Thanks to Altar Spirits co-founders Caley Shoemaker and Jeff Gust, we have a stunning new distillery, cocktail bar and tasting room to gather at in the Railyard. Opened late last year and designed to bring people in to see their spirits in the making, taste what they’re doing and spend some time with them so they could really connect with their community, they’ve certainly achieved what they set out to create.
As master distiller, not only does Caley oversee every detail of distillation for their flagship vodka, but their lineup also includes a gin that features 3 NM botanicals, juniper, piñon and sage. And with their 1st line of beautiful barrels filled, we can look forward to a well thought out whiskey down the road. Caley also intentionally chose a mid-sized vs. small space, as she loves collaborating with other brands and the space allows her to share her expertise and their facility by partnering with other brands to do some small-scale contract manufacturing.
And they’re just getting started! How amazing does an Altar Spirits wine club-style program sound? Well, down the line we may just get the chance to experience something along the lines of a quarterly cocktail shipment that lucky locals like you and I can pick up and Santa Fe visitors can sign up to be members to get all that Altar Spirits goodness shipped to them. They also anticipate distributing to the Southwest as well as some other larger markets in the next 2 to 3 years. And since whiskey is one of my loves (even though it doesn’t always love me back), I’m as excited as they are to see their whiskey program grow over time.
After more than 10 years building a national brand and taking 2 years to plan Altar Spirits, I’m beyond thrilled to have Caley share her and her husband Jeff’s story with us and give us and insider’s look within their impeccably designed space. So, arrive between 6:30 and 7 PM to grab a cocktail or mocktail and get to schmoozing before we settle down at the Altar for Story Time at 7 PM. Psyched to see you there!
In the meantime, you can follow their story on Instagram and learn a lot more thanks to an interview with Caley done by Vine Pair in April 2022: Altar Spirits Founder Caley Shoemaker Draws on Corporate Experience at a Startup Craft Distillery