Black Dirt Distillery sits in the heart of Orange County's Black Dirt region, a stretch of southern New York where unusually dark, mineral-rich glacial soil has been feeding farms for generations. That same soil grows the corn that goes into their flagship bourbon, and you can taste the difference. When you visit, you're not just stopping at a tasting counter on a winery property - you get bused out in an air-conditioned van to see the actual 4,000-square-foot distillery with its towering 60-foot column still, then brought back for pours of the finished products. The bourbon earned a Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and the Apple Jack - a minimum four-year-aged 100% apple brandy - revives a pre-Prohibition Hudson Valley tradition that most distilleries have forgotten. Black Dirt was the first micro-distillery to open in New York State after Prohibition, and the operation has grown from a side project at Warwick Valley Winery into a full production facility capable of putting out 50 barrels a week. The tasting room overlooks a goose pond and the surrounding orchards, and a cafe on-site serves fresh-baked bread and pizza on weekends. It's worth the drive from the city.