Maple syrup | Campfire smoke | Sweet

Graham cracker | Maple sugar candy | Brown sugar | Thick, sticky mouthfeel | Sickly sweet

Allspice | Maple syrup | Touch of leather | Very sweet

Opened in August 2021, Village Garage Distillery is based out of Bennington, Vermont in a former garage for Bennington’s highway department which was aptly nicknamed “the Village Garage.” Currently the distillery is barreling the first batches of in-house made bourbon which is expected to be released during the Summer of 2023. In the meantime, the company sources their bourbon from a fellow Vermont distillery to Village Garage’s specifications that uses locally sourced Vermont corn and rye.

Village Bonfire is a combination of whiskey blended with local vermont smoked maple syrup, and it’s not clear what kind of whiskey is used in the blend. The result is an exceptionally sweet drink, with maple syrup at the forefront that’s complemented by smoke throughout and with little impact - neither good nor bad - from the base whiskey which seems to serve more as a conduit for the smoked maple syrup. It has a thick mouthfeel, which is likely attributed to the direct addition of maple syrup into the whiskey. This makes for an unusual experience neat, and instead I think this was meant for someone who enjoys exceptionally sweet maple syrup flavor to sip on the rocks, or as a base for a cocktail. It’s a nice alternative for those looking for a craft version of something akin to Knob Creek’s Smoked Maple.