Craft Distilling Expo’s Post

Check out the video to hear all about this first release in the new five year series.

Here's what is going on in the US craft spirits and distilling space. Our editor Malvika Patel chats with Erik Owens, President of the American Distilling Institute (ADI). Erik Owens, President of the American Distilling Institute (ADI), is at the forefront of the craft distilling movement in the United States. With a background in biology and biotech, Erik brings a unique perspective to the industry. From his early days brewing beer to leading ADI, Erik has witnessed the growth and evolution of craft distilling. In this exclusive interview, Erik shares insights into the challenges and triumphs of the industry, the impact of ADI, and his vision for the future of craft spirits. Questions we ask: AS THE PRESIDENT OF ADI, WHAT ARE YOUR PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES, AND WHAT ARE YOUR KEY OBJECTIVES FOR THE ORGANIZATION? WHAT TRENDS DO YOU SEE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF CRAFT DISTILLING, AND HOW IS ADI PREPARING ITS MEMBERS TO ADAPT TO THESE CHANGES? HOW DOES ADI SUPPORT ITS MEMBERS, PARTICULARLY SMALL TO MID-SIZED DISTILLERIES, AND WHAT RESOURCES DOES IT PROVIDE TO HELP THEM SUCCEED? THE CRAFT DISTILLING INDUSTRY HAS FACED CHALLENGES SUCH AS REGULATORY ISSUES AND COMPETITION FROM LARGER DISTILLERIES. HOW HAS ADI ADVOCATED FOR ITS MEMBERS AND HELPED NAVIGATE THESE CHALLENGES? WHAT TRENDS DO YOU SEE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF CRAFT DISTILLING, AND HOW IS ADI PREPARING ITS MEMBERS TO ADAPT TO THESE CHANGES? HOW DO YOU BALANCE INNOVATION AND TRADITION IN THE CRAFT DISTILLING INDUSTRY, AND HOW DOES ADI SUPPORT DISTILLERS IN EXPLORING NEW TECHNIQUES AND FLAVORS? WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR ASPIRING CRAFT DISTILLERS LOOKING TO ENTER THE INDUSTRY? and more. Full interview on Bartender Spirits Awards. https://lnkd.in/d5wSV-iM

New York has a chance to build a booming small-batch craft cannabis industry, just like the craft brewery and winery industry. Let’s do this New York. But how do we coin a name for this emerging craft industry? There’s Brewery for the craft brewery industry. There’s Winery for the craft winery industry. Herbery? This emerging craft industry needs a name. Help me out here.Ten-Ten Cannabis

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R&B Distillers has secured planning permission from Argyll and Bute Council for its Machrihanish Distillery, the first farm-to-bottle distillery in Campbeltown in over 180 years. R&B purchased the Dhurrie Farm in Machrihanish in 2021, and having received the green light for the distillery development - starting with whisky production followed by a full visitor experience, shop, and tasting room - will now work with various stakeholders around environmental guidelines and other conditions before beginning construction on the site next year. The Machrihanish Distillery will deliver a new single malt Scotch whisky for R&B, who already own the award-winning Isle of Raasay Distillery, of which R&B says: “while different in style of spirit and region, will exhibit a similar philosophy around provenance, quality, and community regeneration”.  R&B plans to develop a sustainable net zero distilling model that removes any fossil fuel use from the whisky distilling process, using regenerative, environmentally friendly farming practices and creating greater biodiversity in the surrounding area. Up to 20 new jobs will be created in the region over time, having a positive impact on the local economy.  William Dobbie, Managing Director of R&B Distillers, said: “The rubber stamp for the distillery marks a major milestone on our journey in Campbeltown. When the whisky becomes of age our investment will go beyond production, attracting visitors to the region and supporting the local economy in a similar way to our existing distillery on Raasay.” “We are excited to be making this investment in Campbeltown and supporting the local economy through jobs and visitors. This milestone has particular significance to our family as my father Bill’s family come from Drumlemble, a small village in between Machrihanish and Campbeltown.” “We would like to thank everyone who has helped us get to this stage - including Argyll and Bute Council, neighbouring whisky producers Glen Scotia and J&A Mitchell, and most importantly our customers and partners for continuing to support R&B and our brands.” R&B Distillers is also announcing the acquisition of a controlling stake in Caskshare.com, a global eCommerce platform and bottler of single cask spirits. Caskshare specialises in offering whisky fans single cask whiskies by the bottle, including Scotch whiskies, R&B-owned brands, and world whiskies, and enables producers to sell directly to consumers worldwide. R&B plans to add other cask-aged spirits like rum and cognac over time and will initially target markets in Europe and the United States. William Dobbie added: “Our Machrihanish Distillery news and Caskshare majority stake puts us on a clear track towards achieving our vision of becoming the leading new wave spirits business in Scotland.” Left to right are David Nicol (Caskshare), Norman Gillies (R&B Distillers), William Dobbie (R&B Distillers), and Alasdair Day (R&B Distillers) on the Isle of Raasay.

Zooming in on the Distillerie Poisson, started in 1860, the smallest of 5 located on the island of Marie Galante: Distillerie Poisson (Poisson = "fish" in French) makes the brand Pere Labat. The distillery was purchased in 2007 by J.C. Brot, who was born and raised in a family with a long history in Guadeloupe and Marie Galante proper. Culturally, on these islands, making rum is seen as a high achievement and JC always dreamed of being a rhum maker. The distillery employs 17 people and manages about 250 hectares of land, some of which is cultivated with cane that feeds the distillery, while much of the cane is bought from small planters to maintain good relationships with the local Planteurs. Being a French territory, working hours are highly regulated (35hr/week, 5 weeks off per year). The teams is working from 7am to 1pm Mondays to Fridays and 7am to noon on Saturdays. Distillation occurs from Feb to July. The facility is not large or glamorous; it's rusty, it's beat-up, it experiences a lot of daily operational challenges which causes frequent repairs and maintenance issues. Despite these conditions, the distillery continues to produce super high-quality booze, experimenting with aging in various types of casks, including ground cru white Burgundy and Mouton etc... The fermentation process lasts 72 hours and is inoculated. The 2 "Creoles" columns, one from 1955 the other from 1977 are all copper and consist of 15 plates - 11 stripping plates and four concentrating plates. White rhum flows out of the stills at 70.7% alcohol by volume and eventually entering casks at around 63%. The distillery makes about 1,500 liters of booze per day and sells about 40K cases a year (3/4 to the French market, the rest sold internationally). The distillery's operation is deeply intertwined with the local community; some planteurs have scheduled appointments to deliver their cane, other randomly show up. The unpredictable supply of sugar cane from the small local planteurs reflects the totally artisanal nature of its production. The island's hot (temp typically varies between 74 and 95 F) and humid conditions contribute to about 7+% annual evaporation in casks, more than twice the evaporation typical in the Cognac or Armagnac regions of mainland France.

What's in a name? If you poke around whisky cask investment sites for even a short amount of time, you will come across casks labelled with names like "Teithmill", "Blue Hill" or "Wardhead". A small amount of digging will lead you to the perplexing discovery that there are no distilleries under these names. So... where are these casks from? These are what are referred to as fillings or trade names. If you buy a cask of whisky which is labelled with a fillings name, there are restrictions on how you can label the liquid when it is bottled. Usually, the distillery cannot be mentioned by name even if you know for sure where it is from. In the case of Wardhead, it can only be bottled as a blended malt, not a single malt. There are other fillings which are similar in this regard. So, why do they exist? These brands essentially exist to protect the brands of the distilleries. Because their distillate is in someone else's care, they have no control over how it is matured, and eventually bottled. So should you consider buying one of these casks? Well the answer is, it depends. On the plus side, they are usually cheaper than a distillery branded cask. On the other hand, the reputation of the distillery is more difficult to leverage when labelling and selling the whisky. Some bottlers have worked out some slightly cheeky ways to get around this, but that is a story for another day! If you know, you know. Slainte!

Welcome to part 4 in a my series of reviews covering recent releases from the Dumbarton-based independent bottler, Dràm Mòr. In this installment, I’ll be getting to grips with a wee sample from Loch Lomond Distillery, arguably one of the most interesting whisky producers in all of Scotland. Loch Lomond is capable of producing a wide range of different spirits. Each new make style is given a unique name in order to differentiate them. Some are named after islands that can be found in the famous loch. Like Inchmurrin, for example. The Loch Lomond Distillery was established in Alexandria in 1964. There was an earlier distillery to hold the name but it was relatively short-lived and the two are unconnected. Over the plant’s relatively short life, it has undergone several upgrades and expansions. Production commenced on a solitary pair of straight-necked stills that look like a combination between pot and column still. In place of the traditional swan neck, there is a cylindrical column, inside of which, there is a series of plates that can be adjusted to alter the character of the spirit being produced. The number of stills doubled in 1990, before a set of traditional swan neck pot stills were added in 1998. Complicating matters further, a set of column stills were added in 1993, to allow for the production of grain whisky. This made the distillery entirely self-sufficient and able to create everything required for making blended Scotch in-house. Despite the distillery’s impressive flexibility and potential for creativity, however, it would be fair to say that its single malt didn’t always enjoy the greatest of reputations. Things have improved in recent years after first one, then a second, management buyout. A new core range, which showcases the spirit at 46% ABV, without chill-filtering or colour enhancement, paints the spirit in a much more positive light and celebrates some of the incredible flexibility that’s been built into the distillery. Inchmurrin is the name given to an unpeated malt, distilled in the straight-neck stills and this Dràm Mòr expression is a single cask, which has been finished in an oloroso sherry hogshead before bottling at 55.7%. https://lnkd.in/eTPrWa-P

Three Societies on Building South Korean Whiskey Amidst Global Market Challenges: Crafting a Niche in a Competitive Landscape. Bryan Do 도정한, Three Societies Distillery, Oriental Brewery Co., #SouthKoreanWhiskey #ThreeSocieties #WhiskeyIndustry #MarketChallenges #CraftSpirits #GlobalMarket #WhiskeyInnovation #SpiritsBusiness #BrandBuilding #WhiskeyCulture

The Islay region. 🥃 The whisky island! An island much revered by whisky die-hards and world-renowned for just ONE type of Scotch whisky flavour profile. What is Islay? The Islay region – pronounced EYE-LAH - is named after the island of Islay where all the region’s whisky is produced. It’s one of Scotland’s FIVE legally protected Scotch whisky-producing regions and perhaps one of the most popular. Where is Islay? Known as the Queen of the Hebrides it is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides. It’s only 25 miles long, north to south, and only 15 miles long, east to west, with a population of around 3200 people. How many distilleries belong to the Islay region? Currently there are 10 distilleries on Islay: Ardbeg Ardnahoe Distillery Bowmore Dist Bruichladdich Distillery Company Bunnahabhain Caol Ila Kilchoman Distillery Lagavulin Laphroaig Port Ellen - which has only just reopened after being mothballed for 40 years! Any other distilleries set to open? Yes, Elixir Distillers are opening Portintruan Distillery later this year and Ian Macleod and partners set to open Laggan Bay Distillery in 2025. Additionally, Chivas Brothers have announced plans to build an as-yet-unnamed distillery, which will be carbon neutral in its distilling operations from the outset. What is the region known for? The Islay region is world-known for producing PEATED whisky. Most Islay distilleries produce peated whisky by using malted barley that has been dried over a peat fire, EXCEPT for Laphroaig, who infuse their barley with peat smoke BEFORE the drying process. Peat beds are in abundance on the island and indeed all-over northern Scotland. There are few trees, so traditionally peat bricks (cut from the beds) were used as a source of fuel and that tradition continues today. 🪨 What does peated whisky taste like? It has a robust character with a flavour that can be described as smoky, earthy, and often medicinal. Like a late-night beachside campfire - in a glass! 🔥 Should I visit? Yes, it’s almost a MUST if you’re a fan of Scotch whisky, particularly peated whisky. Any festivals I should know about? Yes, Fèis Ìle, or the ISLAY FESTIVAL, is a gathering of Scotch whisky fans from all over the world in the last week of May. This festival is filled with whisky, music and culture. It’s extremely popular with whisky lovers who gravitate to this small island year after year to enjoy the music, and catch up with friends over a dram or two. 🥃 Most of the Islay distilleries will open their doors to welcome guests on different days of the week. Are you a fan of Islay whisky or peated whisky in general? Have you ever visited one of the distilleries on Islay, or do you plan to go this year? Let me know in the comments. 💫 FOLLOW me for more whisky-related insights. 🔗 CONNECT with me if you are interested in whisky content for your brand or business. Please attach a short note and I’ll get back to you asap. #whisky #scotland #scotchwhisky