StilltheOne Distillery in Port Chester, New York is small craft distillery that is creating a big buzz in the Tri-State area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Under the guidance of Albert Savarese, a creative and marketing-savvy entrepreneur, StilltheOne is not only introducing consumers to new and innovative products, but it is also collaborating with the local community to offer spirts that embrace the concept of farm-to-table and express the high quality of Hudson Valley grains.
StilltheOne (STO) opened in 2009 as the first distillery in Westchester County since the introduction of Prohibition in 1920. Its then-owner named the distillery for his wife, who was “still the one.” Savarese, who had just come from a sales and marketing position in the international olive oil business, read about STO in a local magazine and saw an opportunity for a new “gig” that complemented his experience and his ambitions.
“All my life I have been an entrepreneur,” Savarese told Beverage Master Magazine, “and I was looking for something creative and unique. I offered my expertise to the owner, and the next thing I knew I had bought into the distillery.”
STO began operations by producing vodka from honey. At the time, it was the first and only distillery to do so. According to Savarese, “We started by taking orange blossom honey and fermenting it into a mead by dissolving it into water and adding yeast. Then we distilled that mead very slowly two times.”
The result was the award-winning Comb Vodka. STO expanded their complement of Comb products with Comb Gin, one of the first honey gins on the market, as well as a honey brandy, the STO Comb Blossom.
With the success of the Comb products, STO began its transition from clear spirits to specializing in whiskeys made from local beers. To draw attention to the whiskey, Savarese specifically branded them with numbers. “Numbers really stand out,” he said. “Everyone remembers numbers more than words.”
STO’s first beer-to-whiskey, the 287 Malt Whiskey, was distilled from a pale ale produced by neighboring Captain Lawrence Brewery and named for the highway that connects the two facilities. The No. 3 Wheat Whiskey, using 100% New York State wheat, is named for the level of char used in the barrels. Their signature New York bourbon whiskey, 914 Westchester County Bourbon Whiskey, is blended with non-GMO corn and New York wheat and named for the area code in Westchester County, an homage to Savarese’s hometown.
In 2016, after establishing a successful base for STO, Savarese recognized the potential for growth and after talking with an investor and longtime friend, bought the distillery outright. He hired former chef Tyler LaCorata as head distiller and named the Distillery StilltheOne Two. He also purchased part of another distillery so he could buy grain cheaper and have additional room for storage. In two years, STO went from producing 90 barrels of whiskey a year to 800.
STO products start their journey from farm-to-market with high-quality ingredients, all locally sourced. Grains are fermented stainless steel tanks. The distillery utilizes three stills, each with a specific purpose. The main still is a 215-gallon German-made pot still with four plates and a rectification column to help purify the spirits. According to Savarese, using a pot still rather than a continuous still gives the whiskey a unique flavor profile. “This requires additional maintenance and supervision,” he said, “but it’s a time-proven technique based off the Alembic still that’s been around for over a thousand years.”
STO also utilizes a 100-gallon still explicitly tuned to produce COMB Vodka; and a 7.5-gallon test still called “Willy Wonka,” where STO validates (or discards) all of the ideas the team has for new spirits.
STO spirits are aged in barrels purchased from a family-owned cooperage that has been in business for four generations. Savarese prefers aging in a 53-gallon cooper-select American white oak barrels with a #4 level of char to extract flavor from the wood. Vodkas and gins typically rest only a few days, while whiskeys are aged three-plus years. Beer-to-whisky can be released in a year. “The flavor in these after a year is amazing,” Savarese explained. “You can still taste the remnants of the beer, and beer drinkers absolutely love this. It’s a good roller coaster ride on the pallet! Beer dissipates as it ages, and we’re aging some longer just to see how they come out.” STO labels its bottles by hand and caps and seals all products in-house for quality assurance.
With his background in marketing and sales, Savarese is continually working to “create a buzz” for STO products. He’s opened a tasting room, the Whisky Shack, built out of reclaimed barn wood from the Hudson Valley. Guests can sit at a long communal table, or at barrels that have been converted to tables. The Whisky Shack offers whiskey flights as well as cocktails.
STO also participates in tastings at local tent events, farmers’ markets and liquor and wine shops, and offers whiskey dinner around the Tri-State area. Recently, LaCorata was invited to appear on the Food Network’s Man Crafted (www.foodnetwork.com/shows/man-crafted/man-crafted) and create a drink for the holiday season using gin and McCormick spices. The result: a “gingerbread gin” that started as a mixture of coriander, juniper, fresh lemon and lime peel and, of course, gingerbread spice, then distilled with corn vodka. Man Crafted host James Briscione cooked a bourbon-and-dried plum-stuffed pork loin (made with 914 Bourbon Whiskey) to accompany the drink, and when he sat down to enjoy the meal, he called the gingerbread gin ‘holiday in a glass.
Never one to rest on his laurels, Savarese is always on the lookout for new products and opportunities. The latest, New York DO-ME Vodka, originated when Savarese overheard a couple at a bar asking the bartender to ‘Do me on the rocks’ or ‘do me straight up.’ Savarese said, “Right then and there I thought, ‘this would be a great name for a vodka.’ That Monday I went back to work and called my trademark company to trademark the name. We’re selling it in a sleek, all-white label with white capital letters. It has a very clean look.” The vodka is made from New York State select corn and distilled in small batches in a copper still pot.
As Savarese looks ahead, he plans to focus on the beer-to-whiskey line and the New York DO-ME Vodka. And he wants to grow. “I want to be recognized by the Diageo distributors of the world,” Savarese told Beverage Master. “I’d have to get up to 10,000-plus cases, which I’m not up to right now, but I do plan to expand the distillery from 3,500 square-feet to 9,000 square-feet, where I can have a bigger tasting room and an eatery.”
If the past is any indication, Savarese’s aspirations will come to fruition. “My thing is to keep the buzz going,” he said. “If you create a buzz, you can go anywhere with a brand.”
For more information on StilltheOne, visit their website at www.stilltheone.com. The tasting room is opened on Saturdays from 12 to 6 p.m. Tours are available by appointment Wednesday through Saturday. StilltheOne products may be found in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Florida.