The Spirit World

I attended the 5^th annual American Distilling Institute conference earlier this month, and am happy to report that artisan distilling is thriving in the U.S. When my husband and I started our distillery four years ago, there were about 65 small distilleries in the U.S. Now there are 144 in operation and/or under construction. They can be found all over the country, and making all types of products.

The focus of this year’s conference was whisk(e)y, so we gathered in Louisville, Kentucky. After a day of distillery and cooperage tours (followed by cocktail and spirit tastings galore), we gathered at Huber’s Orchard and Winery (the home of the Starlight Distillery) across the border in Borden, Indiana for a series of sessions about distillation and the liquor industry. Here are a few highlights from the conference:

Informal Product Tastings
Both at the start and later in the conference, we had opportunities to try each other’s products and talk about what we’re doing. The first night, a group of whiskey producers (and one rum) poured samples for other attendees and talked about their products and companies. This group is very informal, and everyone is very approachable, which makes for a really fun and informative tasting.

A couple of days later, many folks brought their products to the conference for more tasting and discussion.

Cooperage Tour
This was my second tour of a cooperage, and they are fascinating places if you like whiskey. This year, we went to Independent Stave’s cooperage in Lebanon, KY. Unfortunately, they did not allow photographs within the cooperage, so I’m substituting a photo from the Bluegrass Cooperage.

These places are very loud, with lots of big machines and quite a few men running them and ensuring the process goes smoothly (didn’t see any women, I looked). Starting from logs, they season the staves and then dry & process them to form barrels. It’s a fairly complex process, and each distillery requires different levels of wood seasoning and barrel char.

Tasting with Parker Beam
We toured the Makers Mark distillery in Loretto and also visited Heaven Hill’s facility in Bardstown. Both are beautiful,and we had great weather. At Heaven Hill, we were treated to a private tasting with master distiller Parker Beam (pictured). He walked us through a tasting of Bernheim Wheat Whiskey and the Evan Williams Single Barrel.

Craft Whiskey Distillers Panel
After our day of tours, we gathered for a day of focused conference sessions. The Huber facility is beautiful and suited our conference beautifully. They have a still on the premises, which was running throughout the conference, and they have a really nice conference space (and don’t miss their fried chicken, its fantastic). The first panel discussion, about craft whiskey distilling, included Jess Graber from Stranahan’s Whiskey in Colorado, Ralph Erenzo from Tuthilltown Spirits in New York, Don Poffenroth from Dry Fly Distilling in Washington, and Rick Wasmund from Copper Fox Distillery in Virginia. Bill Owen from the American Distilling Institute led the panel discussion.

These four talked about their challenges in getting started (and their financial investments), their current outputs, and some of the lessons they have learned along the way. All were forthright, painting a true picture of what their experience has been in starting their distilleries and selling their products. This session was a real eye-opener for everyone in attendance, especially those who were new to artisan distilling.

Jim Murray Tasting
One afternoon, half of us were led in a blind whiskey tasting by Jim Murray. Each whiskey was a surprise - it was not in fact what your palate suggested it was. The biggest surprise for me was the last whiskey we tasted. It was rich, complex and a bit peaty – it tasted like a well-made single malt Scotch that had probably aged for at least 12 years.

What was it? A 3-year old whiskey made in India(!). Mr. Murray said that because of the extreme heat in Bangalore where the whiskey is made, the aging process goes much faster. In fact, he said that with just 2 more years in the barrel, this whiskey would be undrinkable. The whiskey was called Amrut cask strength, and I would highly recommend seeking it out if you can find it.

Evening Meals and Cocktails
After the tours and conference sessions were over, many of us ventured out into Louisville for dinner, cocktails and conversations. It was a great opportunity to talk informally and get to know each other better. There were a lot of fun times, a lot of laughter, and great memories.

We had a great meal at Jeff Ruby’s (in-house dry aging), and a great meal and great cocktails at Proof on Main (bar in the photo). If you go to Louisville, go to the Old Seelbach Bar for a drink or two – I recommend the Speakeasy Select bourbon & rye. They are the house brand at the Seelbach, and I couldn’t find them anywhere else.

All in all, a wonderful experience. I learned a lot, made some new friends and had some great times. What more could you want from a conference?

For more details on the conference, check out the more detailed day-by-day summary on my personal blog, Thinking of Drinking and visit the American Distilling Institute website.