The Farmhand: News from Sanborn Mills Farm

When Greg Meeh, distiller at Cold Garden Spirits in Canterbury, N.H., heard he could procure some stone-ground grains from Sanborn Mills Farm to distill into whiskey, he jumped at the chance. This was an opportunity to make a truly unique liquor: whiskey made from grains ground in the Farm’s historic 1830 water-powered grist mill. 

“What I’m trying to do at Cold Garden is not just distill spirits, but to use locally grown grains and fruits to help support local farms and orchardists,” he says. His daughter Lillis, helping Greg in the distillery, says that she and her father were also attracted to the fact that Sanborn Mills Farm’s grains are harvested with oxen. “In fact, we took the spent mash from the stone-ground grain back up to Sanborn to feed the oxen, which makes a really nice circle for the whole project.”

Stone-ground grains at Sanborn Mills Farm are the result of animal and water power — traditional energies that have been used for stone-grinding for hundreds of years. Grains can be stone-ground in a variety of ways, but the Farm is one of the only providers in the U.S. of locally  grown grains planted, cultivated, and harvested with animal power and then ground with water power.  

Cold Garden, which has been in business for four and a half years, also grows its own fruits, including heirloom apples, quince, pears, grapes, and even kiwi, much of which goes into the distillery’s Eau de Vie, a clear brandy. The Meehs also distill corn whiskey, bourbon, maple-flavored bourbon (Greg’s brother Tim is the syrup supplier, from his sugaring operation at neighboring North Family Farm), and pommeau, an apple liquor that originated in the Normandy region of France. Cold Garden also produces hand sanitizer. 

Greg first became interested in spirits when he was traveling throughout Europe as a lighting and special-effects designer for dance companies. “Every region has its own local spirit, which is tied to the identity of the local villages. The apple brandy called Calvados is a well-known example from Normandy, but there are these kinds of local spirits all over Europe.” He learned the craft of distilling with the help of Huber Germain-Robin, who comes from a family with a centuries-long history of distilling in Cognac, France. 

Greg distilled his first experimental batch from the Farm’s stone-ground grains earlier this year, using 500 pounds of corn, 150 pounds of rye, and 150 pounds of wheat. Next year he will use stoneground oats from the Farm as well. The plan is to bottle and market the products Cold Garden distills from these grains in a special “Stone-Ground Series.” 

He still lives in the house he grew up in, a sturdy brick home built by Shakers in the early 19th century, located just up the road from Canterbury Shaker Village. The barn on the property — Cold Garden’s distilling equipment and cooperage are in the basement — dates back to 1891, and was moved, by a team of oxen, from New Hampton, N.H., to the Meeh’s  property in 1996. “I had thought of Cold Garden as kind of a retirement project, but it’s become pretty much full-time,” Greg laughs as Lillis smiles and nods in agreement. “But it’s very satisfying. I like that what we do is add value to what our local farms produce.”