Friday afternoon I took a mini road trip from the office to what felt like Middle Earth, but I hadn't left Cortland County.
Situated in the rolling hills just between Marathon and Willet off of Rt. 221 is the Dragonfyre Distillery. Owned and operated by husband and wife duo, Vince and Donna Pedini, the Dragonfyre Distillery was going to be something different. I like different.
The small replica hobbit house just outside the building gave me a smile. Let's enter the shire. Donna is an artist. Vince is an artist. Each in their different way.
Donna designed and hand painted the tasting room from doors that look like they're from a medieval castle to the floors. There's an almost full-size knight with a dragon atop his shoulder. Donna and Vince told me that I should look inside the bathroom. Normally that would have been a strange request, but so far I had tossed out my normal reasoning. I opened the bathroom door to a fairy tale forest. I am not kidding when I said that my mouth dropped open and I just laughed, "this is the greatest bathroom I have ever been in." From 3D trees and fairy lights, it is a summer night's dream.
Enough about the bathroom, let's talk whiskey and moonshine.
Dragonfyre Distillery is a New York State Farm Distillery. Vince designed and made the still and mash turns. The process is done "by hand" through a time-consuming process from their 25-gallon copper still, handmade by Vince. The end result? Clear and smooth whiskey.
Dragon Moon Shine is 100% locally grown and 100% corn whiskey. It's a simple ingredient list: corn, yeast, and a few plant enzymes.
VISIT DRAGONFYRE DISTILLERY
1062 Leonard Rd, Marathon, NY 13803
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