Author
Field Mag Studio
Photographer
James Barkman
Just as a cup of warm coffee is the ideal start to a day of adventure, a sip of whiskey is the perfect way to end one. This goes for car camping and day hikes the same as it does for mountain climbing, backcountry skiing, and backpacking. When packing for any and all of the above activities, our go-to for the good stuff of late is Stillhouse, maker of adventure-ready spirits in a rugged steel can that won’t break in your bag or compromise a campground.
Based in Tennessee (aka Whiskey Country, USA), the brand crafts a small line of spirits in various styles and flavors, including American whiskey, bourbon, and vodka. And unlike the glass bottles most other spirits come in, Stillhouse’s 750-milliliter, 100% stainless steel cans are shatterproof. That makes them ideal for cramming into a hiking pack's last remaining cranny or stashing in the hull of a canoe next to the cookstove, without worrying of rolling into camp with a soggy pile of shards. (Bonus: the steel cans chill extra fast when submerged in a frosty alpine lake or mountain stream.)
Environmental preservation and celebration is at the core of all we do—the tenants of Leave No Trace inform what stories we write, how we tag images on IG, and well, what whiskey we drink. Whether you adhere to a strict no-glass-in-nature approach, many of the national parks and public lands don't permit glass bottles, anyhow. (Also, the stainless steel container look kind of great with a few dents and scratches on them, so we're not even that miffed when a cross-campfire toss doesn't go as planned.)
Of course, none of this would matter if the stuff inside the can wasn't up to snuff; rest assured that it is. Stillhouse original whiskey uses USA-sourced, estate-grown corn, and is distilled the traditional way in a copper still before being charcoal filtered. The result is a 100% corn whiskey that's clean, mellow, and smooth.
Stillhouse offers its whiskey flavored with liqueurs made like Peach Tea, Spiced Cherry, and Apple Crisp, but if bourbon is more your thing, the company's got you covered, too. Stillhouse Black Bourbon Whiskey is made of a carefully considered blend of corn, rye, barley, and limestone water aged in charred American oak barrels and run through the same charcoal filtering distillery process before resting with roasted, small-batch coffee beans.
Not to forget all our gluten-free friends, Stillhouse also offers a classic vodka that comes in that same steel can (albeit in a different color). It's the outcome of the same combo of USA-grown corn and limestone water, but Stillhouse filters it through sugar maple charcoal to refine the flavor. Like your vodka chilled? That steel can gets frosty fast, whether you stash it in a cabin freezer, icy alpine lake, or campsite adjacent creek.
As proponents of approachable adventures, we want to reassure that you don't need to be summit a terrifying mountain to enjoy a nip after a long day—Stillhouse is fit for outdoor experiences close to home, too. Be it an overnight at your local state park, a campfire at the beach, even a day of hammock lounging in the backyard (or roof, for my fellow city dwellers).
Published 06-07-2022
