdays for cocktails.

So, four engineers, a physicist and an economist walk into a saloon… Took a few fellows here while on a pub crawl this past spring. We all got a good lesson on the making of distilled spirits. The economist enjoyed it the most. We all appreciate Rye Whiskey much more, and it was delicious. The tour was brief but informative, not too much to see. But, our host was knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Highly recommend it!

Cool low key place. Right next to Pump Station. Whiskey was enjoyed by everyone. Tour guides were informative and witty. Also, they have an adorable cat.

Coal Yard is great, but totally different from other whiskies.
The guys are so nice, the tour is thorough, interesting and nice.
Best part of the tour is the distillery cat!

I’ve gone on a few tours of Distillery’s both big and small and I think that this place nails it. It’s a great tour followed by an educational tasting. On any of the small distillery tours I’ve been on they stop giving info at the tasting. Perhaps the fact that both the tour and the tasting are run by the owners. I’d say the entire operation but they explained they needed a lot of friends to help stick the labels on (No, there isn’t a machine).
The passion these guy display for their work is incredible. They are passionate about the process and about New York State. By law 75% of the ingredients in each bottle has to be NYS produced, but from passion it’s 100%. They are aiming to only have products that are made in the USA or NY, there are some exceptions they haven’t gotten around but aim to fix it.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone enjoy their job as much. But who can blame them when they are selling an incredible product.
The tasting was one of the best parts, not only because you get to TASTE it, but because they way that it was set up (accidental, but almost intentionally) we got to taste the same still but aged for 30 mins, 3 months, and 4 months. My favorite was the 3 month, but my boyfriends was the 4^th. They all tasted radically different.
I encourage everyone to visit this place, support New York, Drink good Whiskey, and buy their incredibly priced merchandise.

This was a fun, informative hour in a place that smelled like bourbon. What more could you need?
Though the space is small, the tour is thorough and interesting. The guys who own it was jazzed about the process of making whiskey and love to share it. I recommend it for anyone looking to learn a little more about Albany, or who just likes good booze!

I’m a big fan of local breweries and wineries, but I hadn’t tried a small, local distillery until I stopped in here. They are actually Albany’s first distillery since prohibition and they’re located right next to the Albany Pump Station, which is great. The tasting room is very small and they make three products currently: an unaged whiskey, an aged whiskey, and a rum. You can taste the whiskeys in house and they’re very good. The aged whiskey is expensive, but you really get what you pay for. They supply their spirits to many restaurants in the Albany area and it’s great to see a local buisness starting to thrive!

Limited hours but if you can manage to pop in its totally worth it. The owners will let you sample the products, let you take a tour and let you play with their cat!
I found the liquor to be surprisingly good as well. Plus, they have really cool t-​shirts.
Best quality: the product
Worst quality: the limited hours

A great place with a wonderful atmosphere and an awesome spirit!

People are going crazy for this stuff. I stopped in around the end of December to buy my dad a bottle of the Ironweed Bourbon; they had about 150 bottles, but were sold out because people reserved them.
I was able to locate one of apparently the last 4 bottles of the stuff available to the general public at a local liquor store that the owner directed me to.
I am a single malt scotch or whiskey kinda gal and like my gargle aged… well. The nip of the Ironweed that I tried I can only described as «lively» and think that its full potential is as a mixable and not a neat drinkable. It wasn’t bad it was just… lively. My father said it was decent as a base for a manhattan and that he will need to get out the drink recipe book too (even though he usually drinks a very dry manhattan or on the rocks).
I’ll continue to try their products as the roll out and look forward to their aged products.

Went in this afternoon and was greeted by two very nice guys.
It is in a run down building and looks shut down, but inside they got the barrells cooking. I love that it is a starter company and they were eager to talk to me about the distilling process and bourbon making process.
So if you are in the neighborhood stop by and check it out.

Wow. These guys are serious.
I’m only giving the distillery 4* because they only have one product out on the market, and honestly it’s not for everyone. It’s an unaged whiskey called Coal Yard. But it’s fantastic.
It is made mostly from organic heirloom corn, in addition to rye and barley. The stuff is clear, and it tastes and smells pleasantly like grain. This «new make» whiskey is as good as the best of them. You can easily pay twice as much for something from Tuthilltown or Delaware-​Phoenix. Their unaged whiskeys are different, but they are all in the same class of high quality craft spirits.
I have high hopes for their aged product and the rum that they are planning to make as well. A wheat based vodka is also in the works. So when their full line of products is on the shelf, I fully expect Albany’s newest distillery to gain their fifth star.
Get in here. Meet the distillers. And if you are lucky they’ll have a bottle of Coal Yard to sell you. It’s been selling out. Good for them. They’ll just make more.

This place is awesome! I love the historical feel of the building and the handcrafted wooden bar is a great touch. I went in for a tour before on their opening weekend and I immediately fell in love. The whisky is awesome and has a great oat finish and mixes great with a Sierra Nevada ginger beer! The guy who gave the tour was great and very knowledgable of his craft, I could really tell that he had a passion for what he was doing. I would recommend this to anyone visiting the Albany area! If you can catch a tour go to one of the local bars and ask for Coal Yard, I promise you will not be disappointed.

This is a small, unique place. If you’re looking for a tour, walking in is it, but the owner that I met is very friendly and open to talking about the process.
The whiskey is very good.
This is definitely a cool place to check out, buy a bottle (and receive a complimentary glass), and maybe pick up a shirt. This is a nice addition to Albany and would be a good stop when having guests in town.

Ok. Disclaimer: this is on their first day of business. But boy is it exciting! FINALLY distilled local spirits in the capitol region. Nice trendy place. Walked in through the large freight looking cargo door. Went up a few stairs and saw a very nice entrance with a professional looking sign. I went in amongst all the bustle of interested patrons. All the wonderful copper still equipment was in plain view as well as a few racks of 43 gallon barrels and 10 gallon barrels. There were hors d’oevres on the house. There was also a table with clothing and stickers with the merchandising logos on them. The bar was in front of the still equipment and a smartly dresses bartender was pouring and mixing for everyone. Promo prices pleases everyone and everyone seemed to be having a good time. I asked if I could buy a bottle and they said they had just sold out an hour earlier. It was only 5 pm! I settled for a whiskey neat. All in all, great place with tons of potential. I got to talking with one of the guys who runs the place and had a great conversation about the barrel aged whiskey. 10 gallon barrel aged whiskeys will be ready in December. The 43 gallon barrels will yield straight bourbon in 2 years. While this may not even approach the 5 – 20 years that moat of us assume for kentucky straight bourbon, I’m nevertheless excited and think this is all a great start for this establishment. I wish them luck and hope to be back soon to buy a bottle! They’re open for business this coming Monday.

This is the type of business I cannot get enough of, something new that cherishes the deep history of Albany. Something unique that stands apart from everything else, and yet makes ties to the rest of the community. I had been looking for ward to opening day for quite some time and had to make it out as they opened the doors to the public for the first time.
Next door to the Albany Pump Station, the building has all of the 1800’s charm you would expect. And yet it is filled with something new, bright and modern. From the shining metal of the distilling equipment, to the bright
There are always trade offs to going on opening day, the crowds are always a problem. There were a lot of people in tight spaces, which is not my favorite environment.
I got too antsy to do much socializing, which kept me away from having a cocktail on site. There was so much going on that I had to focus on why I came — I wanted to walk away with a few bottles. Some for now, and some to lock away for later.
While I was making the purchase, DeAnna did get to ask about gluten concerns. There has been a long debate in the Celiac’s community about distilled liquors, a true distilled liquid cannot carry any gluten. A gentleman she spoke with was able to talk with her about it in detail and he did not recommend that she have any. Since DeAnna does not like whiskey in most forms anyway, I did not expect this to be something she would want anyway but it was great that someone was willing to take the time to discuss the matter with her in such a manner.
I cracked open the first bottle tonight, and had a neat sip in the commemorative glass that came with each bottle. It is definitely something new. No where near as harsh as the smell would suggest. A very distinct black pepper taste at the end. Tomorrow I will try with some of the cocktail recipes that were suggested, but I wanted the experience completely natural for the first taste.
Now I have to hide away my extra and pretend I am not home when people call looking to have a taste. I am truly looking forward to seeing The Albany Distilling Company grow. This is the perfect type of business to see in the area. I cannot wait for December!