Skillers Mountaintop Distillery Combines Locally Sourced Ingredients With Modern Technique

LEXINGTON - When the snows melt and rains come in the Catskills, they move silently through the earth, very much to the liking of Skillers Mountaintop Distillery mixmaster James Rooney.

The summer season is already sprouting at Skillers, meaning the tasting room and live music club are happening every weekend, located along Route 42 in the town of Lexington, behind Van Dusen’s Store.

Live music is on tap every Saturday, from 4 to 6 p.m., inside the quaintly intimate tasting room and club, along Route 42 in Lexington, behind Van Dusen’s Store, with mixed drinks and non-alcohol beverages served by barman Anthony Szabo (far right) and the proprietor James Rooney (second from right). On guitar for the May 30 show was Aram Chekijian.

Skillers is a name derived from the surrounding hills and blendmanship required to do what Rooney does which is make unique drinks.

Lexington, once a haven for artists and folks weary of Big City life, is in the midst of a revival, focused on re-invigorating while preserving the rural community with its vast hiking trails and undisturbed beauty.

Rooney’s contribution is a tucked-away, small-batch distillery and his little Saturday and Sunday gathering place, “a standout destination for vodka lovers, gin enthusiasts and craft spirits explorers alike,” he states.

The modern distillery is where, “locally sourced New York ingredients and modern technique come together to create bold, expressive spirits worth seeking out on any Great Northern Catskills vacation,” Rooney states.

“From the mineral-forward Greywacke Vodka named for the ancient stone beneath these peaks and crafted from New York corn, to the floral, heat-kissed KVITKA Horilka and the bright, botanical Station Navy Strength Gin, each pour reflects the wild character of the Northern Catskill Mountains,” Rooney’s states.

It all begins at the blending table where secret recipes and mineral rich local waters are mixed to produce various brews such as fully original Dandelion Gin, “if there is such a thing,” says James Rooney, which there will be if he has any say in the matter.

Skillers is born from the same searching-for-something-else that brought droves of vacationers to the mountains, many of them staying put.

“Everybody has their own path. We are a farm distillery. We are all about here,” says Rooney who discovered a new home and enterprise by fate.

He is originally from Long Island. “When I was a kid, my family came to ski in Hunter. I had never been past Hunter. I never knew Lexington existed.”

Working in the day-to-day routine world of revenue technology, living in an apartment in Brooklyn, “I was looking for a change,” Rooney says.

“I came up here and started driving around. I pulled off the road into a small parking area and there it all was…the [Schoharie] creek on one side, a small house under the trees on the other, the mountains everywhere.”

He bought the property in 2019, ultimately finding what had been unfolding in the silent waters underfoot and in the Juniper berries and New York grains growing for generations above ground.

The result is Skillers, offering an array of home-brewed beverages that ol’ Rip Van Winkle himself would likely approve, contently resting his weary bones in the indoor tasting room or outdoor garden seating.

The tasting room/bar, indoor tables and outdoor garden seatings are open from 2 to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday with owner James Rooney (left) and bar manager Anthony Szabo welcoming clientele.

Skillers, also serving non-alcohol spritzers and more, is open from 2 to 7 p.m. on weekends with acoustic music from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Their products, in the near future, are expected to be available in local shops, restaurants and thru mail order. Call (518) 227-0805 for info.