Spirits & Distilling Podcast

Episode Archive

Episode Archive

38 episodes of Spirits & Distilling Podcast since the first episode, which aired on March 5th, 2024.

  • 38: Jonathan Goldberg of Black Velvet Seeks Harmony through Thoughtful Blending

    August 5th, 2025  |  57 mins 4 secs
    blending, continuous still, cooperage, distilling, dynamic blends, pre-blending

    The master distiller for Alberta, Canada’s Black Velvet embraces the challenge of blending dynamically different distillates into a cohesive whole, with a process focused on consistency, quality, and repeatability.

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    37: Staying Sane and Happy in the Spirits Industry—a Panel Discussion with Maggie Campbell and Jennifer Wren

    July 22nd, 2025  |  1 hr 13 mins
    burnout, distilling, networking, setting boundaries, toxic productivity, work

    Get your bugout bag ready! In this special episode, co-hosts Molly Troupe and Sydney Jones reunite to swap advice with American Cane CEO Maggie Campbell and Jennifer Wren, an industry veteran who now specializes in coaching women on professional development.

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    36: Todd Leopold Designs and Distills Spirits that Have Something to Say

    July 9th, 2025  |  1 hr 24 mins
    brandy, chamber still, distilling, fruit brandy, maryland rye, rye, still, stills, vinegar

    Todd Leopold of Leopold Bros in Denver is part historian, part tinkerer, part creative muse, and part sounding board for the broader craft-distilling world—and his multi-stream approach to experimentation in the service of flavor over style is more relevant than ever.

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    35: American Cane Tells Expressive Stories in Regionally Relevant Rum

    June 24th, 2025  |  53 mins 13 secs
    american rum, distilling, rum

    Great rum is a magical thing, and when all the elements come together—ingredients, culture, fermentation, maturation, and story—there are few spirits that can match its joie de vivre. Today, Maggie Campbell and Chaz Vest are aligning these forces of flavor to cast light on rum’s legacy in America, and telling that story through American Cane.

  • 34: Brent Looby of Desert Door Summons the Spirit of Sotol

    June 10th, 2025  |  1 hr 4 mins
    agave, austin, distilling, sotol, spirits, tequila, texas

    Agave may get the lion’s share of distillers’ love, but it’s far from the only game in town when it comes to distilled Mexican and Southwestern spirits. Desert Door, on the outskirts of Austin, is out to show the beauty and range in sotol—made from the desert spoon plant and sustainably harvested from wild plants.

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    33: Stranahan’s Tyler Glasser Distills with Artful Efficiency

    May 27th, 2025  |  55 mins 13 secs
    demand planning, distilling, forecasting, planning, procurement, single malt, whiskey

    The journey from art student to distiller may strike some as unusual, but for the plant operations administrator at Denver’s Stranahan’s, creativity matched with effective and disciplined execution is the key to successful spirits.

  • 32: Aged Whiskeys and Citrus-Flavored Spirits Heat up for St. Augustine Distillery and City Gate Spirits

    May 13th, 2025  |  1 hr 2 mins
    bourbon, distilling, florida, macerated spirits, moonshine, whiskey

    Distilling in Florida’s hot and humid environment, and producing spirits specifically tuned for cocktails in a tourism-driven locale—those are the major guideposts for the creative direction of these sibling distilleries, as well as for their methods of barrel aging and adding flavor.

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    31: Sara Sergent of Alpine Distilling Blends Science with Instinct and Flair in Botanical Spirits

    April 29th, 2025  |  50 mins 15 secs
    angelica, botanicals, distilling, gin, juniper, lemon, sourcing ingredients

    Whether she’s engaging with the wide world of ingredients or sourcing those from her own high-mountain backyard, master distiller Sara Sergent combines well-honed sensory skills with a methodical process for testing how processes and treatments change aroma and flavor expression in her award-winning botanical spirits.

  • 30: Bob Dillon of Dismal Harmony Refines Flavors with Creative Flair

    April 15th, 2025  |  1 hr 4 mins
    cocktail, cocktails, distilling, liqueur, whiskey

    Bob Dillon joins the podcast to discuss the technical and artistic vision behind his more familiar spirits as well as his ACSA best-in-show-winning Vidisha’s Masala liqueur.

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    29: Devon Trevathan of Liba Spirits and Trovador Rum Distills Spirits with Stories

    April 1st, 2025  |  1 hr 1 min
    aperitivo, distilling, gin, peated whisky

    Whether she’s distilling in far-flung locales, blending beautiful spirits, or writing about others’ processes, Devon Trevathan crafts stories in both words and flavors.

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    Episode 28: Brett Steigerwaldt of Lyon Rum is Crafting Contemporary Expressions with Timeless Methods

    March 18th, 2025  |  57 mins 17 secs
    dark rum, distilling, double pot distillation, fermentation, rum, white rum

    Rum with distinctive character and refined expression is key for this Maryland distillery, and head distiller Brett Steigerwaldt doesn’t leave flavor up to fate.

  • 27: Ashley Barnes of The Blending House Uses Data to Drive Better Blends

    March 4th, 2025  |  52 mins 2 secs
    blending, blending whiskey, bourbon, spirits blending, spirits sensory, whiskey, whiskey blending

    As a chemist with a background in pharmaceutical quality, Ashley Barnes developed scientific discipline and a data-driven approach. Now as master blender at the Blending House, she applies that same rigor to the subject of aging and blending spirits.

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    26: Caley Shoemaker of As Above, So Below Explores Character and Texture in Vodka Distillation

    February 18th, 2025  |  1 hr 1 min
    absinthe, distilling, gin, single malt, vodka, whiskey

    Character and expression in “simple” vodka distillations? Is it really possible? The cofounder and master distiller behind this Santa Fe, New Mexico, craft distillery not only thinks so, but she walks through her process of using atypical grains and other ingredients to produce vodka with spirit and verve.

  • 25: Gian Nelson of Jano Spirits and Ruins Distillery is Exploring the Possibilities in California Agave

    February 4th, 2025  |  48 mins 6 secs
    agave spirit, california agave, distilling, tequila

    There’s more to agave than Blue Weber, and Gian Nelson is on a mission to show just what’s possible with California agave through careful work with growers, adaptive fermentation processes, and an embrace of the inherent inefficiency of agave in general.

  • Episode 24: Eli Breitburg-Smith Is Ushering in the Epoch of Rye in Baltimore

    January 21st, 2025  |  57 mins 12 secs
    apple brandy, distilling, maryland whiskey, rye, rye whiskey, solera, whiskey

    The cofounder and head distiller of Baltimore Spirits discusses their approach to producing distinctive rye whiskeys—such as the award-winning Epoch—as well as other unusual spirits, from a pechuga-inspired apple brandy to a smoked-tea whiskey collab with Ja Rule.

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    23: Morgan McLachlan of AMASS and De Soi Builds Thoughtful Botanical Bases for Both Gin and Nonalcoholic Spirited Beverages

    January 7th, 2025  |  48 mins 5 secs
    distilling, gin. botanicals, nonalcoholic spirits

    She’s not one for hard and fast rules, instead employing the deep strategies of fine fragrance makers and molecular gastronomy chefs to understand the chemical underpinnings of the layered, nuanced aroma and flavor compounds in her spirits.