SANTA FE, N.M. — Altar Spirits, founded by industry veteran Caley Shoemaker, has opened its doors this week, and will be one of the first locations in central Santa Fe to see the production of spirits under one roof – from…
Santa Fe, N.M. — Altar Spirits, founded by industry veteran Caley Shoemaker, continues its line of spirits with a new gin, SIGIL, the second spirit release since RITUAL vodka’s launch and the distillery’s first gin. This bold expression, made in the…
New Mexico’s newest distillery opened in Santa Fe late last year, kitted out with a sizable Scottish-style pot still, vodka columns, and a richly decorated cocktail bar and tasting room that wouldn’t seem out of place in San Francisco, Portland,…
You might think that whiskey makes up the largest percentage of spirit sales by volume in the United States, but that honor actually belongs to vodka. In February 2020, Forbes reported that vodka, at 31 percent of sales by volume, was the…
Altar Spirits, with Master Distiller and Co-Owner Caley Shoemaker, is adding to their spirits line-up with the launch of Aradia, an aperitivo bitter. The aperitivo is vegan because it is colored using black carrot juice instead of cochineal (a scaled…
Opened in late 2021, Altar Spirits is both a Willie Wonka–style lab — where cofounder Caley Shoemaker, a former master distiller at Hangar 1, creates New Mexico–inspired spirits such as the juniper- and piñon-based Sigil Gin — and a chic…
The one-year-old Altar Spirits might have the city’s best bar program. Besides distilling, Altar crafts drinks like the Three Sisters Sour, which features corn, squash, and beans to honor the Native American tradition of growing the three in conjunction. Altar’s…
Actress Melissa McCarthy and her husband and fellow actor Ben Falcone have partnered with whiskey Big Nose Kate®. The comedic duo have not just invested in this upstart whiskey in New Mexico, but they are raising glasses and building brand…
Big Nose Kate is produced in Santa Fe, New Mexico, one of several towns in the Old West where Kate ran enterprises and wreaked havoc. A key contributor to the whiskey production is Caley Shoemaker of Santa Fe’s Altar Spirits,…
Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone are making their passion for whiskey official business. The married couple is now partners in Big Nose Kate, a whiskey brand named after Maria Izabella Magdolna Horony, PEOPLE can reveal. Nicknamed Big Nose Kate, Horony…
Altar is a relative newcomer to Santa Fe’s burgeoning distillery landscape alongside Tumbleroot and Santa Fe Spirits, and one with a gorgeous flagship tasting room in the Railyard that my friends still in their 20s swear by. Shoemaker tells SFR…
Caley Shoemaker is a vodka master: Having spent several years at the helm of Hangar 1 Vodka, she left in 2020 to start her own distillery in Santa Fe. Altar Spirits makes gin, whiskey, amaro, and other spirits, all of…
Just before the pandemic, Caley Shoemaker left Hangar 1 Vodka—where she had helped build up the brand for several years as head distiller—and set out to open her own distillery in Santa Fe. Altar Spirits opened in late 2021 with…