Boston Magazine
June, 2006

excerpt from
Spirit of New England
By Anthony Giglio

...Duncan Holaday, a former anthropologist in Barnet, Vermont, looked out over his maple tree farm and had a similar epiphany. He now makes three vodkas under the Vermont Spirits label, two from 100 percent maple sap and another from milk sugar - the end product of a highly unusual process in which he ferments the sugar from cows' milk and distills it into alcohol. (The product was inspired by a traditional Tuvan milk vodka Holaday saw in the 1999 film Genghis Blues.) Vermont Spirits' Gold vodka (about $40), and the even higher-end Vintage Gold, which is distilled from early-run sap (around $70), posesses the slightest hint of maple on the nose as well as on the palate and are rich and luscious to taste. "There is no other vodka like Gold," says Duncan, who keeps production down to a minimal 1000 cases a year. "It is the 'single malt' of vodka, a pure expression of the valley where it's made." I agree. It has what industry-geeks would call great "mouth feel" and is the perfect example of terroir.