Tucked into the rolling hills of Columbia County about two hours north of Manhattan, Hillrock Estate Distillery sits on a 100-acre property that’s been growing grains since the 1800s. Founded in 2010 by Jeffrey Baker, a former Wall Street executive turned whiskey entrepreneur, this operation opened its doors to the public in 2012 as New York’s first estate distillery since Prohibition. Baker partnered with master distiller Dave Pickerell, the legendary former Maker’s Mark distiller who helped design their production approach until his passing in 2018. The distillery now operates under master distiller Josh Farrell, continuing Pickerell’s vision of field-to-glass whiskey making in a renovated 1806 Georgian manor house.
Baker’s journey from finance to whiskey started with a simple obsession: he wanted to control every step of bourbon production, from seed to bottle. After purchasing the historic Ancram property, he spent years converting the estate’s farmland to grow heritage corn, wheat, and rye varieties specifically chosen for whiskey production. The team built a 25-foot tall pot still system and installed floor malting equipment, making them one of the few American distilleries handling their own malting process. Pickerell brought his decades of bourbon expertise to design mash bills and aging protocols, while Baker focused on the agricultural side, working with local farmers and developing relationships with cooperages for custom barrels.
The experience here revolves around their estate concept – you’re not just touring a distillery, you’re walking through an active farm operation where the grain in your glass was grown in the fields outside. The tasting room occupies the ground floor of the restored manor house, with original wide-plank floors and stone walls that smell faintly of oak and corn mash. Tours take you through the malting floor, fermentation tanks, and rickhouse, but the real draw is seeing the solera aging system they use for their flagship bourbon – a continuous blending method more common in sherry production. Production runs about 1,000 cases annually, keeping things genuinely small-batch.
