A Unique Challenge

Mt. Defiance makes small-batch cordials with huge flavor.

ABOUT A DOZEN YEARS AGO, Peter Ahlf left his job at NASA for a second act in custom woodworking. His first gig was renovating a kitchen for a friend of the family, Marc Chretien. Several years later, when Chretien was looking to build a tasting room for a new cidery he was opening in Middleburg, he called Ahlf.

During the planning process, Chretien discovered “it’s not that much more paperwork to get a distillery permit,” remembers Ahlf. Plus, he says, his friend realized that he could easily distill hard cider to make apple brandy. And then it wasn’t much more of a leap to ask Ahlf if he wanted to try his hand at distilling. “I think he felt that my engineering background at NASA would play into it. And, the fact that I was into woodwork- ing and craft and artisan-type work, those would be a good blend. I gave it some thought and said, sure.” The two opened Mt. Defiance Cidery & Distillery in an old service station in downtown Middleburg, with Chretien making cider and Ahlf making spirits.

Jennifer Chase

Although Virginia is known for its moonshine and whiskey, Ahlf wanted to do something different. “That’s why, after apple brandy, we picked rum as our next [spirit]. There weren’t too many domestic rum makers at the time … I figured rum is interesting and kind of coming back, and has a history on the Eastern seaboard. And then things just evolved. I kept on trying to find things that other people aren’t doing.” As a result, Mt. Defiance is, as far as Ahlf knows, the only distillery in Virginia making absinthe, cassis, and amaretto, and one of the very few making vermouth or an agave spirit.

Absinthe is Ahlf’s passion project. He enjoys the history of the liqueur, the challenge of making it (“It takes very specific kind of a recipe and specific handling in order to make a good absinthe”), and the pageantry of serving it. He says absinthe’s bad reputation is the result of a smear campaign by French wineries and Prohibitionists during

the 19th and early 20th centuries. Although a key ingredient in absinthe, the herb wormwood, does contain trace amounts of a neurotoxin called thujone, you would suffer alcohol poisoning before you drank enough to feel any effects. “There’s more thujone in sage than in absinthe,” he says—particularly today, when legal absinthe must contain less than five parts per million of thujone.

The liqueur is bottled at 140 proof and usually diluted at least 4:1 before serving. (Drinking undiluted absinthe could account for the stories of the spirit’s effects over the years, notes Ahlf.) Traditionally, absinthe is served by dripping water onto a sugar cube, slowly adding sweetened water to the liqueur to bloom its flavors and release its aroma. A properly made absinthe will turn from a natural, herbal green color to a pearly, opaque pale green or tan. “It’s an experience to drink it,” says Ahlf.

Cassis is another of Ahlf’s specialties. It only contains two ingredients—black currants and sugar—but sourcing the fruit is challenging because the plants were illegal in the United States until recently. (Insects can carry a destructive rust from black currant bushes to white pine trees, so the bushes were outlawed to protect the trees.) Ahlf buys his currants from a farmer in New York who got the ban reversed there, but the fruit still can’t be grown commercially in Virginia.

Jennifer Chase

Once he has the fruit, Ahlf soaks it in ethanol, then adds sugar. Because the amount of sugar affects the amount of alcohol in the final product, “the one significant challenge is to figure out … how much sugar to add to it and what type of sugar,” says Ahlf. He played with the variables to perfect his recipe. The result is a “tart-sweet” spirit full of fruit flavor that, like most of Mt. Defiance’s cordials, can be drunk alone or mixed in cocktails.

The challenge is part of the appeal for Ahlf, who enjoys spirits that are “interesting to make” and have “a large flavor palette to play with.” While bourbon is all about the distillation and barrel, absinthe must be soaked with herbs, distilled, and soaked again to create the distinctive color, he says. He uses a dozen ingredients in his amaretto and 16 more in his sweet vermouth. He grows many of the herbs he uses, so he can control the quality, but they naturally differ from year to year, causing tweaks and shifts in the spirits.

And that, in itself, is a reward for the Mt. Defiance team. “That’s a fun thing about being a craft distillery … The vermouth and the absinthe are two of our most batch-oriented where, because of the ingredients, you end up with more variation opportunity, but also more surprises or unique aspects to each batch, which can be nice.” MtDefiance.com

Summer Sippers

Agave Sour

pisco sour cocktail isolated on a black background

• 1/2 ounce Mt. Defiance Agave Spirit — Wild
• 1/2 ounce Mt. Defiance Agave Spirit — Blue
• 1/2 ounce Mt. Defiance White Rum
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup
• 1 ounce fresh squeezed lemon/lime juice
• 1 small egg white
• Embitterment Orange Bitters

(available at ModernBarCart.com)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker and dry shake for 30-60 seconds. Add ice and shake until the shaker is frosty. Double strain into a chilled sour glass. Garnish with a few drops of orange bitters.

Rich In Spirit

Jennifer Chase

• 2 ounces Mt. Defiance Dark Rum
• 1/4 ounce True Rich Simple Syrup by Pratt
• Standard Cocktail Co.
• 3 dashes Embitterment Orange Bitters orange peel

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and stir to combine. Strain into a glass with ice. Express an orange peel over the glass and use it as a garnish.

Mt. Defiance Manhattan

Classic Manhattan served in a coupe

• 2 parts Mt. Defiance Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• 1 part Mt. Defiance Sweet Vermouth 2–3 dashes Embitterment Aromatic
• Bitters
• maraschino or brandied cherry
• (optional garnish)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and stir to combine. Double strain into a chilled coupe. Optional: Garnish with maraschino or brandied cherry.

Orange Corgi

• 1/2 ounce Mt. Defiance Apple Brandy 1/2 ounce chilled Mt. Defiance Sweet
• Vermouth
• 1/4 ounce Mt. Defiance Amaretto 1/4 ounce True Rich Simple Syrup
• by Pratt Standard Cocktail Co.
• (or 1/2 ounce regular simple syrup)
• 2–3 dashes Embitterment Orange Bitters lemon peel

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and stir to combine. Strain into a coupe. Express a lemon peel over the glass and use it as a garnish.

This article originally appeared in the June 2021 issue.