A Walton woman who brews a once-forbidden herbal liquor got an early Christmas present when she and her Delaware Phoenix absinthe were featured in a New York Times article Wednesday.
Cheryl Lins became interested in absinthe in early 2006 after reading a New York Times article about a man who was making absinthe in France, so the article brought the story full circle.
When Lins talked about launching her distillery in a March 2008 article in The Daily Star, she said absinthe had been legalized in 2000 by the European Union, but before that, it had been banned in many countries since World War I.
Lins said she studied the history of the much-maligned liquor, which was thought to have hallucinogenic qualities, but she found that much of it was written in French, a language she neither speaks nor reads.
In 2007, Lins discovered that a few companies were able to get approval to produce absinthe in the United States.
She said she was fascinated by the whole subject of distillation.
Lins said the basics of making the herbal liquor involve starting with a very high-proof, undiluted form of alcohol and adding two types of wormwood and other herbs, including anise, fennel, hyssop, violet and lemon balm.
New York Times writer Alice Feiring contacted Lins about writing an article, but Lins said she couldn't believe it was going to happen until she saw it in print.
Lins said Feiring is familiar with Walton because she used to live in the town.
Feiring wrote, "Among the sleek new group of domestic distillers, Cheryl Lins is an original.
"Wearing a baseball cap, flannel-lined jeans and wire spectacles, she flits from store to cocktail bar, towing her cardboard box of goods, selling to old customers and looking for new. When making her sales pitch, she sometimes forgets to say that she's the one who distills it, designs the label, waxes the cork and brings the bottles to market."
Feiring continued, "Since 2007, when the Treasury Department relaxed its position on the sale of absinthe, 13 American distilleries have begun producing the spirit legally. Ms. Lins, 56, is the first in New York State."
Feiring quoted Lins as saying, "A century ago, this town was prosperous with its piano, light bulb and cigar factories. We had a strong connection with New York City life. Part of my idea was to recreate that link. Selfishly, though, I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't obsessed with absinthe in the first place."
___
When a reporter sets out to interview someone for a story, it is sometimes astounding where the conversation goes and what topics surface. Such was the case when I contacted Terry Rogers about the Christmas toy show at the Walton Historical Society.
As the talk of toys wound down, Rogers began to talk about his love of local history and the fascinating subjects people are researching when they contact the society. Such was the case with a man who was searching for the grave of Frederick Merrick.
Merrick was a young man from Walton who was working at Halbert's dry goods store in Binghamton in 1870 when he was shot to death. Three burglars entered the store during the early morning hours, waking Merrick and another clerk who slept there at night to guard the place.
The man who murdered Merrick was a famous serial killer named John Rulloff, who was accused of killing his wife and daughter, his sister-in-law and her daughter and the two men who helped him burglarize Halbert's store.
Rogers talked about searching for Merrick's grave stone in the Walton Cemetery with a man who is researching Rulloff to write a book.
"I was just fascinated by the story," Rogers said. "And I am surprised that I had never heard about it before."
___
Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
