Village Garage Distillery has launched Vermont Republic Rye, a barrel-strength malted rye made entirely from local grains. The whiskey commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Vermont Republic and is available now across the US state.
The Vermont Republic was an independent state that existed from 1777 to 1791.
This period of revolution and war is associated with figures such as Ethan Allen and General John Stark, known as “The Hero of Bennington.”
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During this era, well before prohibition and the rise of bourbon, rye was the most popular spirit in the region. The new release draws on that history. The distillery described the rye as “a love letter to the Green Mountain State’s history and culture.”
“As someone who’s Bennington born and raised, I grew up hearing stories about these times,” explained VGD co-founder Glen Sauer. “We wanted to make something that we felt like our ancestors would have enjoyed in their glasses.”
Fellow co-founder Matt Cushman believes the product’s nature recalls its Vermont distilling heritage.
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READ THE STORY“Being both barrel proof and 100% malted rye, there’s nothing else quite like it on the market,” said Cushman. “All our grain is local, and I think there’s something special about that sense of place. It shows in the flavor profile.”
According to the official notes from the brand, Chief Distiller Todd Pinsonneault said the profile “begins with a nose of toasted oak, baking spices and candied apricot.”
On the palate, Pinsonneault continued, the rye delivers “caramel and butterscotch” rounded out by a “malted chocolate finish.”
The whiskey spent five years aging in white oak casks. Pinsonneault produced the rye with minimal intervention, eschewing coloration, water dilution, and modern techniques such as chill filtration. The approach gives life to Sauer’s vision of a whiskey that could have been enjoyed by citizens of an independent Vermont.
Vermont Republic Rye is now available in 802Spirits stores across Vermont, and online through the VGD website. It is priced at $74.99.
Village Garage Distillery is based in Bennington, Vermont.
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