BOISE SPIRITS

It's not often that you can pull the curtains away from your hotel window and see a beautiful spring where the trout actually dapple on the water's surface. I'm here in Boise, Idaho at the foot of the snow covered Rocky Mountains. It's easy to see why folks are so drawn to this part of the country; it's simply stunning.

Boise is also home to America's first distillery restaurant pub, Bardenay. The thing that makes Bardenay so unique is the fact that they produce their own vodka, rum and gin in these gorgeous 18 ft. copper stills. Their vodka is as good as any standard vodka. The gin is crafted in the London dry style. It's crystal clear with wonderful light junipery overtones which give it a much cleaner taste than the less sullen flavored commercial gins out there. They also make a pretty decent medium body rum. There is a delightful hint of gingered perfume that emanates from the rum. Bardenay's rum is distilled with fresh ginger.

While Bardenay's distinctive products aren't available online, they are available in some liquor stores. I had a great time learning to appreciate some of the finer points of small batch vodka, gin and rum making. If you get a chance take a look at their website. It's worth a look bardenay.com.







Bardenay Copper Still Photographs by Mark Tupinski, photographer