Claremont Distillery

A Craft Distillery in Hamburg, NJ, With a Second Life

For years, 3619 Route 94 was Cava Winery, and a fair number of us still give directions that way. It pours something stronger now. Claremont Distillery packed up its Fairfield operation and reopened here in Hardyston, filling more than 11,000 square feet with production tanks, three bars, and an event space that holds up to 200 people. The result is a rare thing: a working craft distillery in Hamburg, NJ that is also a genuine night out.

Claremont was founded in May 2014 on a stubborn premise, that world-class spirits could be made from Garden State ingredients. It is now the largest craft distillery in New Jersey, running three stills, including a 500-gallon pot still for the whiskeys and a custom 30-foot column still that pushes the vodka to the equivalent of 23 distillations.

What They Make

The potato vodka is the flagship and the reason for the trophy case, but the Tracks & Rails bourbon line is what regulars come back for, with gold and double gold medals across multi-grain mash bills and rum cask finishes. New Jersey potatoes, blueberries, and peaches all end up in bottles here. The cocktail list also gets more adventurous than you expect this far up Route 94: blueberry vodka with kiwi, basil, and black pepper, or an espresso drink built on beets and house coffee liqueur under a mozzarella foam.

Two Tasting Rooms, Two Moods

The Front Tasting Room takes walk-ins, so a Saturday afternoon stop needs no planning at all. The Bourbon Room is the opposite: reservation only, bourbon focused, sized for a small group that wants the full pour-by-pour treatment. Tours run on select days and end with a tasting and cocktails, and the mixology classes with instructor Carlos Ruiz are built for beginners as readily as for people who already own a jigger. Live music takes over Saturday nights, a food truck usually parks outside, and there is a private lot, so nobody is hunting for a spot along the highway.

Getting There

Route 94 puts Claremont minutes from Mountain Creek and Crystal Springs, which makes it an easy add-on to a ski day or a golf weekend, and a natural stop for anyone circling through Hardyston and Franklin. If you are building a longer route out of it, it pairs well with the county’s other tasting rooms and breweries.