News & Events

Woodstock, VT: Wassail Weekend

Join us for a tasting of our spirits at the renowned Wassail Weekend in Woodstock! We'll be sampling our award winning spirits and selling bottles.

Burlington, VT: CLOSED

Our Burlington Tasting Room will be closed today for the holidays. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Burlington, VT: CLOSED

Our Burlington Tasting Room will be closed today for the holidays. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Burlington, VT: Holiday Cocktail Class with Olive Robb of Honey Road

-SOLD OUT-

YOU loved her, WE loved her, so we're bringing her back for another cocktail class!

Join Olive Robb of Honey Road as she takes you through all the mixology preparation you need for this holiday season!

Olive has has been bartending at Honey Road Restaurant since opening, and now runs the cocktail program. She has been bartending for over 5 years now and pulls inspiration from Cara the Chef, cookbooks from the region, and from her personal experience growing up in Israel.

Her class will take you through Eastern Mediterranean flavors, and she will teach you about making syrups, shrubs, infusions, where to find inspiration for your cocktails, and how to pair them with excellent food.

Class includes 1 welcome cocktail and you will leave with the recipes for the drinks you created. Participants receive 10% off barware on the day of the class.

Tickets are $40.00 per person.

Burlington, VT: Winter Warm Up Trunk Show

Product Think Tank, an all natural fiber clothing company from Waitsfield, Vermont, is having a trunk show at our Burlington tasting room. Warm up with sweaters, scarves, hats, and booze! Excellent holiday gifts! Like Hot Chocolate? Try Hot Caramel...with Bourbon!!

Waitsfield: Country Christmas Historic Waitsfield Village

Please join us for Historic Waitsfield's neighborhood Country Christmas party!

Santa arrives at 11 am on Bridge Street!

The Joslin Children's Library will be hosting cookie decorating from 10-3 leaving parents hands free to visit all the shops in the village.

There will be a special Christmas Cocktail Trail, all participating businesses will have special cocktail tasters made by sponsors Mad River Distillers! The "bar" will be opening at 12 in the Mad River Chamber offices where Barrie Fisher will be photographing you, Santa and your pets!

At dusk will be the lighting of the luminaries to celebrate our joy for the season ending with a Holiday Chorale Concert at the Waitsfield United Church of Christ at 7:30.

Sponsors: 4orty Bridge Boutique, All Things Bright and Beautiful, Artisans Gallery, Barrie Fisher Photography, Blue Hubbard Stickers, Clear Water Sports, Complexions, Darrad’s Electronics, Joslin Memorial Library, Lincoln Peaks Properties,Mad River Chamber, Mad River Distillery, Mad River Glass, Silver Trout, The Green Closet, The Sweet Spot, Village Grocer, Waitsfield Pottery

Mad River Rum 44
By in Blog Comments Off on What exactly is Rum, anyway?

What exactly is Rum, anyway?

Rum, Defined

Spirit categories can be nebulous and confusing. Some spirits, like gin, must make use of specific ingredients. Others, like bourbon and rye, must use certain ingredients and be aged in a specific way, while vodka can be made from virtually anything as long as it’s distilled at a high enough proof. Rum, on the other hand, comes in a variety of flavors and ages, can be sweetened or spiced, and has some close cousins like Rhum (or Rhum Agricole) and Cachaca. So put on your pirate hat, dust off your eye patch and grab your parrot, we’re talkin’ about rum, ya scallywag!

Sorry about that. I’ll try to keep the pirate speak to a minimum moving forward. 

Anyway, basic rum as a spirit category is pretty straightforward, with Rhum having a subtle but significant difference. Essentially, Rhum (aka Rhum Agricole) and Rum are both distilled from sugar cane: Rhum from sugar cane juice, and Rum from a refined product of sugarcane, such as molasses, turbinado or demerara sugar (which is what we use). If you know the basics of spirit production, the rest is fairly straightforward: the sugar is fermented, and then distilled.

A Difference in Taste

That sugar, however, makes a big difference in the final product. Rhum, for example, is characterized by an earthy, vegetal flavor, while molasses rum errs more toward a sweeter, vanilla-noted spirit. And while most rum (a whopping 97%!) is distilled from molasses, you can also make it from sugar, which is what we choose to do. 

Because molasses is a by-product of refining sugar cane into sugar, it typically requires a distillation at a very high proof to separate out the undesirable elements, most notably sulfur. Rum distilled from demerara, as we do, can be distilled at a lower proof, thereby preserving more flavor in the finished spirit. Specifically, demerara rums are characterized by subtle sweetness, light smokiness and slight vegetal notes.

All About The Finish

The other element that allows different rums to diverge in flavor is how they’re finished. Some producers will choose to spice or back-sweeten (add sugar to) finished rum. Some barrel age their rum and then filter it clear, while some add flavors (coconut pineapple rum, anyone?). At Mad River Distillers we use a variety of different aging and finishing techniques to transform our Demerara Rum into five unique projects. A maceration with vanilla beans results in our Vanilla Rum. Barrel aging gives us our First Run Rum, and finishing in used maple barrels gives us our beautiful Maple Cask Rum (my personal favorite. I don’t want to hurt any other rums’ feelings but hey, here we are) and our double gold medal winning PX Rum gets finished in used Pedro Ximenez Sherry casks. 

Our newest product, however, is Rum 44, and it’s silver. No barrel aging, no flavoring, no sweetening. Just a clear, clean drinking rum that gives a beautiful nod to the demerara from which it’s distilled. One of my personal favorite things is being able to taste aged and un-aged versions of the same spirit. It gives you a beautiful glimpse at the character that young spirits can have, while simultaneously showcasing the flavor and complexity that results from time spent resting in a barrel. 

So there you have, ya landlubbers. Hopefully you’re walking away a little more knowledgeable and a little thirsty. Sure beats walking the plank, if you ask me. Cheers!

Burlington: Cocktail Class with Ian Hood of Deli 126

“Whiskey Cocktails And The Bitters That Love Them”

Our next guest teacher is Ian Hood of Deli/126! He is a full time Bartender, an educator on many booze related topics, and is also a certified Sommelier.

Join him for a tasting, discussion, and historical tour of whiskey and the important interplay of bitters with cocktails.

You will experience tasting classic cocktails without bitters in them, then again after adding the bitters to see how they transform the drinks.

We’ll also be providing snacks by Deli/126!

Class includes 1 welcome cocktail and you will leave with the recipes for the drinks you created. Participants receive 10% off barware on the day of the class.

Tickets are $40.00 per person.

Burlington: Cocktail Class with Olive Robb of Honey Road

A Cocktail Class with an amazing Eastern Mediterranean twist!

Our next guest teacher is Olive Robb of Honey Road Restaurant! She has been bartending there since opening, and now runs the cocktail program. She has been bartending for over 5 years now and pulls inspiration from Cara the Chef, cookbooks from the region, and from her personal experience growing up in Israel.

She will teach you about making syrups, shrubs, infusions, where to find inspiration for your cocktails, and how to pair them with excellent food. And she might even give you a sneak peak of cocktails from their next menu...

Class includes 1 welcome cocktail and you will leave with the recipes for the drinks you created. Participants receive 10% off barware on the day of the class.

Tickets are $40.00 per person.

Burlington: Boozy Hot Chocolate Bar

Celebrate the first day of Winter with some free Hot Chocolate!*

Stop by our second Boozy Hot Chocolate Bar event of the season. There will be free Lake Champlain Chocolates hot chocolate, all the toppings your heart desires, and for those 21+, you can add our local booze for just $5!

We can't think of a better way to warm up!

*while supplies last

Burlington: Boozy Hot Chocolate Bar

Boozy Hot Chocolate Bar is back!!

You know the drill friends; free Lake Champlain Chocolates hot chocolate for anyone, add your favorite toppings from our complimentary sweets selection, then head to the bar (for those 21+) to add our local booze for only $5.

We start pouring hot chocolate at 12 until supplies run out. We'll be having one every month during the winter season so head to our event page to check out all the dates.

Our bar will be operating as normal as well for all your craft cocktail needs.

We'll see you then!

Burlington: Boozy Hot Cider Bar

It's peak season for foliage, sweaters, bean boots, and Hot Cider!!

This crisp fall air is making us crave a good cup of hot cider, and we wouldn't want to have one without you all! Starting at 12 we'll be handing out free Hot Cider from Shelburne Orchards while supplies last. Add a slice of fruit or a cinnamon stick, and for those 21+ head over to the bar and add our local booze to your cup for just $5!

We'll see you then!