Craft Spirits Podcast

Small spirits producers are giving large, global cream liqueur brands from multinational conglomerates a run for their money with an award-winning array of craft brands. A panel of craft cream liqueur producers share their stories and secrets of creating products for today’s craft-savvy consumers. Panelists: Scott Sanders, Tobacco Barn (Hollywood, Maryland) Tom Bard, The Bard Distillery (Graham, K...

Garden vegetables are having a moment in the craft spirits industry, bringing savory elements to liqueurs and gin, and even serving as a base substrate for some distillates. Join us as we welcome a trio of producers incorporating everything from Brussels sprouts and peas to asparagus in their creations. Panelists: David Bly, Festif Amaro (Los Angeles) Jon O'Connor, Long Road Distillers (Grand Rapi...

The complete audio from our Rye Whiskey Roundtable. We check in with some of the country’s top craft rye whiskey producers to compare notes on mashbills, flavor profiles, production techniques, grain sourcing, and connecting with a new generation of consumers. We’ll also analyze current rye whiskey sales data in this comprehensive discussion. Who: Gina Holman, J. Carver Distillery (Waconia, Minnes...

On this episode we geek out a bit about the amaro category as we welcome David Bly, founder of Festif Amaro in Los Angeles. David’s a Montreal native who brought a great deal of Canadian influence into the creation of Festif Amaro and Festif Choux, the latter of which incorporates Brussels sprouts into its recipe. David developed a deep appreciation for the amaro category during his two decades wo...

Host Jeff Cioletti sits down with the team behind American Cane, a new American rum producer in Louisiana. Maggie Campbell, formerly of Privateer Rum and Mount Gay Rum, joins American Cane co-founders Chaz and Darin Vest as CEO. Together, they discuss the past, present and future of the American rum category, as well as what's in store at American Cane.

Today on the program, we’ve got a bit of a special treat. We’re presenting the complete audio from our Best Bars roundtable, which I hosted last month. For the roundtable we invited the personalities behind three of the venues that made our Best Bars in America list, which we showcased in the May/June issue of CRAFT SPIRITS magazine. Our distinguished panel included Natasha Bahrami of the Gin Room...

Sydney Jones is a supervisor and lead distillery technician at Heaven Hill Springs Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. Previously, she served as head distiller for FEW Spirits in Evanston, Illinois, and has been working in the distilled spirits industry since 2016. She is also the co-host of the Spirits & Distilling Podcast. In a wide-ranging discussion about whiskey and distilling, Jones shares de...

Joseph O’Sullivan is the master distiller at Minden Mill Distilling in Minden, Nevada. O’Sullivan started his distilling career in 2005, and was previously the master distiller for Hood River, Oregon-based Clear Creek Distillery. At Minden Mill, O’Sullivan oversees production of the distillery’s estate-made spirits, which include bourbon, rye, and a recently released American single malt whiskey....

Colin Spoelman is the co-founder and distiller at Kings County Distillery in Brooklyn, New York. He’s also a board member of the ACSA and an author, whose latest book is “The Bourbon Drinker’s Companion.” In this episode, Spoelman discusses the new law allowing New York distilleries to ship directly to consumers and what it means for the future of craft spirits. He also shares his thoughts on Empi...

Erin Lee is the head distiller at FEW Spirits in Evanston, Illinois. Lee became a certified tea sommelier in 2021 and quickly discovered a love for the tasting process. That passion led her into the world of whiskey, and soon after, she was selected for the inaugural class of interns for the STEPUP Foundation—an inclusion and equity program that aims to provide underserved and underrepresented ind...

Jason Parker is the co-founder of Seattle-based Copperworks Distilling Co., which makes American single malt whiskey, a series of gins and vodka, all from malted barley. Parker led Copperworks to become a founding member of the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission. And he also serves on the board of directors of the Craft Maltsters Guild. In this episode, Parker discusses his previous career as...

Jordan Cotton is the co-founder and CEO of Washington, D.C.-based rum maker Cotton & Reed. He is also a member of ACSA’s board of directors and the chair of the American Craft Spirits Association's political action committee. In this episode, recorded at Cotton & Reed’s new facility in D.C.’s Ivy City neighborhood, Cotton discusses the state of American rum and its potential for growth; the ongoin...

James Donaldson is the co-owner and creative director of Chemist Spirits in Asheville, North Carolina. The distillery was founded by Debbie Word, and was born of many hours of experimentation with Word’s daughter, Danielle Donaldson, an actual chemist. The distillery and its bar, Antidote, are located in Asheville’s South Slope district, which did not suffer severe damage when Hurricane Helene dev...

Sara Sergent is the co-owner and master botanical distiller of Alpine Distilling in Park City, Utah. Sara manages the distillery’s botanical production and gin portfolio, which includes Elevated Gin, while her husband and co-founder Rob oversees the whiskey portfolio. The distillery has garnered numerous awards and accolades for its spirits, and earlier this year Sara was inducted into the Gin Gui...

Bonnie Boglioli-Randall and Nate Randall are the co-founders of Hinterhaus Distilling in Arnold, California. They founded the distillery in 2020 and Hinterhaus reflects the rugged mountainscape of its Sierra Nevada perch and benefits from high-quality local ingredients and fresh Sierra water. In this episode, Bonnie and Nate discuss their backgrounds and how they started the distillery amidst the...

Tom Bard is the co-founder of The Bard Distillery in Graham, Kentucky. Together with his wife, Kim, Tom launched The Bard Distillery in 2019, repurposing a 100-year-old school campus—the very same school Tom attended as a child. With a degree from the University of Kentucky, Tom brings a strong background in industrial quality control and continuous improvement, skills he honed over many years in...

Ryan Lang is the founding head distiller and CEO of Middle West Spirits in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 2008, Middle West Spirits combines a reverence for traditional whiskey-making techniques with innovative practices. In this episode, Ryan discusses his path to starting Middle West Spirits and how his grandfather and some Irish distilleries provided some inspiration for the distillery; the role of...

William Goldberg is the co-founder and head distiller of Oak and Grist Distilling Co. in Black Mountain, North Carolina. The distillery is located in the devastating path that Hurricane Helene charted across Western North Carolina in late September. Fortunately, Oak and Grist was in large part spared of damage and all of its employees are safe. Goldberg, who is a graduate of nearby Warren Wilson C...

Mark McLaughlin is the co-founder of Baltimore-based Old Line Spirits. McLaughlin and distillery co-founder Arch Watkins met in the Navy flying EA-6B Prowlers. After more than a decade of service, they both happened to move to the same neighborhood in Baltimore and left their civilian careers to open Old Line Spirits in 2017. In this episode, McLaughlin discusses his and Watkins’s time in the Navy...

Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski are the co-founders of Lost Lantern, an award-winning independent bottler of American whiskey based in Vergennes, Vermont. The company’s tagline and mission are one in the same: shining a light on the independent spirit. Ganley-Roper has a background in wine and spirits retail, as well as working in operations for several startups. And before co-founding Lost La...

Phil Steger is the founder and CEO of Minneapolis-based Brother Justus Whiskey Co., and a recently elected member of the American Craft Spirits Association’s Board of Directors. Before opening the distillery, Stegerl earned a law degree from the University of St. Thomas. He also has experience running humanitarian aid and preserving centuries-old manuscripts belonging to monasteries in conflict zo...

Olivia Stewart is the president of Oxbow Rum Distillery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a recently elected member of the American Craft Spirits Association’s Board of Directors. Stewart grew up running through rows of sugarcane on her family’s farm and later pursued a career in the art world. But during the pandemic, she went back to her roots to run the family distillery. Stewart relaunched the br...

Greg Eidam is the master distiller for Gatlinburg, Tennessee-based Sugarlands Distilling Co. and a recently elected member of the American Craft Spirits Association’s Board of Directors. He oversees the production of Sugarlands Shine, Appalachian Sippin’ Cream, High Rock Vodka and Roaming Man Whiskey, as well as Sugarlands research and development, and engineering projects. In this episode, Eidam...

Our latest guests on The Craft Spirits Podcast are Aleks and Maks Zhdanov, twin brothers and co-founders of 3BR Distillery in Keyport, New Jersey. Drawing inspiration from their grandfather, who was a moonshiner in the Soviet Union, the distillery specializes in pea-based and other unusual spirits. In this episode, the brothers discuss the meaning behind the distillery’s name and their heritage; t...

Our latest guests on The Craft Spirits Podcast are Megan Campbell, Renée Newton and Sean W. Richards—the new owners of Montanya Distillers in Crested Butte, Colorado. In this episode, the trio talks about how they came together to join a partnership; their plans to honor the distillery’s past while also asserting their vision for its future; the current state and future of the American rum industr...