When ADI was founded in 2003, there were 69 craft distillers holding Distilled Spirits Plant licenses (DSPs). Today there are over 300 DSPs in the U.S. with no slowdown visible. By the end of 2015, we project somewhere between 450 and 500 craft distillers in the United States and Canada.
What impact will this “sudden” influx of brands have? We know the liquor store shelves will groan with new “craft” products, and we know there will be confusion over the terms “craft,” and “artisanal.” There will also be considerable and largely deliberate obfuscation about who actually distills the spirit. When Wendy’s can claim a breakfast to be “artisanal” because a cook cracks an egg over a pan, the term borders on absurdity.
To counter this confusion, especially in our judging events, ADI draws a bright line between “craft distilled” (meaning distilled on premise, or grain-to-glass) and “artisan merchant” or “merchant bottled” (meaning the spirit was distilled elsewhere). Most vodkas are merchant bottled — neutral grain spirits purchased in bulk and either redistilled or infused with fruit or flavors. If, for example, the label declares “Distilled in Indiana’s Heartland,” or some such phrase, it probably means that it was distilled at the old Seagram’s plant in Lawrenceburg.
The important point is this: there’s nothing wrong with packaging a brand using sourced spirit; just don’t call it “craft distilled.” Indeed, for most craft distillers, jump-starting a brand with sourced spirits is a legitimate way of buying time. It takes a minimum of two years for a whiskey to age long enough to qualify as straight whiskey. Over time, as these spirits mature they will find their way to market; the merchant bottled brands will slowly share the shelves with craft-distilled ones.
Because craft distillers focus on quality rather than quantity, they rely on an educated consumer to buy and appreciate their product. That education almost always begins with knowledgeable bartenders (mixologists if you will), high-end restaurateurs, spirits writers, malt guilds, and other non-traditional sources of trusted information.
Knowing what’s in your glass is the first step in the voyage of discovery in the wonderful world of craft-distilled and merchant bottled spirits. Welcome aboard.
