Dear Friend of FLD:

We hope you have all had a chance to relax and enjoy the Summer a bit...maybe even with a Seneca Drums Gin & Tonic at the lake or beach! This time of year is always a little bitter-sweet for us, as we begin to lose some of our seasonal staff as they head back to school. We had a great part time crew this year in our tasting room and continue to add some full time people to our staff, as well. Last month, we hired Katie Budd, a recent graduate of Elmira College, as our Marketing Coordinator. Katie will be helping with all of our marketing efforts, including many upcoming events that we are excited to tell you about.

We received some big accolades for some of our products recently. Most notably, our McKenzie Bourbon was named Best NYS Spirit at the New York Food & Wine Classic. This is the fourth time we have won the award for one of our spirits (Seneca Drums Gin in 2010 and 2012, and McKenzie Rye in 2013). The competition is hosted by the NY Wine & Grape Foundation and we are honored to receive this award. We also just learned that our Cherry Liqueur received a Double Gold and was named "Best Distilled Fruit" at the first annual "Drink Outside the Grape" competition.

If you're looking for some fun things to do over the next few months, stay in tune with what is going on at FLD through our social media channels.  This Friday, we are hosting " Back to the Classics" which will include two bands, a classic car drive-in, and lots of good food. Oh - and cocktails, of course!

Also on the horizon - the Second Annual Summer on Ice at Standing Stone Vineyards ( August 28), a Burlesque Show at FLD ( Sept 16), a Spirits Dinner at Dano's Heuriger on Seneca ( September 17).

We continue to offer our regular Saturday morning tours at 11 am. Tours last a little more than an hour and are generally conducted by yours truly, my dad, Bill, or our head distiller, Jared Baker.

Hope to see you soon,