Jordan Milne, Hardshore Distilling — PHOTO / TIM GREENWAY
Situated on the busy Washington Avenue corridor in Portland is the home of Hardshore Distilling, the maker of gin, whiskey and now vodka.
Hardshore, founded in 2014 at 53 Washington Ave. in Portland, has built its brand around a “grain to glass” approach, sourcing wheat from the founder’s family farm in upstate New York and processing it in-house. The person behind Hardshore is Jordan Milne.
Hardshore produces all of its spirits from scratch, a process that begins with milling wheat into flour. The grain is then mixed with hot water in a mash tank, where the starches are broken down into fermentable sugars.
The spirits are made from wheat, which results in a cleaner, smoother spirit, Milne said.
Once cooled, yeast is added, launching a fermentation process that lasts about three days and produces a liquid with roughly 12% alcohol by volume.
The liquid is distilled multiple times, including once through a 22-foot column, and then refined into a high-proof neutral spirit exceeding 95% alcohol. That final spirit serves as the foundation for both the vodka and gin.
For vodka, the process largely ends there, with the spirit proofed down and bottled. For the gin, an additional step defines the product. Botanicals, including rosemary and mint, are steeped in the neutral spirit before a final distillation, during which temperature and collection are carefully controlled to highlight the flavors.
From grain to bottle, the process takes about 11 days.
“If we purchased our base spirit from a larger, industrial distillery, we could cut that time down to about three days,” said Milne. “But we won’t do that. Making it from scratch is in our DNA.”
Hardshore employs five full-time workers and expands to about 10 in summer.
Hardshore products are distributed across Maine through a mix of retailers, including Bow Street, RSVP, Old Port Spirits, Rooper’s, KPort Provisions, Stompers, J.D.’s Package Store, Oak Hill Beverage, DiPietro’s, Damon’s, Mainely Provisions, Hilltop Suprette, Patman’s, the Goodlife Market, Hannaford, Shaw’s and Market Basket.
Portland restaurants that serve the products include Sonny’s, Fore Street, Eventide, Terlingua and DiMillo’s. The company also operates a tasting room.
With the launch of its new vodka, Hardshore has partnered with the Sebago Clean Waters initiative, with a portion of each sale supporting efforts to protect Maine’s water sources, a key ingredient in the distilling process.
Hardshore Original Gin retails for $34.99 for a 750-ml bottle and $64.99 for a 1.75-liter bottle. The North Oak Barrel Rested Gin is priced at $37.99. The distillery’s Shorebird bourbon ranges from $59.99 for the small batch to $79.99 for the single barrel and $99.99 for the master distillers. The Star & Pine Maine Vodka is $17.99 for a 750-ml bottle.
