One of the greatest pleasures of spending a Saturday at
The Windmill Farm & Craft Market is discovering the remarkable stories behind the people who make it such a special place. Wander through the market and you'll find talented artisans, skilled craftspeople, family businesses, and entrepreneurs who pour their hearts into everything they create.
And sometimes, you discover that the story behind the bottle is every bit as interesting as what's inside it.
One of those stories belongs to
Last Shot Distillery.
If you've wandered past their booth, you've likely noticed the beautifully crafted bottles and perhaps stopped for a tasting. But behind every pour is a story that stretches from an historic Central New York distilling site to a professional kitchen, from locally grown grain to international whiskey awards—and even to the
Discovery Channel's Moonshiners.
A Historic Beginning.
Last Shot Distillery first opened its doors in
December 2015, just two miles outside the charming village of
Skaneateles, New York, alongside the scenic Charlie Major Nature Trail.
While Last Shot itself is relatively young, the property it calls home has a much longer connection to distilling.
From
1840 until 1864, the site was home to the historic
Earll & Kellogg Distillery, one of the area's early producers of distilled spirits. When that chapter ended, the property found new life as a paper mill under Earlls, Thayer & Co.
More than 150 years later, the art of distilling returned to the very same ground.
There's something wonderfully fitting about that—a new generation creating spirits on a property where barrels were being filled long before any of us were around to raise a glass.
From Chef to Master Distiller
For co-owner and master distiller
Chris Uyehara, however, the path to Last Shot began somewhere very different:
In the kitchen.
Chris spent an impressive
37 years as a chef, and those decades taught him something that would become fundamental to the way he approaches distilling today.
Ingredients matter.
When you're a chef, you measure. You taste. You pay attention to temperatures, timing, texture, aroma and balance. You learn that two products may look similar on the shelf, but what you begin with absolutely affects what you have when the work is finished.
Chris grew up with that philosophy, too. His father was a
master baker, a craftsman who understood the importance of precision and of beginning with the best ingredients available.
That lesson stayed with him.
If you're making something that calls for vanilla, for example, there's a difference when you reach for quality
Madagascar vanilla. The details matter because eventually those details become the finished product.
Chris brought that same chef's mentality—and a chef's palate—with him when he entered the world of distilling.
Only now, instead of beginning with ingredients spread across a kitchen counter, he might begin with something much simpler:
A seed.
The grain in a bottle of whiskey doesn't simply appear at the distillery. It begins with a farmer who plants it, watches the fields, waits on the weather, tends the crop and ultimately harvests the grain that will become part of the spirit.
For Chris, appreciating that entire journey is part of appreciating what's eventually poured into the glass.
From seed, to grain, to still, to barrel, to bottle—every step matters.
When Opportunity Meets Passion
After nearly four decades in the culinary world, Chris was ready for a new challenge—one that would allow him to keep creating while learning an entirely different craft.
And sometimes the best stories begin with a simple conversation.
A chance discussion involving Chris, his daughter, and one of her longtime friends introduced him to
John Menapace, a fellow Skaneateles resident.
John shared Chris's enthusiasm for the idea, but he also brought something else to the table:
engineering expertise and the perfect historic location.
Together, the two friends combined Chris's understanding of flavor and ingredients with John's technical knowledge and problem-solving abilities.
The pieces began falling into place.
And Last Shot Distillery was born.
From the Finger Lakes to the Discovery Channel
It didn't take long for Chris's abilities to gain attention beyond the tasting room.
His distilling skills eventually brought him to the
Discovery Channel's Moonshiners, where he appeared during
Season 3, Episode 4 and came away a
winner.
For someone who had spent decades developing a chef's palate and understanding how ingredients work together, the transition makes sense.
Distilling may involve stills instead of sauté pans and barrels instead of ovens, but the fundamental philosophy remains surprisingly similar:
Start with exceptional ingredients.
Understand what each one contributes.
Measure carefully.
Respect the process.
Pay attention to the smallest details.
And never stop tasting, learning and refining.
A Family Business Rooted in Tradition
At its heart, Last Shot Distillery isn't simply about producing spirits.
Their mission is to bring a fresh perspective to the art of distilling while honoring historic traditions and building a family business centered around the community they love.
Using
locally sourced New York grains whenever possible, Last Shot creates handcrafted, small-batch spirits that reflect that commitment to quality.
Their growing lineup includes bourbon whiskey, vodka, gin, moonshine, specialty whiskeys, liqueurs and seasonal creations.
And the awards have followed.
Last Shot's spirits have earned recognition in
international whiskey competitions, demonstrating that this small Central New York distillery can hold its own well beyond the Finger Lakes.
Their
Chocolate Crème Brûlée Liqueur has also earned a
Gold Medal in The Fifty Best competition—another example of what can happen when a chef's imagination finds its way into a distillery.
The Chef's Palate Never Really Left
Perhaps that's what makes the Last Shot story so interesting.
Chris may have left the professional kitchen, but in many ways, he never stopped being a chef.
He's still thinking about ingredients.
Still measuring.
Still tasting.
Still considering how individual flavors work together.
Still paying attention to details most of us would probably never notice.
And he's still chasing that moment every chef understands—the moment when all of those individual decisions come together and the finished product is exactly what you hoped it would be.
The only difference?
These days, it's coming out of a barrel.
Meet the People Behind the Pour
One thing we've learned at
Keuka Roots is that the best products almost always come with a story.
Spend a few minutes at the Last Shot Distillery booth at The Windmill and you'll quickly discover that Chris and his team enjoy sharing both.
Visitors can sample handcrafted spirits, ask questions about the distilling process and learn how grain, craftsmanship, history, science—and even a chef's palate—come together inside a bottle.
Whether you're a seasoned whiskey enthusiast, curious about New York's growing craft distilling industry, or simply someone who enjoys meeting the people behind locally made products, this is one booth worth slowing down for.
Another Story Worth Discovering
Every Saturday,
The Windmill Farm & Craft Market brings together some of the very best of our region—farmers, bakers, artists, woodworkers, food vendors, musicians, craftspeople and family-owned businesses whose passion is evident in everything they create.
Last Shot Distillery is a perfect example of that spirit.
It's a business built on friendship, craftsmanship, family tradition, respect for history and an uncompromising belief that
what you put into something determines what you'll eventually get out of it.
From a master baker teaching the importance of quality ingredients, to a son who spent 37 years developing a chef's palate, to New York grain carefully grown from seed, to an historic distilling property brought back to life, to a Moonshiners win and award-winning spirits—there's a remarkable journey inside those bottles.
And those are exactly the kinds of stories we love discovering at Keuka Roots.
So the next time you're strolling through The Windmill, stop by
Last Shot Distillery.
Introduce yourself.
Have a taste.
Ask about the grain. Ask about Chris' years as a chef. Maybe even ask them about Moonshiners.
Because after you hear the story behind the bottle, you may discover that what you're tasting isn't simply whiskey.
You're tasting decades of experience, generations of lessons, a little bit of history—and an extraordinary amount of attention to detail.
Visit Last Shot Distillery
You don't have to travel far to meet the people behind the pour! Visit
Last Shot Distillery at The Windmill Farm & Craft Market, where you can stop by their booth, meet the team, sample their handcrafted spirits, and discover a new favorite.
The Windmill Farm & Craft Market
3900 State Route 14A
Penn Yan, NY 14527
Saturdays | 8:00 AM–4:30 PM
Or make a day trip to the home of Last Shot:
Last Shot Distillery
4022 Mill Road
Skaneateles, NY 13152
315-554-8241
The distillery is located about two miles from downtown Skaneateles, adjacent to the
Charlie Major Nature Trail, on the historic property where the Earll & Kellogg Distillery operated in the 1800s.
Two locations. One remarkable story. And plenty of reasons to stop in for a taste.
Stay Rooted. Stay Keuka.™
