Hello hello.
Back with more libations and smiles. Tis the season, is it not?

First, a Public Service Announcement:
If you're living in a major metropolitan area, especially my fair city of Boston, I highly recommend that you subscribe to emails from Thrillist and Urban Daddy for upcoming events, restaurant openings, and otherwise entertaining shit that does not involve the dive bar on your corner.

It was all thanks to an email from Thrillist back in August that I became privy to the fact that there was a full-fledged, craft distillery right down the road from my own front door. GrandTen has been open for a while now, and when they put the finishing touches on their tasting room in August, I knew we had to check it out. I reached out to the GrandTen guys directly regarding a tour, and received a super-nice, personal email back from Spencer, one of the co-founders of GrandTen, telling us to "come on by" any Tuesday evening or Saturday.

Of course, a while went by since the summer, with Matty and I traveling and generally forgetting about the liquor pilgrimage I had inquired about. And then, I saw GrandTen's flagship gin at our local liquor store, and I knew I had to reach out to Spencer again and go see this place for myself.


GrandTen occupies an old iron foundry on Dorchester Ave in Southie--during that streak of street that seems like it has zero going for it except perhaps a former warehouse that'd been converted into a Gold's Gym, if that's your thing. But the area is slowly becoming a bit more hipster (the addition of a bike shop and a distillery will do that) and a lot less no-man's land. Once you find GrandTen (go down the alley toward the big green flag), head inside and try to retain your breath as you undoubtedly gasp at the beauty that is a brand-new distillery (with a giant copper still) in a century old space.

Spencer was on hand this Saturday and was more than happy to take an hour out of his day and show us around. Matty, a hooch enthusiast, had an abundance of questions that Spencer answered with ease. The story of GrandTen itself--two cousins who took their combined skills of an MBA and a chemistry PhD and looked toward their love of craft liquor to start their business-- is as intriguing as the flavor combinations in their products.

After showing us through their whole production cycle (and letting us know they use corn for their mash--hooray gluten free liquor!), Spencer led us to their small bar and proceeded to pour out shots of their entire lineup, captured below.

It was the best use of a Saturday afternoon spent on Dot Ave I can think of. If you live in Boston, be sure to check this place out.

















First up, their Fire Puncher vodka is a nice, spicy-smooth, pepper flavored vodka that goes beautifully in a bloody mary (we took a bottle home, of course), or even lends a nice punch to something usually sweet--like a white russian or hot chocolate. Again, this is made from corn, too, so if you're gluten free this is an excellent addition to the Tito's vodka you hopefully have already discovered.



Going down the line, we also sampled their flagship booze: Wire Works American Gin, which is admittedly "non-piney" and is aged in oak to give it a subtle sweetness and a smooth characteristic that is all too often lacking in gin. The top photo is a classic gin and tonic with Wire Works; probably the best G&T I've ever sipped (and there have been a lot). We took home a bottle of this, too, of course.

GrandTen's almond liquer, the Amandine, is so very delicious without being cloyingly sweet. Matt tends to shy away from anything almond-flavored, but said he could picture this in a coffee drink. Spencer suggested using in place of amaretto in a number of cocktails, which I can only imagine would be delightful.

It was easy to fall in love with Angelica, GrandTen's "botanical liquer", which Spencer likened to St. Germaine. It wasn't quite as "flowery" as I'd describe St. Germaine, and is absolutely delicious all by itself. However, under the co-founder's advisory, I paired this with apple cider a few days later (yep, brought this home, too) -- and it was absolutely perfect. Not too assertive nor too sweet to take away from the cider; providing just the punch it needed.

We were also able to sample their yet-to-be-released cranberry liquer, which I cannot wait to get my hands on this holiday season. I'll alert the masses when it's released; it was that good.



All in all, as someone who tends to sip wine or craft beer at home and does not usually consider oneself a "cocktail" person, it was a great opportunity to try small-batch, high quality spirits. And to be able to walk out the door and back down the street home, with a big box of liquor, knowing we were supporting two local guys living their dream--it was a great, warming feeling.

But, perhaps, that was the vodka.