As if starting a business weren’t challenging enough, you have to give props to places that opened their doors during the height of the pandemic. Two distilleries did just that. Essex’s Black Flannel Brewing & Distilling opened in July 2020, and Village Garage Distillery was up and running by August 2021.
Both had the vision to transform vacant spaces into classy drinking and dining establishments, committed to sustainability, as they brewed, distilled, and bottled their way into the glasses—and hearts—of their local communities.
Cheers to these persistent and creative heroes!
“Our staples are dark spirits: bourbon, rye, and Bonfire (an aged whiskey blended with smoked maple syrup).” –Ryan Scheswohl, distiller
An architectural rendering of an old-fashioned? A cocktail list drafted in mechanical lettering, complete with materials, garnish, and mixing legends? From the first glance at the blueprintstyled menu, you sense you’re about to enjoy a high-craft, unique experience. In an industrial space that housed Bennington’s highway department for more than 60 years.
Village Garage Distillery opened in August 2021; the tasting room, known as the Service Center, offered its first meals in March 2022. The distillery produces small-batch craft whiskeys, bourbon, and vodka primarily made with grains from local farms. “We want to help Vermont become a whiskey destination, supporting the other distilleries who blazed the trail,” says founder Glen Sauer. “We also want people to hit their blinker and venture off the highway into downtown Bennington. It’s a beautiful walkable location with three breweries within 200 yards of our distillery, and lots of great shops and galleries. And for our local folks, we provide a place where they can take an hour-and-a-half vacation from the grind of daily life.”
Glen and his business partner, Matt Cushman, are perfect yin and yang. “I’m the dreamer and hands-on guy, and Matt’s the mathematician and business genius, thank God,” Glen laughs. Glen spent three years chasing a picture in his head. With the help of talented local friends, an energyefficient distillery arose within a former municipal garage, built in 1946. Glen, Matt, and Geoff Metcalfe of Keefe & Wesner Architects wanted to pay homage to the original structure while making the facility as sustainable as possible. The team stayed period-correct and created an industrialchic interior with elements dating to the 1940s.
No reproductions, all originals. When Glen, a metal fabricator by trade, wasn’t jackhammering out the concrete floor of the old garage and pouring a new one with radiant heat, creating the iron swing arms that support the barstools, or installing subtle underlighting in the bar, he was trolling the internet for vintage treasures that establish the pared-down aesthetics.
Lighting came from Old Crow Distillery in Kentucky and an Illinois granary. Vintage Toledo industrial sewing machine chairs from North Carolina and stools from a 1920s Philadelphia schoolhouse. Wall boards salvaged from a local barn; table tops made from 200-year-old beams. The rear axle of a 1946 Ford became legs for one table. The blue enamel letters above the bar? From a 1940s Esso Service Center in Virginia.
The cocktail menu drafted in architectural style reflects the team’s reverence for craft.
(left)Ryan Scheswohl, Distiller; (right)Cofounders Matt Cushman and Glen Sauer
Ryan Scheswohl serves as distiller, bringing years of experience from stints at Philadelphia Distilling, home of Bluecoat gin; FEW Spirits in Chicago; and several other distilleries to round out his skills. The Philly native packed up and moved to Vermont in March 2021 after a high-energy, six-hour interview with Glen and Matt. “Coming here allowed me to develop new ideas,” Ryan says. “Our staples are dark spirits: bourbon, rye, and Bonfire (an aged whiskey blended with smoked maple syrup). But this place is an amazing testing ground, and I have an arsenal of recipes that I’m using to create small-batch releases each quarter. Our first one comes out this fall, and it has wintertime written all over it.”
Ryan crafts his own house liqueurs and this winter will introduce his rendition of Campari, crème de violette, absinthe, and green Chartreuse. “My goal is to not see any spirit or liqueur in the bar from an outside company. It will take some time to build this program, but I’m fully committed.”
Like any good distiller, he thinks years ahead. “I have a 100 percent single malt smoked whiskey and an American single malt aging in oak barrels right now. I want to collaborate with other producers in Vermont—wineries, meaderies, brewers—and swap barrels I can use for finishing casks. Each cask will lend unique characteristics and give a true Vermont feel to the spirits. That’s what Vermont life is about: be friends with everyone and collaborate with peers. One big group hug.”
Jonathan Studley, a world-class chef with more than 45 years of experience across the United States and around Europe, joined the team in early winter 2022. The timing was perfect. “I was living in Lake George running my own hospitality business when the pandemic hit, so I wrapped that up and took a year off. I went absolutely stir crazy and started to look for a place where I could happily finish my professional culinary career. When I heard about this distillery in Bennington looking to start a restaurant program, I took a drive over and met with Glen and Matt. I could see their attention to detail and commitment to craft, so I jumped in.”
Chef Jonathan works with local growers and producers to source as many seasonal ingredients as he can. He shops the weekly farmers’ market and picks up cheese from Maplebrook Farm in North Bennington. Caroline’s Scottish Bakery, a few blocks away, creates specialty desserts including a trio of Bonfire Balls, a hybrid truffle-brownie infused with Village Garage spirits.
(left)Chef Jonathan Studley; (right)Every detail within the space is authentic and period-correct, creating a unique industrial-chic aesthetic.
“We are a distillery that offers delicious food to complement the spirits,” Jonathan confirms. “We could bourbon our menu to death but that would be hokey. So I incorporate our product when it makes sense.” Examples include bourbon-planked roast salmon, house-cured salmon made with vodka, Bonfire barbecue sauce, and smoky bourbon aioli. “I want people to realize they can use our spirits for culinary purposes and not just limit them to cocktails.”
As with the distillery, nothing is rushed in Chef Jonathan’s kitchen. “Our short ribs are a two-day process; we cure, smoke, then braise them till they melt off the bone. That’s the ultimate comfort food, along with the bourbon mac and pork belly bites. In terms of farm to table, our smash burgers are a direct result of our relationship with Ghost Light Farm just across the border in Cambridge, New York. We send our spent grains from the distilling process to feed their select cattle, and the beef comes back to our restaurant. And the burgers are served on a spent grain bun.”
Talk about farm to glass to farm to table.
“Everybody who’s here loves this place” the chef observes, “and it shows in the quality of their work. We’re a team of craftspeople committed to our trades.” The end results are beautiful. And delicious.
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