Sagaponack Farm Distillery Pours a Pair of New Spirits With Deep Local Roots All Around

Matt Beamer is a master at listening to the liquid.

Inside Sagaponack Farm Distillery, the head distiller takes samples from aging barrels, paying close attention to a spirit’s taste, color, smell and feel — waiting for it to tell him when it’s ready.

For the farm’s two newest spirits, it’s finally time.

On Saturday, December 16, the family-owned operation will unveil a limited release of its sherry barrel-finished bourbon and Empire rye finished in a cabernet sauvignon barrel from Paumanok Vineyards in Aquebogue — marking the first time this has ever been done at the Sagaponack distillery.

“I was a brewer prior to this job, so I have a lot of experience in what’s gonna turn out of the product, based on how I created the recipe and the processes I know that are gonna get the flavors I want,” Beamer said. “But you put something in a barrel, boy, is it gonna get better? I hope so. You don’t really know until you do it.”

Since the distillery opened in 2013 — and Beamer moved away from the Utah brewing scene, where he was a fixture, to the East End — he has thought about how to tweak traditional whiskeys and create something new from day one, he said.

The abundant wineries across the region would be integral in that, he said.

“There was no way I was not gonna do this,” he said with a laugh. “There’s too much opportunity to share something together with what they’ve created and what I’m creating, and just have it be more of a community between distillers and winemakers. There’s plenty for both of us to go around.”

After securing the Paumanok cabernet sauvignon barrel, Beamer filled it with Sagaponack Farm Distillery’s 2018 Empire rye whiskey — comprising 94 percent rye, both malted and raw, and 6 percent malted barley. It has a full but soft mouth flavor, with mild spice notes and a finish touched by cocoa — ingredients almost entirely grown by the sixth-generation farm.

“These guys know how to grow stuff,” Beamer said. “They’re masters at it. For me to come in and get these amazing ingredients — I get it at the peak freshness. I can count on one hand the number of people who have what I have available to me.”

As the spirit aged in the barrel, the distiller conducted sensory tests, looking for subtle nuances of the wine that soaked into the oak. At 10 months, it hit the mark.

“My rye doesn’t typically have the really peppery finish to it, but I think the tannic nature of a cabernet sauvignon, with the dark grapes, it kind of adds a little bit of that dry pepperiness,” he said. “It made it more rye whiskey-like by adding it to it, even though that’s not what the original was. So I thought that was a pretty nice blending together.”

When considering what barrel to use for the distillery’s bourbon, Beamer chose a 500-liter sherry butt from Spain — with a clear intention to keep it spirit-forward and not overshadowed by the grapes.

“I didn’t want to initially create something that was just gonna be this big, juicy, fruit bomb that’s almost, like, syrupy — I’ve had some that have been like that, so it wasn’t what I was shooting for,” he said. “I wanted some subtle nuance that still shows the base whiskey that’s in it.”

Sherry notes can be quite strong, Beamer said, and a 13-month aging period proved to be the sweet spot.

“You get the bourbon experience when you’re tasting the sherry-finished bourbon,” he said. “The fruit doesn’t hide what the original content was, which I’m really happy about, because I didn’t want it to turn into something completely different. It still has the roots of the bourbon — the bourbon notes are there. There’s a more fruitiness to it, which I think works really well together.”

Just in time for whiskey season, the two spirits will be available in 375ml and 750ml bottles at the distillery, at least for now, before any bars or restaurants add it to their rotation.

As for what’s up next, Beamer said the distillery is about to start its second brewing season of American single malt. After that, the possibilities are endless.

“There’s a lot of things that can happen — and, of course, I have plans to do all of it, whether it happens or not is another thing,” he said. “But I just let my imagination run and say, ‘Well, is it worth a shot? Will it make a difference? Will it be interesting?’

“And sometimes you don’t know until you just do it.”