Number of New York farm distilleries nearly doubles in two years, Cuomo says

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Tuesday, the second anniversary of the Craft New York Act, that the number of farm distilleries has nearly doubled since the law was implemented. 

The state now has 107 farm distilleries, with 50 new businesses opening over the last two years. 

The law provided “significant benefits” to farm distillers, including reducing regulations, the governor said.

The Craft New York Act allows New York farm distilleries to:

• conduct tastings and serve “by the bottle” and “by the glass;”
• increase the retail outlets where they can sell and offer samples of their products;
• lower the food requirement that must be met by manufacturers when offering tastings and consumption on premises;
• open offsite branch stores, eliminating the need for a separate license; and
• increase production by raising the annual manufacturing cap while maintaining low-cost licensing fees.

The new farm distilleries started in New York in the last two years include Last Shot Distillery in Skaneateles, Madison County Distillery in Cazenovia, and Cortland Distilling Company in Cortland.

A full list of the new farm distilleries established in New York since December 2014 is available here. 

Overall, the number of farm-based distillery businesses in the Empire State has increased 10-fold since 2011, from 10 to 107.

The number of farm-based, alcohol-beverage manufacturers jumped by 188 percent in the past five years, bringing the total number of wineries, breweries, distilleries, and cideries using New York–grown ingredients to 591, per the governor’s office.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com