Tastes Like Rebellion: Fort Hamilton Whiskey

Fort Hamilton Whiskey is the first offering from Alex Clark, a Brooklyn-based entrepreneur and distiller.  Alex was kind enough to sit down for an interview with Brooklyn to the Catskills and talk about what it takes to be an entrepreneur and how he is making the best rye whiskey this side of Prohibition.  He also shared his favorite cocktail recipe that you’ll find at the bottom of the article (in case you want to cut to the chase).

“I have a habit of turning hobbies into careers,” says Fort Hamilton Whiskey creator, Alex Clark.

A Long and Winding Road

When Alex Clark arrived in NYC from South London in 1998 to work as a currency broker, he quickly discovered he hated his job. After sticking it out as long as he could he quit and went back to his main love of music, working as a professional DJ for many years.  Finding himself with a growing family, he decided to go back to bartending.  At the same time NYC was ground zero for the cocktail renaissance, a  trend that quickly spread throughout the rest of the country.  It was while bartending at this time that Alex fell in love with American rye whiskey, which is the basis of many classic cocktails.

As the popularity of classic cocktails have grown over the years so have the base ingredients (like rye whiskey).

Creating the Best Rye Whiskey American Has To Offer

Alex’s goal with Fort Hamilton Whiskey is to recreate a very traditional style of rye whiskey that matches what would have been around when “classic cocktails” (like Manhattans) were being invented.

His promise is to never produce or release anything he wouldn’t be happy paying for himself.  With 75% of their ingredients locally sourced from NY state, and single barrel aged for three years old, Fort Hamilton Whiskey Batch #4 is getting rave reviews.  Alex says it’s the best thing he’s ever released and is right in line with what would have been made 100 years ago.

Before prohibition rye was the biggest drink in America.

So What’s the Deal with Rye Whiskey Anyway?

As someone who personally loves a cocktail but doesn’t know much about the liquor that goes into them, let alone the differences between the varieties of liquors themselves, I was fascinated to learn from Alex how complex the differences are.

Whiskey can be made based on two different types of grains: corn or rye.  Alex explained it’s like the difference between corn bread and rye bread. Corn bread tastes a bit sweet, a touch like corn, it’s nice but simple. Rye bread without anything being done to it is really spicy, peppery, vegetal, almost has an herbal quality to it, all coming from the rye grain itself. There is a giant distinction between the two profiles, and the flavor distinction comes through in the distilling as well. Most bourbon tastes mainly of barrel, charcoal and notes of wood (American white oak) with vanilla, caramel and coffee notes. With rye you get those notes plus peppery vegetal notes from the grain itself so a much more nuanced whiskey. For that reason cocktails made with rye have an extra layer of complexity to their flavor, and people are rediscovering this as classic cocktails continue to grow in popularity.

Ft. Hamilton Parkway Subway stop in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn.

What Do a Fort, A Subway Stop, and a Rye Whiskey Have in Common?

Curious where the name came from? I was too!  Turns out Alex spent a lot of time thinking about what the name would be before he landed on Fort Hamilton. Because he kept his day job while distilling, he’d spend his subway commute to work brainstorming names. But at the end of the day he’d ride home and think the names he came up with were ridiculous.  One day the train entered his station, Ft. Hamilton Parkway, and he got to thinking about what Fort Hamilton is, and it turns out it’s a military base with an extensive history.

Fort Hamilton dates back to 1776, when a group of American fighters opened fire on a British convoy sent to suppress the American Revolution.  During the Civil War, Fort Hamilton allied with Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island to protect against the possibility of Confederate raiders.  Today, historic Fort Hamilton is the only active duty military installation in the greater New York City metropolitan area.

Alex is doing a slow build and slow roll out with Fort Hamilton Whiskey, making sure the whiskey is really tasty.

Biggest Challenge So Far?

Alex says he is facing two key challenges in his quest to make the best rye whiskey in America.  First, if you are making whiskey yourself (and not a lot of people are) it takes a long time before it tastes good.  That makes it very capital intensive, and a difficult business model to operate under. Because of that most people end up buying aged whiskey and blending it, not producing it themselves.

That leads to the second challenge, which is overcoming negative perception in the market place.  People often expect rye whiskey to be bad, based on what they’ve tasted in the past. 

To overcome this Alex’s strategy is to create multiple revenue streams with the launch of Fort Hamilton Distillery & Tasting Room in Industry City.  This will give him a platform to introduce people to Fort Hamilton Whiskey, as well as provide incoming business while new barrels of rye whiskey age.

“The truth is without those friendships and relationships I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.”

So You’re Thinking About Becoming an Entrepreneur?

Alex’s advice to you is to go slowly, tread carefully, and don’t give up your day job. And take the bus, too. Don’t be swarming around in taxis. Don’t spend money if you don’t have to. Alex doesn’t pay himself a salary, every dollar he makes goes back into the business.

Even more importantly, spend time building meaningful relationships and friendships.  Alex has always prided himself on being nice to people and building relationships and says you can be nice and succeed at the same time.

Fort Hamilton Distillery & Tasting Room is opening in Industry City this April.

Where to Find Alex and Fort Hamilton Whiskey

In addition to picking up a bottle of Fort Hamilton Whiskey at a local shop, in April you’ll be able to enjoy a full cocktail and food experience at their new Fort Hamilton Distillery & Tasting Room is based in Industry City, Brooklyn where they are distilling on site.  

Anyone who signs up for their newsletter (at the bottom of their website) will receive an invitation to their opening party.  Or sign up for Brooklyn to the Catskills newsletter by the end of March, 2020 and we will score an invite for you.

Fort Hamilton Distillery & Tasting Room

Industry City

68 34th Street
2nd Floor

If you are interested in distributing Fort Hamilton Whiskey you can reach out to Alex for more information.

Who knew a Patrick Henry quote was also an amazing cocktail?

LIBERTY OR DEATH (THE RECIPE)

Alex’s favorite cocktail recipe, shared exclusively with readers for Brooklyn to the Catskills!

Ingredients

2 oz Fort Hamilton Rye
1/2 oz Chai Syrup
3 Dashes Angostura Bitters
2 Dashes Cardamom Bitters
1 Large ice cube
Orange Twist

Directions

Stir all ingredients in ice filled stirring glass, strain into rocks glass, add large cube and garnish with Orange Twist.

Please tell us what you think. We really want to know!

Tell us what you think!

Please comment below if you try Fort Hamilton Whiskey or visit their new tasting room at Industry City and let us know how it goes!  Or if you want to open a business, what would it be?  Find all of Brooklyn to the Catskills‘ recommendations in the Life section of our site.  We’d love to hear what you think about our other content too!