How Stoutridge Distillery Managed the Wine-to-Spirits Migration
Having opened in 2006 as a winery eschewing chemicals in its winemaking (unique now, more so for that time), life and work partners Steve Osborn and Kim Wagner sought to capture as much flavor as possible in wines and...
Sustainability in the Age of COVID-19
“We must free ourselves of the hope that the
sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in
high winds.” – Aristotle Onassis
I have two Kurdish refugees living above my garage.
Whenever I feel overwhelmed by how much my world has changed since...
Long Train Runnin’
For 126 years, the John Bunning Transfer Station has stood where cold rails meet a spur of mountains rising from the hardened steppe of southern Wyoming. Over the generations, it’s seen its share of boxcars bringing whiskey to fuel...
Not So Fast
Once thought of as almost extinct, aged gins have begun a tentative reemergence in the American market. Some consumers are puzzled by shades of honey and leather in what for many is the quintessential white spirit, but vintage spirits...
Bottleshop: Mezcal de Leyendas Vinata Solar
Mezcal has always had a problem: Where it’s distilled is frequently far from where the agaves grow. Harvesting and transporting those heavy plants from remote and often difficult-to-reach areas can take an enormous amount of time and effort.
Mezcal de...
Whisky in the Kingdom: How Fife Revived its Distilling Legacy
The Kingdom of Fife, a fertile and historical peninsula in the Lowlands of eastern Scotland, has long punched above its weight when it comes to whisky. Sandwiched between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay, this tapestry...
Doublers, Continuous Doublers and Thumpers
In our distant history an ancestral distiller wasn’t satisfied with the elixir from his crude still. He no doubt had traces of grain carryover, entrainment, and greasy grain deposits called gunge (a term Americanized into grunge) and possibly patches...
Split Rock Distilling Sets its Sights on Sustainability
Conveniently located along the well-traveled coastal Route 1, Split Rock Distilling was co-founded by Topher Mallory and Matt Page. They regale me with how Newcastle, Maine, has grown in the 25 and 20 years they’ve respectively called it home....
The Next Step in Artisan-Distilled Vodka
Download 16 April 2004 Issue
Bill Owens of the American Distilling Institute traces what he calls the “renaissance in distilling” to the work of Jorg Rupf, currently at St. George’s Distillery in Amameda, California, beginning about twenty years ago. Rupf’s...
The Simple Pot Still
Download 14 January 2004 Issue
In the early days of distilling essential oils for medicine and fra grances, the simple pot-still was the only tool available to the chemist. By slowly heating a liquid sample and collecting the vapor, the compound was...
