South Norwalk’s SoNo 1420 America’s Maritime Distillery celebrated its sixth anniversary with an anniversary bash on June 14. Guests enjoyed tastings and cocktails featuring SoNo 1420 spirits, crafted by SoNo 1420 Bartenders Blake Poon and Laura Vasquez, paired with fresh oysters from Copps Island Oysters and lobster rolls from LobsterCraft. Veteran-owned and -operated, SoNo 1420 was founded in 2019 by Ted Dumbauld and offers small-batch, handmade spirits, including ultra-premium whiskeys, vodkas, ready-to-drink vodka-based cocktails and botanical gins. Located in historic Maritime South Norwalk, it is also America’s first distillery to incorporate milled hemp oil seed into its whiskey mash bills. Its Finished at Sea whiskeys incorporate pre-Prohibition practices, when bourbon makers aged their spirits on flatboats. SoNo 1420 uses oyster boats from Copps Island Oysters to age its series of whiskeys on the Long Island Sound, contributing to the full-bodied taste of its bourbons. Spirits include SoNo 1420 Vodka, Woodruff + Elderflower Vodka, Lemon Flavored Vodka, Blood Orange Flavored Vodka, 1420 Full Proof Whiskey, 1420 Single Barrel Whiskey, 1420 Special Reserve Whiskey, 1420 Finished at Sea Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 1420 Harborside Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Blaze Cinnamon Flavored Bourbon Whiskey, 1420 BBN, 1420 Hemped Rye Spirit, Sindica Bangtail Navy Strength Gin, Sindica Skysail London Dry Gin, Sindica Midnight New American Gin, Kaffe Primal Forest Coffee Liqueur and its Threesome Cocktails, ready to pour in Espresso Martini, Cosmopolitan and Margarita, each 100% natural, gluten-free, GMO-free, vegan and made with recyclable packaging. SoNo 1420 products are distributed in Connecticut by Murphy Distributors.

Photos by Andrew Dominick.