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Boston Globe

What's really in your vodka? A new distillery in Connecticut is pushing for transparency in booze.

Bailey Pryor is now the founder and chief executive officer of Related : Advertisement While living off of Sunset Boulevard, Finneas Pryor was working in the music industry in Los Angeles when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world. He returned home to the Connecticut shoreline, and started tinkering in an old warehouse his family owned that had a single still. He wanted to test out new products and use the space as a 'mad science lab.' Instead, it became its own business – with no financial ties to McCoy. Advertisement Finneas Pryor is the co-founder and vice president of Veritable Distillery in Stonington, Connecticut. Courtesy of Veritable Distillery Finneas Pryor officially debuted Veritable earlier this year, focusing on spirits using ingredients that were available and commonly traded in New England more than 300 years ago. And, like his father, he's looking to lead the industry by voluntarily disclosing ingredients and serving facts directly on the bottles. Consumers should know, he said, if producers are adding sweeteners, chemical suspension agents, preservatives, sulfites, or other additives to their products. 'Times change. It's not enough anymore to say natural flavors and no additives,' said 'Theres a nutritional label on a bottle of water, with zeros running down the side. But, we can't know what's in our hard cider,' Warrener added. 'I don't know why many corporations fight so hard to prevent consumers from knowing what they are consuming. The corporations that [are transparent] are thriving.' The Ship Bell's Bourbon from Veritable Distillery. Courtesy of Veritable Distillery Indeed, many larger corporations have pushed against the movement to list ingredients on their bottles. But Animal-based clarifying agents are also often added to industrially-made distilled liquor brands. 'There's a lot of vegetarians and vegans across the country who are drinking animal products and have no idea,' Finneas Pryor said. Advertisement Veritable first launched with Ship Bell's Bourbon and Southwick's American Gin. Their bourbon is developed in collaboration with 'The idea with [the bourbon] and our other releases now are they're all the middle-ground of being easy drinking, but will hold up well with cocktails,' said Finneas Pryor. 'With that being 43 percent [alcohol] you still get a little bit of the heat you expect from bourbon and corn, but it's easier drinking because of the higher amount of malt.' Juniper berries at the distillery. Courtesy of Veritable Distillery Unlike conventional gins that are mass produced and use inexpensive vodka as the base spirit, Finneas Pryor said they use aged rum as a base, which is a practice that dates back nearly 600 years. It's distilled in a custom-designed copper pot still. Three separate 'factional' groups of botanicals are prepared and distilled individually before they are blended together. Their gin is a true representation of everything they're trying to do at Veritable, he said, which is 'really traditional and natural production methods.' Their coffee liqueur is produced in small batches, using espresso beans from Mystic-based Advertisement 'Coffee was always my true north,' said Jonathan Lambert, who said Veritable purchases about 80 pounds of coffee every three months. For a small roaster with just three employees – including him and his wife – 'that's a lot from one customer.' An array of products from Veritable Distillery. Courtesy of Veritable Distillery Veritable's coffee liqueur smells of chocolate-covered cherries and toffee. On the back of the bottle, they list all four ingredients it takes to produce it: Cane spirit, decaf espresso beans, cocoa powder, and sugar. They also have a limoncello, which has a five-week maceration period, a tart taste and a warm lingering finish. The ingredients are simple: water, cane spirit, organic lemon rinds, and sugar. 'When we look back to the old school styles of most of these spirits and how they were produced hundreds of years ago, that's what we're trying to do,' said Finneas Pryor. 'Sure, it takes a bit longer, you can't make massive amounts of it. But this is all non-industrial.' Thanks for reading The Food Club. ✍️ This newsletter is written and produced by ✉️ Send comments, suggestions, and story tips to 📧 Did someone forward this newsletter to you? 📱 Delivered every Thursday. Alexa Gagosz can be reached at