Tamworth Distilling & Mercantile sits on Cleveland Hill Road in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, where founder Steven Grasse has created something that defies easy categorization. Grasse, who previously built Art in the Age spirits and helped launch Hendrick’s Gin in America, opened Tamworth in 2015 with a mission that goes way beyond standard craft distilling. The operation includes a distillery, restaurant, and mercantile shop housed in a restored 19th-century building that feels more like an eccentric inventor’s workshop than your typical tasting room. This isn’t your standard bourbon-and-rye operation. Grasse and his team, including master distiller Jamie Oakes, have built their reputation on historically-inspired spirits and downright weird experiments. They’ve made whiskey aged with beaver castoreum, a dill pickle vodka that actually works, and spirits inspired by colonial-era recipes that most distillers would never touch. The approach comes from Grasse’s background in brand archaeology—digging through old recipes and forgotten techniques to create spirits that tell stories about American drinking culture. Visitors get to experience this oddball approach firsthand through tours that feel more like cabinet-of-curiosities expeditions than standard distillery walks. You’ll see their copper pot stills working alongside fermentation tanks filled with whatever wild experiment is happening that month. The attached restaurant serves elevated pub food designed to pair with their spirits, and the mercantile sells everything from their bottles to vintage barware and books about drinking history. It’s simultaneously serious about craft distilling and completely unserious about distilling conventions.