You might have a signature drink that you always order, or a bottle of wine that you always reach for when you're at the liquor store. But there's something exciting about trying something new — something more complex and unique than a vodka soda with a squeeze of lime — and One Tree Hill star Hilary Burton thinks it's time to put aside your ideas about what you should be drinking Preconceived notions. The actor hopes her new venture, Mischief Farms Libations, a line of spirits featuring whiskey and gin, will help you explore new flavors. The collection, created with her partner Jeffrey Dean Morgan and the staff at Vale Fox Distillery in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., is dedicated to the A love letter from the 39-year-old’s hometown.
The first products in the range will be available sometime this spring and include Mischief Farm Bonfire Rye and Mischief Farm Blackberry gin. Inspired by New York's Hudson Valley (where Burton lives with his family), the lush greenery and neighborhood businesses, Mischief Farms Libations was born out of a mutual concern for the community, Burton said. Vale Fox Distillery first contacted Burton in 2020 when Burton was producing and distributing masks in the Hudson Valley and the distillery was producing hand sanitizer, so they worked together to provide food to those in need People are provided with personal protective equipment.
Both spirits use ingredients from or reminiscent of the Hudson Valley region; Mischief Farm Bonfire Rye is smoky (a nod to Morgan’s love of fires), and Mischief Farm Blackberry Gin is infused with blackberries, blackberries is one of the Burton’s favorite things to harvest on their family farm. The rye whiskey has an alcohol content of 45% and sells for $47, while the gin has an alcohol content of 48% and sells for $39. Both will be available at liquor stores and online retailer ReserveBar upon release.
While working with Vale Fox Distillery was a natural for her, Burton said there was a learning curve to the whole job, similar to the time she burst into the spotlight as One Tree Hill 's Peyton Sawyer time. "I started working in television as a teenager and I had no idea what I was doing, and as I learned, people just came along with me," she tells Bustle. “As I venture into this space as a new business owner, I want other women to feel courageous and I want them to be able to participate in this space.”
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Burton stresses that the flavors of whiskey and gin make them perfect for drinking over ice or mixed into something sweeter. She recommends gin or soda, as well as whiskey with vermouth and Campari, although she notes that the smoky flavor "stands on its own two legs." If you're new to these two types of wine, know that you're not alone. It took her some time to develop an interest in gin and whiskey, two hard liquors that require an education.
“I had never really drank gin because the gins I was introduced to tasted like Christmas trees, so I gave up on gin completely. But when I started drinking this Vale Fox gin, it had a It’s a really lovely floral scent,” Burton said. As for whiskey, "open a bottle and you'll feel like you're having a campfire in a field with friends."
You may be used to celebrity-backed tequilas, wines and hard seltzers, but the goal behind her and her partners' new Mischief Farms Libations project is to give people a taste of more traditional but slightly different flavors. "My husband and I both love classics — I'm wearing the same fur coat I bought 12 years ago," she says. “We want the business to be evergreen, so it’s fun for us to launch two wines that we’re very proud of.”
Burton believes basics don't have to be boring, and the playful name Mischief Farms is a nod to that. It's a label Burton and her partner have used before on collaborative projects, and it's a theme they've stuck with in their relationship. (The pair showed off their matching "prank" tattoos when announcing the new brand on Instagram).
"Mischief is the fountain of youth. When we are young we have a sense of daring but we get beaten down by taxes and all the adult things we have to do," she said. "We like to be curious about what we do, so with these alcoholic flavors, we thought, 'We don't want to just do the typical things that everyone else is doing.'"
