Vermont’s Mad River Distillers Offers Up Second Edition Of Its Single Malt

Mad River Distillers out of Warren, Vermont, was established in 2011 to produce what’s described as “high-quality, handcrafted spirits using locally-sourced, non-GMO ingredients and Cold Springs Farm’s exceptionally pure natural spring water.” One of their more unique offerings from last year was dubbed at the time Vermont’s first American single malt, and now the distillery is back with the second edition of this very limited expression.

Hopscotch Vermont Single Malt Whiskey, Second Edition, according to those behind it, is the result of a collaboration between the distillery and Stone Corral, a neighboring, family operated micro brewery. For this bottling they made use of a wash consisting of the brewery’s Scotch ale to distill the whiskey with. The malt for this beer had previously been peated.

“For our second batch of Hopscotch, we decided to distill an existing beer from Stone Corral and chose their Scotch Ale for obvious reasons,” said Alex Hilton, general manager and distiller at Mad River Distillers, in a prepared statement. “The result is a rich and malt-forward whiskey, much like the beer itself.”

Mad River’s new whiskey, bottled at 92 proof, has been aged for just 18 months before being readied for release. Less then 700 hand numbered bottles have been made available for release, both in 750 ml (around $60) and 375 ml (around $40). It will be a somewhat regional offering tied to just Massachusetts and Vermont.

Limited official tasting notes from the distillery for Hopscotch, Second Edition, indicate “tobacco, ale maltiness and a kiss of hop on the palate. Smoky on the finish with flavors of peat.”