St. Johnsbury Distillery
St. Johnsbury Distillery was established in 2017 after Brendan and Dan Hughes purchased Dunc's Mill, one of the oldest distilleries in Vermont. Dunc’s Mill was founded by Master Distiller Duncan Holaday, a pioneer of the art of craft distilling and recipient of the American Distilling Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.
St. Johnsbury Distillery started production with some of Dunc’s Mill’s craft spirits, while also developing some of their own new recipes. To honor Duncan and his legacy, many of the distillery's products still hold his name (e.g., Dunc’s Maple Rum), and Brendan and his team continue to follow in Duncan's philosophy of craft distilling by fermenting, distilling, bottling and barreling on site from scratch, never rectifying or purchasing alcohol.
Fun fact: St. Johnsbury Distillery's mascot, the Ruby Throated Humming Bird, is the only humming bird native to the northeast. It has many characteristics that the distillery wants to mirror in their company principles…
- Hard work ethic - the ruby throated constantly needs to eat in order to fuel its high metabolism.
- Agile within the market - humming birds are the only bird that can fly backwards, and it can also quickly change directions.
- Accomplish great things - this small bird flies over 1,300 miles during its migration every year.
- Protects home - This is a very territorial bird and will work hard to protect and improve its area.
