Alan Bishop: Alchemist of Spirits of French Lick
Alan Bishop and his family have some history in distilling, and he has grown into someone who embodies the designation “master distiller,” even though he shies away from the tag. I’ve known Alan for over five years, and we...
Louisville 2.0
There is a fresh wind blowing in the historically reverent city of Louisville. Yes, bourbon still reigns, even controls, the region and longtime distilleries have dominated the culture like venerable parents and grandparents. But a diverse expansion has been...
Miller Duvall
Meet the micro-distiller who is making California citrus a flavor to be reckoned with
Miller Duvall grew up in a farming family going back six generations in Central California. Their Los Banos farm grew row crops like tomatoes, cotton and...
The Quest for Local Grains
“We are ready for our first batch of whiskey!” my husband Steve exclaimed. “Where’s the grain?”
For two years we had spent every evening, weekend and holiday building our distillery from the ground up. How could it be that suddenly...
America’s First Sweet Potato Vodka
If I had to guess, I’d say 42-year-old David Souza III is a gambling man. Not because he dropped out of college to be a successful entrepreneur in the Las Vegas restaurant and club promotions industries, but because one...
The Story of the Scientific Distiller
Michael Griffo, a distiller with a doctorate in physics, likens alcohol to — of all things — pancakes. A self-characterized “experimenter,” he walks the line between the romance of making spirits and the science to master it. In other...
Moonshine University
In the city of Louisville, KY — the epicenter of American distilling — resides the country’s premier distilling school, Moonshine University. There, students from all over the world come to learn the art of distilling from some of the...
Top 10 LA Bars
Described as “100 cities in search of a city,” sprawling Los Angeles really is dozens of cities spread across over a massive 4700 square miles. Growing up nearby in Orange County until we moved to New Jersey/NYC area —...
The House Built on Agave
From the early 2000s, “Tequila” and “mezcal”—Mexico’s most famous agave spirits—have experienced significant growth in popularity and consumption in the United States. According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US (DISCUS), imports of Tequila into the US have...
Waterpocket Distilling
How many categories of liquor are in your home bar? If you’re like most drinkers, you’ve got the basics covered: rum, whiskey, vodka, gin, tequila, brandy. The standard six. But, then again, you’re reading a magazine called Distiller. So...
