ADI Whiskey Conference, Louisville, 2008
By Jay Erisman, The Party Source in Bellevue, KentuckyMay, 2008

I always wanted to be a distiller. Though I started homebrewing in 1990, when the craft beer revolution was heating up, I could tell pretty quickly that professional brewing was not for me. But distilling, on the other hand, the hope of making my own Bourbon, my own Scotch-inspired usquebaugh, held a real allure. Today I'm a wine and liquor retailer, and the still continues to fascinate me. So it was with great excitement and high hopes that I attended the 2008 American Distilling Institute Whiskey Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. And between the camaraderie of kindred spirits, plenty of tasty dramming, and the pure passion inherent in a handmade product, my time spent was amply rewarded during this fabulous whiskey-tinged gathering.
One highlight of the conference was the host, Huber Winery and Distillery, in Borden, Indiana. I rode the bus to Huber expecting a li'l ol' country winery with a still in the corner and some picnic tables. I found 550 acres of agro-tourism, with a huge convention space and an extensive winery/distillery, and multiple barrels of various fine spirits (and outstanding food, including some of the best fried chicken ever.) Huber has partnered with ADI on several conferences, and judging from their stunning performance in this one, 2008 surely won't be the last.
A clear sign that American craft distilling is growing up was the presence of Jim Murray, probably the world's leading whiskey writer. Jim was in town to lead the whiskey judging, but also to conduct a tasting with the conference attendees. And what a tasting it was, by turns informative, thought-provoking, and cunning, as Jim surprised us all with peaty-smoky whiskies from Oregon (courtesy Jim McCarthy) and, of all places, India. Jim served notice that superb whiskey can be made anywhere, from Scottish glens to Kentucky hollows to the Indian subcontinent and certainly in fifty American states.
The plan and schedule of the conference was brilliant (though not immune to a bi of controlled chaos, to be expected in any gathering of 300 distillers). There was something for everyone, with seminars aimed at either those who are thinking about distilling, or those who already have product coming off the still. The information provided to would-be distillers was thoughtful, covering such essentials as production, whiskey styles, marketing and more. I was glad to see plenty of attention to specific whiskey topics, such as mashing in-house as opposed to contracting with a brewery.
I was privileged to participate in a discussion about selling and distributing spirits, part of a panel of several distillers led by Sonja Kassebaum of North Shore Distillery (whose product I am pleased to sell). Ralph Erenzo of New York's Tuthilltown Distillery was part of the panel, and is a true Yankee in the old sense of the world, filled with ingenuity, smart business sense, and passion for his product. Ralph's range of spirits, including a rye whiskey and "Hudson Baby Bourbon" in irresistibly cute half bottles and New York State apple vodkas, is a solid product line of classically inspired American spirits.
On the other hand, Rick Wasmund of Virginia's Copper Fox Distillery makes a totally unique whiskey, a fascinating single malt that bears only a faint resemblance to the malts of Scotland. I met Rick (whose product I am also pleased to sell) over dinner on the first night of the conference, and was immediately struck by his conviction to do things his way. Rick not only mashes his own barley, he even malts his own grain, drying it with American-style smoke woods like apple and cherry. I know of one other distillery in the world that malts all of their own grain-Springbank of Campbeltown, Scotland's most traditional distillery and one of its best. When a distiller is mentioned in the same sentence as Springbank, he's got to be doing something right. Rick's whisky is by turn smoky and pungent, sweet and fruity, intense yet well-balanced, a raw youngster yet but with tremendous upside.
This is the promise of American craft distilling: the discovery of new whiskeys, spirits that speak to the uniqueness of a place and the impassioned hand of a maker, original drams not following in another's trail.
From the retail point of view, I consider American craft spirits a growing category in the liquor marketplace, albeit a small niche at present. Many craft distillers focus on their home market, selling successfully as the cool local distillery (following in the steps of craft breweries, who also found good sales at home). Regional or national markets, however, can be a tougher nut to crack. Here, I think the cream will rise to the top.
To grow beyond a local market, a craft distiller has to set herself apart with compelling and distinctive flavor (and a great package is important, too). Outside of its home market, a redistilled, thrice-filtered grain neutral spirit sold as craft vodka will have a tough time convincing a consumer to put down the Grey Goose. At The Party Source in Bellevue, Kentucky, many of the staff rate California's Hangar One as our best vodka, flavored or otherwise. We sell a goodly amount of Hangar One, and it has turned into one of our core brands of vodka. We never sell it based on its California location. We sell it on flavor. Other examples of compelling white spirits include the Thibodeau brothers' Cold River Maine potato vodka and Duncan Holaday's Vermont Spirits maple and milk vodkas, all of which have a great story and are made from scratch with local products, reflecting the native flavor of the land from which they spring.
In fact, as craft spirits go, I suspect whiskey and other brown spirits will have long legs in this young movement. Whiskeys and brandies and aged rums are supposed to taste different from one another, while vodka to some extent is not. While it might be harder, and certainly more expensive, to make an aged spirit than a white one, it is easier to make a brown spirit different from its peers. Further, drinkers of straight brown spirits are, broadly speaking, more apt than vodka cocktail drinkers to try a new product based on flavor. On a store shelf, a craft American whiskey stands out, while craft vodka faces a much more crowded field with scores of products from around the world.
If brown spirits are in the ascendancy in craft distilling, then I am sure the 2009 ADI Brandy Conference will be a winner, not least because I have visited the host, St. George Spirits in Alameda, California, and found these mad scientists to be eminently hospitable. And I look forward to future Kentucky-based whiskey conferences in my neck of the woods. In the meantime, craft distillers should know that this burgeoning industry is receiving attention from the upper levels of American liquor retailers, distributors and, increasingly, the American consumer. Like Rick Wasmund's home-malted four-month-old whisky, it is still a young movement, but one with real quality and the unmistakable imprint of passionate American entrepreneurs. In Germany, the distillers' guild says "Prosit," and the Scots say "Slainte," but here in America I say simply cheers to your small stills, your conviction, your craft.

Late yesterday, Dry Fly Distilling, Washington's first production distillery since 1918 was granted a new license as a "Craft Distillery." This license and change is the result of Dry Fly's legislative work with Senator Chris Marr and Representative Alex Wood on SHB 2959. The bill, which became law July 1, allows Dry Fly to do limited retail sales and tasting from it's distillery location at 1003 E. Trent. This is the first time someone other than the state has been allowed to retail a distilled spirit, and the first distillery to ever conduct a tasting in Washington State. The distillery and tasting room is open Monday through Saturday.
Come by and visit!
Don G. Poffenroth
Dry Fly Distilling Inc.
www.dryflydistilling.com
Distillery (509)489-2112
Cell (509)981-4378
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I have two of the 600 liter stills in stock. They are brand new and are complete. All you have to do is add producte and hook gas to the burner.
We are asking $14,500.00 each.
We also have a few of the 100 liter as in the picture. (above) They are $2,900.00 and they do not have a burneInterested parties can contact Richard Turner at 315-719-0480 or Danny Prospero at 914-769-6252.
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With $5,000 in seed money from the Portland Development Commission, 16 Oregon craft distillers have formed the first artisan distilling guild in the United States.
The Oregon Distillers Guild Inc. will operate as a nonprofit Oregon corporation, to promote the common interests of the licensed distilling industry in the state.
"We're ready to focus our energies to grow the industry here," said Lee Medoff, guild president and owner of Portland-based House Spirits, in a statement. "With more micro-distillers than any other state, we've reached critical mass. The PDC funding will jump-start the guild to promote Oregon spirits, provide resource connections and improve the business environment for distillers here in Portland and throughout the state."
The guild's immediate plans include developing guild literature and point-of-purchase displays and shelf tags to identify Oregon-made products. The group will also create a Web site for greater visibility.
Over the long term, the guild wants to help members improve operations and reduce operating costs. It wants to publish a resource guide, study bulk purchasing opportunities for supplies like glass and corks, and work with regulatory bodies to improve the business environment.
Membership is available to individuals, organizations and suppliers.
Current members are Artisan Spirits, Bendistillery, Brandy Peak, Cascade Peak, Dolmen, Highball, House Spirits, HRD; Indio Spirits, Integrity, Liquid Vodka, McMenamins Edgefield, New Deal, Ransom Spirits, Rogue and Subrosa.
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Consultant. Chris Musumeci is a marketing and business consultant with 20 years of experience. Areas of specialty are - business strategy, brand building, supply chain strategy, distributor procurement, market research.
917-570-9502
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How to make rum. (Moonshine)
Equipment cost $156.
-The wash is 11.5 gallons of water and 15 pounds of dark brown.
Heat to dissolve sugar wash, then cool to 70 degrees.
-Ferment using Red Star S-70 yeast and Servomyces yeast nutrient.
-The yield is 14.17% ABV,
-Make a two pass distillation each time make head and tail cuts
This should yielded 1.98 gallons of rum, that's (10-750ml bottles) @ 100 proof.
The rum should be "lab aged", in contact with charred French oak staves for 2 weeks .
The rum should also (with a spoon) be stirred and oxygenation with a sintered stone.
The process described is definitely rudimentary. Effective and tasty you bet!
From Mr. E's. Kitchen in West Virginia
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More museum than distillery but this stop is worthwhile none-the-less. Yes, Locke's is a museum, the distillery was established in 1757 and claims title as the oldest licensed distillery in the world. Unfortunately they ceased production over 5 decades ago and it's really not fair to count the small 1,600 liter pot still they recently put back in service.
Although primarily a warehouse for various Cooley brands produced elsewhere including Kilbeggan, Tyrconnel and Connemara, Locke's has the smell and feel of a genuine working distillery. Not a computer operated automated giant but one where real people went to work every day to make real whiskey, whiskey they were proud of. Indeed the whole community was involved in one way or another which is evident by a rather substantial bronze bell placed high on the wall of a cut stone building. It's the distillery bell and they called it the "6 AM bell". They rang it every working day at 6. 6 AM to wake the town, to start the fires for breakfast and to make sure the distillery workers arrived by 7 AM.
Even with the bell silent, you can feel a sense of purpose here at Locke's. Certainly it's more than what you'd expect to find in a museum and although they're not making much in the way of whiskey, there's life here.
They made real whiskey for real people. Not surprisingly given their location on the Brusna River, they used a water wheel to power a massive assemblage of moving shafts and gears, gears which once powered pumps, mash rakes, blowers and grindstones and it's simply amazing to think that it all still works, yes, the water wheel still works. It's all for show but you can feel the vibrations in the floor, in the walls; in just about anything you touch. A little cleaning up of the old mash tuns and fermentation vats and you have to believe you'd be making whiskey once again. Indeed with a pair of 50,000 liter vats already in place and maybe some new piping for the three old copper stills, is it wishful thinking?
They've put up a few casks from their small pot still but there's no fermenting done on site. It's all trucked in but token or not, it's a step in the right direction. With renewable energy on everyone's mind, there's potential here to resurrect something purposeful. Even the old steam engine, they told me how old it was but frankly I've forgotten. It was certainly built to last for well over 100 years and Locke's staff keeps it ready to run as though waiting for management to tell them any day now to start it all up once again. The river powers the wheel and there's another spot upstream where they once generated electricity for both the distillery and a few village homes. Perhaps they can do the same once again.
Distillery manager Brian Quinn talked with passion about rebuilding a river-powered water pump which once moved water not only to the 3rd level of the distillery and surrounding homes but which is capable of piping river water for distances up to 5 kilometers. This wasn't just a distillery tour, but also a lesson in sustainability and perhaps a glimpse of where we as craft/artisan distillers might take a responsible place in the future.
As an aside, like any good distillery tour we ended with a tasting, a fine glass of Kilbeggan and it was perfect to cut through the chill of a cold and misty Irish morning.
A trip to Locke's Distillery Museum - highly recommended. Sláinte
Tom Lix
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Tom Lix mail@lix.org P.S. Getting there is easy, only about 50 miles as the crow flies west from Dublin but stay off the main highways and enjoy the country side. Stop for fish and chips with a pint of Guinness or Smithwicks Ale (pronounced 'smith-icks') along the way. If you haven't yet tried Bulmer's "vintage" Irish Cider I'd strongly recommend it as well. None of the sweetness we American's associate with hard cider and certainly a tasteful alternative if Guinness is simply too bold for your palate or heavy on your stomach.

Join the ADI forum. http://www.adiforums.com
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The link to DSP permits is: http://ttb.gov/foia/fri.shtml
Their are over 300 DSP licenses in the USA. Half are craft distilleries. (Nine are whiskey distilleries) The rest are super large industrial distilleries and importers. Check their websites to see if they really distill.
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--To obtain a distilled spirits permit go to:
">http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/index.shtml

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--To obtain TTB list of DSPs go to: http://www.ttb.gov/foia//err.shtml

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--To obtain TTB statistics on distilling go to: www.ttb.gov then scroll down to "spirits" and then the "year".
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--To obtain Distilled Spirits Laws and Regulations go to: http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/spirits_regs.shtml

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--To obtain label regulations go to: http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/bam.shtml distilled spirits manual circular.
To print the Beverage Alcohol Manual: click (Manual)
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