Spirits & Distilling Podcast

Steven Grasse has long enjoyed building brands that stand out—from his earlier days as an advertising exec to his time with William Grant & Sons to today, owning Tamworth Distilling in Tamworth, New Hampshire.

In this episode with host Molly Troupe, Grasse reflects on that path, the hard lessons learned from early failures, and why success still comes down to great liquid, intentional packaging, and strong storytelling. He also dives into the philosophy behind Tamworth’s famously unconventional releases—from Deer Slayer (yes, with venison) to Eau de Musk (featuring beaver castoreum)—and explains why differentiation matters more tha...

Bourbon is the focus as master distiller Owen Martin joins Sydney Jones to dig into the production philosophies shaping Angel’s Envy today, from the Scotch-inspired discipline he brings to cask finishing to the blending strategy behind the brand’s new bottled-in-bond release. Owen breaks down how finishing barrels, entry proof, and batch selection influence flavor direction and why maintaining consistency across blends is becoming more complex as the distillery scales.

The conversation also explores Angel’s Envy’s operational expansion, including the new Henry County barreling and blending facility, and how shifting fill/dump operations impacts both wor...

John Angus approaches the mechanics of flavor creation in spirits through the lens of a chemist but with the soul of an educator, breaking down complex processes and cutting-edge science in practical ways that spirits makers can use and drinkers can understand. He uses the tools of analytical chemistry to unlock the mechanisms that form flavor and aroma through the distilling and maturation processes, and makes complex processes more accessible.

In this episode, host Molly Troupe and Angus discuss:

In this episode, host Sydney Jones sits down with Dave Smith, head distiller at St. George Spirits in Alameda, California, to explore the creative process behind one of America’s most pioneering craft distilleries. Founded in 1982 by Jörg Rupf, St. George has helped shape the modern craft-distilling movement through its relentless curiosity, innovation, and devotion to quality.

Smith shares how his background in creative writing shaped his approach to distilling, and how the St. George team infuses intention and transparency into every spirit they make—from their American Single Malt Whiskey and Terroir Gin to their Japan...

If there’s a typical path to becoming the master distiller at Bombay Sapphire, Anne Brock didn’t take it. Besides some bartending experience, her road took her through studying medicine and getting a doctorate in organic chemistry on the way to England to lead production of one of the world’s most popular gins.

In this episode, Brock covers a range of topics with host Molly Troupe, from her scientific approach to botanicals and fixatives to consistency of product and the global future of gin. Along the way, she discusses:

As a Kentucky native, Alex Castle knew she wanted to work in beverage alcohol before most—bourbon is culturally important in the state, and she wanted to play a part in its continued tradition and evolution. She learned the ropes on pot stills at Alltech and a high-throughput continuous still at Wild Turkey before building out and launching Old Dominick in Memphis. But her return to Kentucky to helm Augusta Distillery and the Buckner’s brand has ushered in a new chapter of both learning and sharing, as she stashes away barrels of their own distillate for future releases whil...

John D.E. “Johnny” Jeffery’s journey into distilling began after a trip to Poland inspired him to make nalewka, a traditional infused liqueur. It’s a journey that’s taken him from Chicago and Michigan State University to craft distilleries such as Death’s Door in Wisconsin, Sante Fe Spirits in New Mexico, and Nevada’s Bently Heritage Estate—all of which he helped to launch.

Along the way, he’s embraced a collaborative approach among craft distillers, emphasizing the need to share knowledge so that everyone can make better, more compelling spirits. He continues that work today, advisi...

The romance of whiskey maturation meets environmental reality in many parts of the world these days—increasingly hot, dry climates can produce markedly different results than the humid environments of Scotland or Kentucky. That can leave distillers wrestling with the question of whether to lean into process- and environment-driven results, or to manipulate that environment to achieve intentional flavor goals.

For Joe O’Sullivan—master distiller at Minden Mill in Nevada’s high desert, just east of Lake Tahoe—the choice is clear: to prioritize consistency through distillation and maturation processes, so that they can let their estate-gro...

While we often look at spirits aging through the lens of popular climates and standard barrels—used cooperage in the cool climate of Scotland or new charred oak barrels in hot, humid summers and cold winters of Kentucky—many now-enshrined methods were born of efficiency considerations and political realities more than quality concerns. In places not beholden to specific traditions and regulations, different opportunities present themselves, and different takes on efficiency can become the norm.

Take Melbourne, Australia, for example, where this episode’s guest, Jarrad Hucksold, spent almost a decade as head blender for Starward Whisky. The po...

Building a blend of aged spirits that feels effortless requires both art and craft, and for Jonathan Goldberg of Black Velvet in Alberta, Canada, the key to great blends is nailing the mix of contrasting components and optimizing each from the still through aging, then carefully maturing after blending. The goal isn’t singular standout barrels; the goal is a continuous process that produces quality at volume.

In this episode, Goldberg and host Sydney Jones discuss:

In this special episode of the podcast, co-hosts Molly Troupe and Sydney Jones reunite for a panel discussion—not on distilling, specifically, but on how to set yourself up for success while maintaining work-life balance in the spirits industry. Joining the hosts are Maggie Campbell, CEO of American Cane, and Jennifer Wren. As chief joy officer of the Wren Way, Wren’s coaches women on how to make joy central to their careers.

Among other topics, they discuss:

Three decades in, you’d think Todd Leopold of Denver’s Leopold Bros would have this whole distilling thing locked down, but he’s the first to admit he’s still figuring it all out. Or, maybe it’s more accurate to say that as soon as he has something solved, he finds a new problem or project with a new set of unknowns, to maintain a dynamic state of constant learning. His restless creativity just can’t stay in one place for too long.

In this episode with host Sydney Jones, the widely respected maltster, distiller, and reluctan...

A certain kind of alchemy occurs when everything aligns in the production of rum—ingredients, expressive fermentation, maturation—but the story and the “why” behind great rum is another element that can’t be forgotten. Maggie Campbell and Chaz Vest of American Cane are deeply focused on those components that make for interesting rum, driven to tell the broader history of rum production in America—even as they build production capacity and write up their own small piece of that ongoing history.

In this episode, Campbell, Vest, and host Molly Troupe discuss:

The distilling traditions we enjoy today are often the product of centuries of trial and error from past generations of makers, with ingredients carefully developed for efficiency and effectiveness in given locales. It’s hard to separate the spirit from the place that it comes from because often the very character of that spirit is a result of what grows, what fuels are accessible, and what ferments to a degree that matches the effort involved in extracting sugars. In Mexico and the southwestern United States, the ubiquity of agave has led many distillers to lean into such spirits, with te...

For Tyler Glasser of Stranahan’s, problem solving and creative exploration are best begun with a holistic view, borne from perspectives gained working across the various roles within a distillery. Through his current role as plant operations administrator, he’s gained an appreciation for the part that planning, forecasting, and procurement play in enabling distillers and blenders to produce and construct great spirits, as creating products at the scale of Stranahan’s requires an integrated, cross-discipline push.

In this episode, host Molly Troupe and Glasser discuss:

In this episode focused on distilling in Florida—host Sydney Jones’ old stomping grounds—she reconnects with industry friends Ric deMontmollin and Zack Wildrick from St. Augustine Distillery and City Gate Spirits. The high-heat, high-humidity environment there poses challenges for barrel aging St. Augustine’s whiskey, while the flavored moonshines of City Gate aim to evoke experiential memories for both the locals and tourists who flock to the distillery in season.

Over the course of the episode, the three discuss:

Sara Sergent, master distiller for Alpine Distilling in Park City, Utah, has garnered countless accolades over her career, and today she works with some of the biggest names in the culinary world to bring their ideas to life, while also creating bespoke and diverse spirit expressions for guests at their social club. If there’s an ingredient out there, she’s probably tried it and worked through how it expresses best through distilling. Through the course of this episode, she shares that knowledge with us. Along the way, Sergent and host Molly Troupe cover:

Bigger world events have a way of bringing clarity and focus to individual goals, and for Bob Dillon of Dismal Harmony, the COVID pandemic gave him just the push he needed to change careers and explore the technical and creative side of craft distilling. Now, from his outpost in Morristown, New Jersey, he’s focused on both serving boundary-pushing cocktails and creating the spirits to make them possible. A recent Best in Show award for his Vidisha’s Masala liqueur from the American Craft Spirits Association’s 2025 competition is proof that his focus on finding new flavor expressions (within the co...

Storytelling is in Devon Trevathan’s blood, and whether she’s distilling unique spirits in Austria, New Orleans, or Australia, or writing about the inspiring technical work of peers for articles for Spirits & Distilling, she remains focused on the dual side of making—pushing outside of one’s comfort zone and finding truth. Through Liba Spirits, she pursues a nomadic approach, producing spirits with their own stories at often far-flung locales. And with Trovador Rum, based in Nashville, Tennessee, she applies her developed blending skills to create a synthesis of various rum traditions. But her interests stretch well beyond specific...

The process of making rum is rife with lore, but for Brett Steigerwaldt of Lyon Rum in St. Michael’s, Maryland, breaking down the variables and understanding the impacts of each factor—ingredients, fermentation, distillation, finishing—leads to more refined expression. In this episode, Steigerwaldt and host Sydney Jones discuss:

Ashley Barnes, master blender at the Blending House, joins host Molly Troupe for an in-depth discussion of the scientific and sensorial approaches to building characterful blends. A former pharmaceutical quality chemist, Barnes was recruited by Buffalo Trace, later moved on to Four Roses, and has worked with (and learned from) some of the greats in the bourbon world. Now, at the Blending House, she works with nondistilling producers to carefully age and blend fine spirits using a variety of creative and data-driven techniques, while tracking environmental data such as temperature and evaporation to better understand long-term flavor development.

Caley Shoemaker got her start in whiskey at Denver’s Stranahan’s and went on to distill at Hanger One in Southern California before launching her own distillery, As Above, So Below in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2021. Now, from her home base on the edge of the mountains in a state nicknamed “The Land of Enchantment,” she’s summoning strong spirits with their own particular swagger.

In this episode, host Sydney Jones and Shoemaker discuss:

• Creating vodka, gin, whiskey, and botanical spirits inspired by place, travel, and experience

• Making vodka from a mash with dark...

Tequila and mezcal are top of mind when you think “agave,” but Gian Nelson is working to change that assumption. For the past few years, working through his brand Jano Spirits, he has partnered with growers who cultivate California agave—a much larger cousin of the classic Blue Weber agave used in tequila—to better understand what it takes to cultivate agave plants that translate into fine spirits.

In this episode, Nelson and host Molly Troupe discuss:

Founded in 2015, Baltimore Spirits is celebrating a decade of distilling in Charm City. Led by cofounder and head distiller Eli Breitburg-Smith, that run has played a notable role in the craft revival of American rye. Their Epoch Reserve has won multiple double golds at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, more recently landing on Fred Minnick’s Top 100 list of American whiskeys in 2024.

In this episode, hosted by Sydney Jones, Breitburg-Smith talks about how he got into distilling as a former craft brewer and how Baltimore Spirits was focused from the beginning on bringing pot-distilled rye whiskey ba...

Morgan McLachlan, the Los Angeles–based cofounder of Amass Spirits and Katy Perry’s nonalcoholic De Soi brand, has a flair for theatrics that’s only fitting for someone who started her career as a camera operator for film and TV. Every nuanced performance is built on layers, some barely noticeable—but understanding the purpose of those creative choices is essential for McLachlan, as she constructs everything from gins and nonalcoholic spirits to fragrances and other botanical-based products.

In this episode, host Molly Troupe and McLachlan discuss:

Year one of the Spirits & Distilling podcast is in the books, and in this special year-end look back, hosts Sydney Jones and Molly Troupe recount some of their favorite conversations of 2024, discuss the dramatic changes in their own lives, muse on big issues of the past year like the TTB’s adoption of a definition for American Single Malt, and look at the big issues and conversations they’re focusing in on for the next year. Along the way, they discuss:

David Fisher’s love of spirits started with bartending in London and followed a winding path, eventually passing through pandemic-era New York City into sensory analysis and blending back home in Australia. Now the senior spirits blender at award-winning Archie Rose Distilling in Sydney, Fisher has one of the most respected noses in the business.

In this discussion with host Molly Troupe, Fisher shares his thoughts on the importance of confidence to sensory and blending, and knowing your weaknesses as well as your strengths. He also discusses:

There aren’t many problems in whiskey that Sherrie Moore hasn’t tackled and solved. Over her 30+ years at Tennessee’s renowned Jack Daniel’s distillery, she’s worked in just about every role imaginable—from chemist and processing manager to barrel warehousing manager and, eventually, director of whiskey production. She’s since directed whiskey production for Nearest Green Distillery, and for the past few years she has expanded her scope to help smaller brands dial in processes, products, and operations.

In this episode, Moore and host Sydney Jones discuss:

Olivier Ward got his start in gin in the mid-oughts, working on projects for Hendricks, and the he hasn’t been able to shake the gin world since. The people, places, and processes captivate him, and building or telling those brand stories has been a major focus for the better part of the past two decades. As chief gin judge for the IWSC, he tastes thousands of gins in any given year and has a context for flavor and approaches that few possess. Now, with Everglow Spirits, he’s taking a fresh approach to both education and consultation, helping dist...

Whiskey Del Bac in Tucson, Arizona, has pursued a taste of place in its spirits since opening in 2011, using local mesquite wood instead of peat to smoke-dry malt for its single-malts. Head distiller and blender Mark Vierthaler—also the interim marketing director—joined the team in 2021, leading the production of what he calls the distillery’s “love letter to the Sonoran desert.”

In this episode, Vierthaler joins host Sydney Jones to talk terroir, transparency, marketing, blending, and balancing art with pragmatism. Among other topics, he discusses:

Jackie Zykan of Hidden Barn and Oduoak can tell you what aromas and flavors she detects when she smells and tastes whiskey, but she’d rather not put it in terms that you can connect with. After all, if she tells you she gets almond, you’ll most likely perceive and focus on that almond. But as she says in the episode, “Who cares if you ... get almond or not? I don’t care. There is no wrong or right.”

The spirited blender has strong opinions about the current state of whiskey- and bourbon-blending, education, and consumer feedback...

Adam Spiegel is taking an approach akin to alchemy and applying it to distilling, turning something relatively worthless—excess capacity in the distillery—into gold. The result isn’t just contract distilling and business diversification—it’s room to continue pushing and learning with Corning & Company, beyond the whiskey space that he pursued for the first decade of Sonoma Distilling.

In this episode, Spiegel touches on:

Chicago's Maplewood has made quite a name for themselves over the years in both the brewing and the distilling worlds. Four Great American Beer Festival medals, a couple of 99 ratings and one perfect 100 score from the blind review panel at Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine®, and most recently a double gold for their Fat Pug single-malt whiskey at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (along with three additional silvers and a bronze). Producing thoughtful, interesting, and beautifully crafted beverages is in the company’s DNA.

In this episode, host Sydney Jones leads cofounder Adam Cieslak and distiller Adam Smi...

As blender and manager of blending operations for the blend-focused brand Barrell Craft Spirits, Nic Christiansen’s job is to understand flavors, how they develop, and how they interact with each other to create harmonious wholes.

In this episode, Christiansen and host Molly Troupe discuss:

New York City’s Widow Jane Distillery may be one of the better known craft-spirits brands, with a relatively wide distribution footprint earned through the incredible reputation built by former distillers such as Lisa Wicker (hear her perspective on Episode 3). Now, under the guidance of head distiller and blender Sienna Jevremov, the distillery continues to grow despite the functional challenge of producing spirits in tight urban spaces, and the results of their work capture a certain artful tension and energy.

In this episode, Jevremov and host Sydney Jones explore the challenges Widow Jane faces and the creative so...

Brewer-turned-distiller Christian Krogstad launched House Spirits in the mid-‘00s with a focus on artisanal gin, but he had no idea the botanical spirit they pursued with passion would become one of the larger celebrity-owned-and-endorsed spirits in this recent wave of high-profile acquisitions.

Tinkering with two partners—one a prominent bartender, the other a fellow distiller—their goal was to create a pre-Prohibition-style gin perfect for classic cocktails. But no recipes existed for those earlier gins, so he set about reverse-engineering one from a recipe perspective. The result is now a modern classic and a favorite of barten...

The modes that distillers operate in can vary wildly based on the goals of the business and the avenues for sales. While at the helm of Ghost Coast in Savannah, Georgia, Ken Klehm did it all—a law change allowed the distillery to sell cocktails as long as all the spirits were produced in-house, so Klehm distilled a wide range of spirits and liqueurs to stock the entire bar. Now, at the helm of 450 North Spirits—a family-owned distillery, adjacent to the family’s brewery, situated on a corner of the family’s Indiana farmland—he’s tackling new problems and...

The last decade and a half have been a whirlwind for Andy Nelson, as the discovery of a family distilling legacy led his brother Charlie and him to pursue and launch the Nelson's Green Brier Distillery to make Tennessee Whiskey the way his great-great-great grandfather did (with a few accomodations for modernity, of course). Along the way, they also launched Belle Meade Bourbon, sourcing and blending, with the requisite learning that that entailed. Now, after selling the majority stake in the distillery to Constellation Brands, Nelson has set an independent course, consulting and helping other would-be distillery founders and...

Nicole Austin has spent time in distilleries around the world, but if there’s one thing she’s learned from producing at distilleries both tiny and very large, it’s that no single blending strategy works at every scale, for every product, or with each kind of spirit. Today, as director of George Dickel and luxury American whiskey for Diageo, she has extensive tools at her disposal—from deep stocks of long-aged Tennessee whiskey to modern lab equipment. The nexus of that deeper palette of whiskies with which to blend—and deeper knowledge of those whiskies and how they age—is pay...

Fourteen years into her career at Clear Creek in Hood River, Oregon, Caitlin Bartlemay recently become master distiller at the respected craft producer. There, she continues to lead a small, hands-on team through seasons of distilling an array of whole-fruit brandies as well as McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt—the first American craft single-malt whiskey.

In this week’s episode, Bartlemay joins host Molly Troupe for a wide-ranging discussion that includes:

While Sydney Jones’ last turn in the host chair was an exit interview of sorts, this episode is her entrance interview with new boss, Heaven Hill Master Distiller Conor O’Driscoll, as she settles into her new role as supervisor and technical lead for the under-construction $150M distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. In this episode, O’Driscoll shares his insight gained from two decades of distilling for respected whiskey brands, and along the way touches on:

In Andy Garrison’s mind, fruit brandies have historically been necessary byproducts of excess—fruit trees produce more food that could be consumed by their owners, so what better way to preserve their bounty than distilling the juice from the leftover fruit? Today, in the age of wide-scale commercial farming, that approach to adding or preserving value from one’s harvest is not an animating factor, and pressing and distilling juice from fruits is one of the most expensive ways to produce a spirit. But do they have to be?

Whether through his work for Stone Barn Brandy...

It may seem like everything that can be done, has been done, but for FEW Spirits operations director Riley Henderson, novel fermentations offer new opportunities for flavor in familiar spirits such as rye whiskey and bourbon.

Half a decade ago, FEW embarked on a project to explore the impact of fermenting with koji, a mold historically used for saccharification in sake and soy sauce, among other foods and drinks. Results were mixed at first, but through iteration and adaptation, FEW has landed on a process that works consistently and produces flavors that carry through distillation, producing flavor...

Are distillers really just “dirty” brewers? How do you stabilize ingredients and flavors in canned RTDs? How can water chemistry at the municipal level cause potentially expensive issues with arrested fermentations? Through his career, Reade Huddleston has seen it all, and now as Director of Distillation and Spirits at Monster Brewing, he’s putting into daily use these best practices gleaned from years of brewing and distilling, as well as focused study.

In this episode, Molly and Reade explore a range of subjects, including:

Master distiller Lisa Wicker may have taken an unconventional path through her career, shifting from wine to distilled spirits, but that’s hardly the only decision she’s made that some might deem unusual. For Wicker, spreading out and exploring adjacent but interesting fields has improved her approach to distilling and blending much more than intense focus could. Now, she pulls on all that background to hone fermentations with atypical grains, tighten distillations, and blend with identifiable character in mind.

In this episode’s conversation with Sydney Jones, Wicker discusses:

Ale Ochoa is an expert sensory scientist and master blender with years of experience building sensory teams both large and small. In this episode, she outlines key parameters for sensory programs and outlines both simple and more complex ways of deploying sensory tools to improve blends, identify flaws, create more compelling descriptions, and make better spirits.

Through this episode, she covers:

Welcome to Episode 1 of the Craft Spirits & Distilling Podcast, featuring hosts Sydney Jones, head distiller for FEW Spirits in Chicago, and Molly Troupe, master distiller for Freeland Spirits in Portland, Oregon. Recorded live at the ACSA trade show and convention in Denver, this conversation introduces the podcast and the hosts via a deep dive into their favorite distilling techniques.

Along the way, they discuss: