Vermilion Still Co.

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Harvest Series No. 3 (Bloody Butcher corn) releases Saturday, November 14 at 9 am. Two bottles per person.

Vermilion Still Co.Streator, ILBook a tour

Streator, IL · Tours Fri–Sun

Vermilion Still Co.Grain-to-glass bourbon and rye from Streator, Illinois

We mill, mash, ferment, distill, barrel and bottle every drop on the south bank of the Vermilion River, from corn, rye and wheat grown within forty miles of the still.

Book a tasting or tour See the lineup
Tasting room

Closed. Opens tomorrow at 4 pm.

Bottle shop

Open until 7 pm.

A hammered copper pot still with a swan neck, lit by daylight from the tasting-room window
Lineup
bottles
On our shelf
today
Shops & bars
in 4 towns

The lineup

Eight bottles, all distilled here. Proof, age, batch and mash bill are printed on every label, because you should know what you're buying.

Spirit
Status

Showing 8 of 8

  1. At the distillery

    The flagship

    Mill Race Straight Bourbon

    Straight Bourbon

    Proof
    Age
    Batch
    Price
    $44
    Mash bill
    • Corn 70%
    • Rye 21%
    • Malted barley 9%
    Nose
    Toasted corn, orange peel, a little cedar.
    Palate
    Caramel corn and baking spice, soft through the middle.
    Finish
    Medium. Black pepper and dry oak.
    • Gold · Great Lakes Craft Spirits Judging 2026
    Reserve for pickup
  2. At the distillery

    Rye forward

    Towpath Straight Rye

    Straight Rye

    Proof
    Age
    Batch
    Price
    $48
    Mash bill
    • Rye 75%
    • Corn 15%
    • Malted rye 10%
    Nose
    Dill, rye-bread crust, clove.
    Palate
    Pumpernickel, mint and dark honey.
    Finish
    Long and dry, with a peppery snap.
    • Silver · Great Lakes Craft Spirits Judging 2026
    Reserve for pickup
  3. Allocated

    Distilled fall 2021

    Kiln House Bottled-in-Bond

    Bottled-in-Bond

    Proof
    Age
    Batch
    Price
    $58
    Mash bill
    • Corn 70%
    • Rye 21%
    • Malted barley 9%
    Nose
    Brown sugar, dried apricot, pencil shavings.
    Palate
    Thick and oily; toffee, cinnamon and a squeeze of orange.
    Finish
    Long, with cocoa and tobacco leaf.
    • Double Gold · Midwest Spirits Competition 2025
    Reserve for pickup

    Two per person, while it lasts.

  4. Allocated

    Cask strength

    Vermilion Single Barrel

    Single Barrel Bourbon

    Proof
    Age
    Barrel
    Price
    $85
    Mash bill
    • Corn 70%
    • Rye 21%
    • Malted barley 9%
    Nose
    Cherry cola, charred oak, vanilla bean.
    Palate
    Big and hot at first, then dark caramel and clove. A few drops of water open it right up.
    Finish
    Very long. Leather and espresso.
    Reserve for pickup

    Two per person, while it lasts.

  5. Sold out

    Wheated

    Soft Red Wheated Bourbon

    Wheated Bourbon

    Proof
    Age
    Batch
    Price
    $52
    Mash bill
    • Corn 68%
    • Soft red winter wheat 22%
    • Malted barley 10%
    Nose
    Warm bread, honey, stone fruit.
    Palate
    Round and gentle: vanilla custard, peach, a little nutmeg.
    Finish
    Short and sweet.
    • Best in Class · Prairie State Distillers Awards 2025

    Gone from our shelf.Find it at a shop

  6. Coming soon

    Heirloom corn

    Harvest Series No. 3: Bloody Butcher

    Straight Bourbon

    Proof
    Age
    Batch
    Price
    $65
    Mash bill
    • Bloody Butcher corn 75%
    • Rye 15%
    • Malted barley 10%
    Nose
    Roasted corn, raspberry jam, cracked pepper.
    Palate
    Nutty and savoury, with red fruit and brown butter.
    Finish
    Warm and drying, like the end of a corn roast.

    Releases Sat, Nov 14Get the drop alert

  7. At the distillery

    Rested in our bourbon barrels

    Canal Street Barrel-Rested Gin

    Barrel-Rested Gin

    Proof
    Age
    Rested 3 months
    Batch
    Price
    $36
    Mash bill
    • Corn 100%
    Nose
    Juniper, lemon peel, coriander seed.
    Palate
    Piney and bright, rounded off with vanilla from the barrel.
    Finish
    Clean, with a little cardamom.
    Reserve for pickup
  8. At the distillery

    Straight off the still

    River Dog White Whiskey

    Unaged Whiskey

    Proof
    Age
    Unaged
    Batch
    Price
    $30
    Mash bill
    • Corn 80%
    • Rye 10%
    • Malted barley 10%
    Nose
    Sweet corn, pear, wet stone.
    Palate
    Clean grain and white pepper; tastes like the mash smells.
    Finish
    Short and bright.
    Reserve for pickup

Illinois law doesn't let a distillery ship to your door, so we don't. Reserve online, pay at pickup in the bottle shop, and bring an ID that matches the name on the order. We hold reservations for seven days.

Tastings & tours

Tours run Friday to Sunday and start at the tasting-room bar. Book ahead on Tock; walk-ins are welcome at the bar but tours fill.

  1. Grain-to-Glass Tour

    Time
    1 hr 15 min
    Per guest
    $25
    Group
    Up to 14

    Walk the mill room, the still house and the rickhouse with one of our distillers, then taste four pours at the bar.

    • Four pours from the lineup
    • A Glencairn glass to keep
    Fri1 pm · 3 pm · 5 pm
    Sat11 am · 1 pm · 3 pm · 5 pm
    Sunnoon · 2 pm
    Book on Tock

  2. Rickhouse Tasting

    Time
    45 min
    Per guest
    $18
    Group
    Up to 10
    Ages
    21+

    Five pours at the thief's table among the barrels, including one pulled straight from the cask while you watch.

    • Five pours, one at barrel proof
    • Seated, about 45 minutes
    Fri2:30 pm · 4:30 pm
    Sat12:30 pm · 2:30 pm · 4:30 pm
    Sun12:30 pm · 3 pm
    Book on Tock

  3. The Blender's Bench

    Time
    2 hr
    Per guest
    $95
    Group
    Up to 8
    Ages
    21+

    Two hours with Nora and three barrels. Blend, taste, argue, and leave with a 375 ml bottle of your own recipe, hand-labelled with your batch number.

    • Your own 375 ml blend
    • Lunch from the Tile Works Tavern
    Sat10:30 am
    Book on Tock

The rickhouse isn't heated, so bring a layer from November to March. Guests under 21 are welcome on the Grain-to-Glass Tour and tour free; they don't taste.

Hours

Tasting room

Closed. Opens tomorrow at 4 pm.

MondayClosed
TuesdayClosed
WednesdayClosed
Thursday4 pm – 9 pm
Friday2 pm – 10 pm
Saturdaynoon – 10 pm
Sundaynoon – 6 pm

Bottle shop

Open until 7 pm.

MondayClosed
TuesdayClosed
Wednesdaynoon – 7 pm
Thursdaynoon – 9 pm
Fridaynoon – 10 pm
Saturday11 am – 10 pm
Sundaynoon – 6 pm

Tours

Closed. Opens Friday at 1 pm.

MondayClosed
TuesdayClosed
WednesdayClosed
ThursdayClosed
Friday1 pm – 6:30 pm
Saturday10:30 am – 6:30 pm
Sundaynoon – 4 pm
  • Nov 14Harvest Series No. 3 release: doors at 9 am
  • Nov 26Thanksgiving
  • Dec 24Christmas Eve
  • Dec 25Christmas Day

From grain to glass

Eight steps, all under one roof, most of them slower than they need to be.

  1. Grain

    3 farms · within 40 miles

    Rows of green corn running to the horizon under a summer sky

    Yellow dent corn from the Szymanski farm in Grand Ridge, rye from the same fields in rotation, soft red wheat from Dana.

  2. Mill

    Hammer mill · 1,200 lb a day

    Malted barley spread across a long whitewashed malting floor

    We mill the morning we cook, so the grain hasn't gone stale by the time it meets the water. Malted barley comes from a floor maltings.

  3. Mash

    Cooked at 190 °F · sour mash

    Corn first, then rye, then the malt as it cools. A share of the last batch's spent mash goes in to keep things consistent.

  4. Ferment

    5 days · open-top cypress

    Long and cool. The tanks bubble like a pot of oatmeal and the whole building smells of rye bread by day three.

  5. Distill

    Copper pot + 4-plate column · off at 125 proof

    The copper pot still beside the tasting-room window

    Nora makes every cut by nose and by taste. Heads go back into the next run; tails too, after a rest.

  6. Barrel

    New charred oak · #3 char · entry 110 proof

    Two weathered oak barrels in the sun

    Full-size 53-gallon barrels from a cooperage in Missouri. Entering at 110 proof, lower than most, costs us volume and gives us a rounder whiskey.

  7. Rest

    Rickhouse on the river · 4+ summers

    Barrels standing on end on a plank floor beside a tall green-framed window

    No heat, no air conditioning. Illinois summers push the whiskey into the wood and Illinois winters pull it back out.

  8. Bottle

    By hand · every batch numbered

    Proofed with river-valley well water, bottled on a four-head filler and labelled by whoever's on shift. The batch number is on every bottle.

Forty miles of grain

Streator made glass, brick and tile for a hundred years, and the kiln house we work in fired drain tile until 1979. We moved in with one secondhand pot still in 2017 and a rule we haven't broken since: every grain comes from a farm you could drive to before your coffee gets cold.

Walt Szymanski grows our corn in Grand Ridge and planted the rye because Nora Brandt, our head distiller, asked him to. The wheat comes from the Kaminski place outside Dana. We cook it the morning it's milled, ferment it for five days in open cypress, and run it through copper slowly, because slow is where the flavour is.

Nothing leaves before four summers in the rickhouse unless the label says so. That's why there's never enough of the good stuff, and why we'd rather you came to get it.

Two weathered oak barrels with rusted hoops standing in the sun on the loading apron

Where to buy

Our bottles are on shelves and back bars from the river valley to Logan Square. Call ahead for allocated releases; they go fast.

StreatorIL02

ChicagoIL03

LaSalleIL01

OttawaIL03

Mix it at home

Recipes from our bar, measured the way we build them. Switch the batch size for a crowd.

Mix for
  1. Bourbon pouring into a cut-crystal rocks glass over ice

    Mill Race Old Fashioned

    With Mill Race Straight Bourbon

    The way we pour it at the bar: rich syrup, two bitters, and a big cube so it stays cold without going thin.

    Glass
    Double rocks
    Ice
    One large cube
    Garnish
    Orange swath

    Build One drink

    • 2 ozMill Race Straight Bourbon
    • 1 barspoonDemerara syrup (2:1)
    • 2 dashesAngostura bitters
    • 1 dashOrange bitters

    Method

    1. Stir everything with ice for 30 seconds.
    2. Strain over one large cube.
    3. Express the orange swath over the top and drop it in.
  2. A red stirred cocktail over ice with an orange slice

    Towpath Boulevardier

    With Towpath Straight Rye

    Rye instead of bourbon, and a touch more of it. The dill and pepper in the Towpath stand up to the Campari.

    Glass
    Rocks
    Ice
    Large cube
    Garnish
    Orange twist

    Build One drink

    • 1¼ ozTowpath Straight Rye
    • 1 ozCampari
    • 1 ozSweet vermouth

    Method

    1. Stir with ice until the glass frosts, about 25 seconds.
    2. Strain over a large cube.
    3. Twist the orange over the drink and discard or keep, your call.
  3. A pale highball with mint and a lemon wheel on a sunny table

    River Dog Highball

    With River Dog White Whiskey

    White whiskey tastes like the grain it came from. Lemon and honey make it a porch drink.

    Glass
    Collins
    Ice
    Cracked, to the top
    Garnish
    Mint sprig and a lemon wheel

    Build One drink

    • 1½ ozRiver Dog White Whiskey
    • ½ ozFresh lemon juice
    • ½ ozHoney syrup (1:1)
    • Soda water, to top

    Method

    1. Build the whiskey, lemon and honey in the glass.
    2. Fill with cracked ice and top with soda.
    3. Lift once with a barspoon, then garnish.
  4. An amber spritz in a wine glass with a lemon wheel and a straw

    Canal Street Spritz

    With Canal Street Barrel-Rested Gin

    Barrel-rested gin, a bittersweet aperitif and dry bubbles. What we drink on the loading dock after bottling day.

    Glass
    Wine glass
    Ice
    Cubes
    Garnish
    Lemon wheel

    Build One drink

    • 1 ozCanal Street Barrel-Rested Gin
    • ¾ ozCocchi Americano
    • ¼ ozFresh lemon juice
    • 3 ozDry sparkling wine

    Method

    1. Add gin, Cocchi and lemon to a wine glass with ice.
    2. Top with sparkling wine.
    3. Stir once, gently, and add the lemon wheel.

Awards & press

YearMedalCompetitionFor
2026GoldGreat Lakes Craft Spirits JudgingMill Race Straight Bourbon
2026SilverGreat Lakes Craft Spirits JudgingTowpath Straight Rye
2025Double GoldMidwest Spirits CompetitionKiln House Bottled-in-Bond
2025Best in ClassPrairie State Distillers Awards · Wheated bourbonSoft Red Wheated Bourbon
2024Distillery of the YearPrairie State Distillers AwardsThe distillery

  • The rye tastes like the bread from a very good bakery, and the finish won't quit.

    Dram Quarterly, Tess Whitaker · Fall 2026

  • The best reason to drive down Route 23 since the glass works closed.

    The Illinois Valley Ledger · March 2026

  • A tour where the distiller actually answers your question about cut points, then pours you the answer.

    Prairie Table, Dev Mehta · June 2025

Releases & the calendar

The Rickhouse List

Two emails a year about new bottles, and one text the morning a release drops. That's it.

  • First reservations on allocated and single-barrel releases
  • An invitation to the members' barrel pick every April
  • 10% off tours and the Blender's Bench

Join the listOr text DROPS to (815) 555-0142

On the calendar

  • Saturday, October 17, noon

    Barrel Thief Saturday

    Nora pulls samples from three barrels that aren't ready yet (and one that is). Free with any tasting.

  • Saturday, November 14, 9 am

    Harvest Series No. 3 release

    Bloody Butcher corn bourbon. Doors at 9, two bottles per person, coffee and kolaczki while you wait.

  • Saturday, November 21, 6 pm

    Rye & Pie

    Three pies from Park Street Pie Co., three pours of rye. $30 at the door.

  • Saturday, December 12, 3 pm

    Old Fashioned class

    Make three versions, keep the bitters. $40, twelve seats.

  • Saturday, December 19, 11 am

    Holiday bottle engraving

    Free hand engraving on any bottle bought that weekend. Saturday and Sunday.

  • Barrels standing on end beside a tall green-framed window
  • Corn rows running to the horizon
  • The copper pot still in the front window
  • Heads of wheat against a pale sky
  • A malting floor with a trail raked through the barley
  • Two weathered barrels with rusted hoops

Visit

Vermilion Still Co.217 Mill Race Road
Streator, IL 61364

In the old brick-and-tile kiln house on the south bank. Park in the gravel lot off Mill Race Road; the tasting room is the door under the copper lamp.

Get directionsCall (815) 555-0142

  • Tasting room

    Closed. Opens tomorrow at 4 pm.

  • Bottle shop

    Open until 7 pm.

  • Tours

    Closed. Opens Friday at 1 pm.

Full hours

Private events

The rickhouse seats 60 among the barrels (120 standing) and the tasting room takes 30. Tell us the date and headcount and Luis will reply within two business days.

This is a template demo, so this form doesn't send. On a live site it goes straight to the venue.