A new career comes out of being stranded on an island
Pat Downing first found whiskey in an unexpected place.
Stranded in the Cayman Islands after a category 5 hurricane, Downing was living under a curfew and eating at restaurants serving anyone who didn’t have power. Whiskey was one of the only available drink options, and he took to it.
“In the Caribbean, of all places,” says Downing, laughing.
The experience sparked an interest that was more than passing. And so in 2018, business plan in hand, Downing and his wife, Beth, began the regulatory process of applying to open their own distillery in Massachusetts.
To increase his knowledge, Downing enrolled in Moonshine University, a real place in Kentucky that teaches the technical and operations aspects of distilling. The Downings bought and renovated a building in Franklin and opened GlenPharmer Distillery in 2020.
A glen is a valley, bounded by gently sloped sides and typical of places like Scotland, known for its whiskey. There’s a glen running through the GlenPharmer distillery property, which used to be a mill. The Downings named their distillery for this natural feature, as well as their careers owning and operating several pharmacies.
After a pandemic delay, GlenPharmer is now a fully operational distillery and restaurant, serving lunch and dinner options ranging from fried pickles to duck confit, as well as cocktails made exclusively with GlenPharmer products. The latter is a licensing distinction — the distillery can’t sell any other liquor — but one that allows the distillery to be creative with its spirits options.
Mainstays in terms of products include what Downing calls the three B’s: Bog, Bhut, and Bean. The former is a cranberry infused vodka, more tart than a typical, mixed cranberry juice and vodka and a good mixer with seltzer or soda.
“We use fresh cranberries from farms in Carver,” says Downing. “The red color is just the cranberries. One of the things that we think works well is because we’re using our wheat, which tends to be sweeter than corn vodka, it creates a balance that is really enjoyable.”
Bhut is vodka infused with ghost pepper, which Downing says provides plenty of heat but also fruity notes from the peppers. It also happens to be the distillery’s most-awarded spirit.
“It’s not for everyone, but for what it is it’s perfect,” says Downing.
Bean is vodka infused with espresso and Madagascar vanilla, and is an alternative to a nice espresso martini. Some drinkers, Downing says, prefer it to the cocktail and drink it on the rocks.
Whiskey has always been the ultimate goal, and GlenPharmer has released two so far: a bourbon and a rye, both of which Downing says have “good structure,” but that he also admits would benefit from aging. As for a single malt whiskey, Downing would like to hold out between six and 10 years to release one, which gives Boston-area whiskey lovers something to look forward to.