Vilya Spirits (formerly known as Ridge Distillery)

[baubel]

Hello, COLORADO!

 

 

Veer Down!

 

[precenphix]

Congrats, Joe & Jules on branching out with the Vilya marque. I wish you nothing but the best of luck in your continued success with your fine spirits. Your absinthes have always remained a personal favorite of mine.

 

 

Ben

[Joe Legate]

Thanks, Ben!

You should pop by the Forum more often.

And you should stop by Montana for a visit, too.

[Joe Legate]

Today starts the beginning of our search for Angelica in the wilderness areas of Northwest Montana. We are about two weeks away from actually harvesting anything but the bounty of Mother Earth is very exciting!

 

We were advised to keep our eyes open for bears. That's some good advice MPC! 3 times we came across signs like this one.

 

Sometimes, operating a distillery is more exciting than most people can imagine!

[greytail]

So what do you want? A medal?

 

 

Wait, you guys already got one.....hehe.

 

Bear Scat. Did you do the freshness taste test to see how close he may have been to you?

[MASTERPC]

I know more about bear spray, the legalities, effectiveness, rental options and more! Some expensive stuff, too!

 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_spray

[Joe Legate]

We try to keep (semi) fresh bear spray around for hiking and camping adventures but the only time I've ever used it was to try to chase some squatter skunks from under our pump house. It didn't work.

[greytail]

Sheesh. That bear scat must have you wound tighter than a Cuban rolled crepe.

Edited July 27, 2013 by greytail

[Joe Legate]

Nah, never had a bit of trouble with bears or mountain lions. Occasionally they pass through but they don't mean any harm. The bears making a mess of the garbage is the worse.

[Absomphe]

The bears making a mess of the garbage is the worse.

Sure, but nobody expects the bears to speak the King's English.

[Songcatcher]

The King is dead.

Long live the King!

[Joe Legate]

Hmm. I'm missing it, Abs but happy to defer to your better half's infused knowledge. Not trusting my own skills, I plugged the sentence into an academic online contraption that confirmed my spelling and grammar. Correct me, O Spirit of Sixer

[Absomphe]

The King is dead.

Long live the King!

Um, no, OOPS, sorry Joe, the "King" is righteously shamed.

 

There were only bears and mountain lions in question, which made Joe's choice of "worse" absolutely correct.

 

If the "King" is gonna edit, he'd better do it in a more sober fashion, henceforth.

[Joe Legate]

I would never trust my skills in grammar so allow me to offer this morning's photo of thigh-high Artemisia pontica:

 

Or, a visitor this morning to Vilya Spirits:

[Absomphe]

A picture can be worth even more than a thousand words.

[Bob Tessier]

Thanks for sharing, Joe.

[Songcatcher]

Aye.

[Jack Griffin]

I had another glass of Ridge Verte this afternoon. It has become my favorite American absinthe.

Just goes to show you what a bit of integrity, hard work, and dedication can do.

This journey brings to mind the adage "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."

[Joe Legate]

Willy Wonka, at your service. It's just a different kind of Candyland.

[baubel]

...thigh-high Artemisia pontica:

 

I feel weird when you talk dirty.

[preston]

I had another glass of Ridge Verte this afternoon. It has become my favorite American absinthe.

Just goes to show you what a bit of integrity, hard work, and dedication can do.

This journey brings to mind the adage "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."

 

with last night's glass, my bottle of Lucid is dangerously close to being depleted. in the past few months (since purchasing), I've learned a ton about other brands - which ones are "must-haves", as well as which ones to avoid. Scott, you've been a great help - mostly recommending the good ones, but stressing that I read the reviews for myself and make my own choices.

 

with that in mind, I am pretty positive that Ridge Verte will be my next absinthe. it almost feels too soon to jump up so high on the list; should I still work my way up?? I was all set on the Kübler, just out of convienence and curiosity. now I'm just feeling impatient! :-)

 

 

 

...thigh-high Artemisia pontica:

 

I feel weird when you talk dirty.

 

hahaha

[Georges Meliès]

Go for the Ridge. Treat yourself. Lucid has already given you a fine example of a well-made but standard absinthe, better to move up than laterally. Ridge will show you what really good absinthe is all about.

 

The only problem is that it's hard to go back again.... I have some Lucid left and somehow when I'm choosing my evening's absinthe, I just can't bring myself to pull the Lucid out of the cabinet. Not that I dislike it -- I think it's quite enjoyable. But there are more enjoyable ones that beckon my attention.

[Jack Griffin]

FYI, just because at this moment, Ridge is at the top of my list, it doesn't mean you won't enjoy others as much or more. Explore!

If you're ordering domestically, and buying USA absinthe, I was very impressed with the latest batch of Marteau, and I love Vieux Carre as well!

I would STRONGLY advise digging in, if you can, and getting two bottles. It will save you on some shipping, and you'll have a chance to develop your palate

even more, with side by side chances of experiencing differences and nuance. Good luck!

[Ambear]

Definitely one of my favorites, but by no means a "pinkies out" absinthe. If you're lucky enough to pick some up at the source, it's also wildly inexpensive. Ridge is pretty much my daily drinker.

[speedle]

While I still prefer my Jade Edouard overall, I'd say that I'm lucky to have discovered Ridge recently. And it's not much more than Lucid here either, so welcome to my new regular absinthe!

[preston]

I would love to walk into my local shop and see Ridge sitting on the shelf, similarly priced and right next to Lucid!

Scott, one of the first recomendations you gave me was Vieux Carre - I'm still anxious to try it. tough choices, and that's a good problem to have. :-)

[Joe Legate]

Thanks for all the kind words, folks. You are the best!

I wish we could put Vilya Spirits on everyone's liquor store shelves as inexpensively as we can in Montana. Without the huge shipping costs and everyone getting their fair slice of the pie to provide it, our gin is about $25, the blanche about $40 and the verte about $50 but without all the people working and getting paid to move our spirits... well, you know the rest. We are very appreciative of our distributor(s) and the work they do. Still, I wish we could make Montana's prices the norm and not the exception.

 

Julie and I arrived home last night just hours before a huge weather front struck our area. It was a very successful little escape for us, providing much needed R&R, Angelica and even enough fresh Huckleberries for a homemade pie tonight.

 

This is where we enjoying hunting for Angelica:

 

The beautiful, wild Angelica in it's natural habitat:

 

And playing with a couple of vintage glasses and absinthe wearing a soon-to-disappear label:

 

 

There is plenty of beauty in our wilderness:

 

[techdiver]

Best wishes for continued success.

[greytail]

Awesome photos. Thanks for sharing.

[Songcatcher]

Yes yes. And btw, you stole my idea! That was going to be my Ridge louche video. A glass in a stream.....dammit....Nice job though.

 

I've seen the green foil, I've seen the blue foil, but what's the dealio with the red foil?