Savage & Cooke
Dave Phinney didn’t know what to expect when he knocked on the door of a cottage tucked into the hills of California’s Sonoma County.
Phinney, one of the most renowned wine innovators on the West Coast, was totally hungover as...
The Alchemy of Maine Grain: A Spirit of Home
Romantic, agrarian, the hard-working Yankee way—back-to-the landers came together to build a community. This is how Luke Davidson spoke of his youth, and how his agricultural background influenced Maine Craft Distilling.
The Love of Labor and Community
During the 60’s and...
Top 10 Craft Cocktail Bars in Seattle
In the gray cool of the Seattle climate, the city’s cocktail bars are perpetual beacons of warmth, offering well-crafted drinks and convivial company. Seattle cocktail bars have been on the national, even international cocktail conscious. Canon won World’s Best...
Stills with Personality: A look at the Spirits Producers Who Give Their Stills Names
At Montanya Distillers in Crested Butte, CO, Karen Hoskin has assigned names to her trio of rum-producing copper pot stills: Bella, Bellisima and Bellatrix. Each has its own personality, she insists. Bellatrix, for example, has a “spike-heeled attitude” and...
Storming the Citadelle
Alexandre Gabriel of Maison Ferrand will be the Keynote Speaker of ADI’s 2022 Gin Summit.
Alexandre Gabriel is the owner and master blender of Maison Ferrand, a Cognac house with distilling roots stretching back more than four centuries. If that leads...
New Release Roundup for September 2020
My bottle review column (last month’s edition here) is less about tasting notes and more about what is unique, new or trending in spirits alongside my ratings (on a 1-5 rating scale). Now more than ever, small-batch distillers and...
Interview with Karen Hoskin of Montanya Distillers
In the 1880’s mining town of Crested Butte, known as the “official wildflower capital” of Colorado, is one of the country’s most successful rum distilleries: Montanya Distillers, which opened in 2008. President and distiller Karen Hoskin has crafted awarded-winning...
Interview with Davorin Kuchan of Old World Spirits
Old World Spirits (OWS)/Kuchan Cellars has pioneered in a number of areas since master distiller Davorin Kuchan launched this Bay Area-based distillery in 2005 with the motto, “Good Stuff Needs No Special Effects.” OWS is CCOF Organic Certified, sourcing...
A Dialogue on Distilling
Download 1 January 2002 Issue
Steve McCarthy is the owner of Clear Creek Distillery in Portland, OR, which has been producing artisanal spirits since 1984. Starting with an eau-de-vie made from Bartlett pears grown on this family’s orchards in Hood...
Interview with Leigh Lacap
From coffee barista days to bartending his first gig at San Diego’s great Craft and Commerce (www.craft-commerce.com), Leigh Lacap is schooled on balance and technique, but also imparts a playful, feel-good approach that many a bar manager could learn...
