We like to introduce you to people and places in the Bay doing interesting “drink”-related things. While there’s no shortage of great subjects in our little enclave, it’s a big world out there and we’d be doing you an injustice if we didn’t highlight the interesting products we find along the way. So this month we cross the bridge (Washington, Braga or Mt. Hope as the case may be) and head out all the way to... Boston.
Bully Boy Distillers is an award-winning, Boston-based craft distillery that produces small batch rum, whiskey and vodka. Will and Dave Willis – owners, operators and brothers – opened Bully Boy just over three years ago, an urban manifestation of country roots. Dave explains the company’s origins: “My brother and I grew up on a fourth-generation working family farm in Sherborn, MA. The farm had over 100 apple trees, so we grew up making cider, then hard cider, then apple brandy. For ten years we were just hobbyist home distillers. We went on to do other things (professionally) but we eventually decided that we wanted to distill full time.”
Turning a hobby into a business can be a leap, so the brothers honed their distilling skills in the Ozarks and Chicago so they “could adapt two-gallon experience to 150-gallon production.” By January 2010, Bully Boy was open for business – Boston’s first distillery in over two decades. “Boston has a ton of craft breweries, but there hadn’t been any distilleries there since the 1980s when Old Mr. Boston left. We saw an opportunity,” Dave noted.
Bully Boy makes five products, easiest to think about in two groups. The first group is the unaged (clear) spirits – White Rum, White Whiskey and Vodka. The White Rum is made with blackstrap molasses and won a Gold Medal at the 2012 International Review of Spirits with a 91-point (exceptional) rating. The White Whiskey and Vodka are both wheat-based, USDA-certified organic spirits that scored even higher during the 2011 edition of the same competition. The second group is the barrel-aged (dark) spirits – Boston Rum and American Straight Whiskey. The American Straight Whiskey was just released in November, after aging for two years; primary ingredients include malted barley, corn (for sweetness) and rye (for spice). The Boston Rum is currently aging in wine casks and will be released in April.
Working in such close quarters with a sibling sounds potentially hazardous, but Dave says they’ve become a finely tuned machine: “Working with my brother is great. You hear horror stories, but we’re a tight family and we worked together growing up... We once started a landscaping business and then some other crazy ventures, so this was just an extension of that. We’ve never had any blowups. The tough part was in the beginning, figuring out who was going to do what, but we eventually figured out our strengths. I’m more of a detail guy whereas my brother is a 10,000 feet in the air guy.”
Family ties run even deeper within Bully Boy. Many ingredients are sourced from the family farm in Sherborn, and the name “Bully Boy” is a nod to their great-grandfather. “There was an old draft horse on the farm in the 1920s that belonged to our great- grandfather. Our grandfather was a fan of Teddy Roosevelt and the expression ‘Bully for you,’ so he named the horse Bully Boy.”
As mentioned earlier, this is the Bay and we like to keep it local, so we wouldn’t tease you with a story of great products without making sure you can get them locally. Bully Boy’s spirits can be found at nearby restaurants and package stores, and your best bet is to check their website to find the outlet nearest you. Dave sums it up best: “Not all small batch stuff is better, but we’re experienced and passionate and when you’re passionate the product tends to be superior. I taste every gallon that comes off the still and I wouldn’t let it out the door if I wouldn’t buy it myself.” There’s certainly no bull in that.
Try Bully Boy from these purveyors: Cliff’s Liquors (191 Willett Ave., Riverside), CV Variety (550 Russell Mills Rd., South Dartmouth), Cardoza’s Wine and Spirits (154 Faunce Corner Rd., North Dartmouth), Yankee Spirits (207 Swansea Mall Dr., Swansea), The Grapevine (289 Winthrop St., Rehoboth), Indian Springs Liquors (3055 County St., Somerset).
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