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Spirits & Distilling Podcast

Spirits & Distilling Podcast

By: Spirits & Distilling
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 Enjoy and learn from conversations with leading distillers as co-hosts Sydney Jones, head distiller for FEW Spirits in Chicago, and Molly Troupe, master distiller for Freeland Spirits in Portland, Oregon, explore the technical and creative processes behind award-winning and storied spirits. It’s a podcast by distillers, for distillers, that covers the broad world of finely crafted spirits—botanical and herbal spirits, fruit distillations, agave spirits, grain spirits, and more. Listen as the hosts discuss every aspect of the process, from ideation and ingredient selection through conversion and fermentation, distilling, aging, finishing, proofing, and packaging. Subscribe to this bi-weekly podcast for tips and techniques that will help you make better spirits.© 2025 Spirits & Distilling Podcast Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • 42: Alex Castle of Augusta Distillery Embraces New Challenges in Old Bourbon

    42: Alex Castle of Augusta Distillery Embraces New Challenges in Old Bourbon
    Sep 30 2025
    As a Kentucky native, Alex Castle knew she wanted to work in beverage alcohol before most—bourbon is culturally important in the state, and she wanted to play a part in its continued tradition and evolution. She learned the ropes on pot stills at Alltech and a high-throughput continuous still at Wild Turkey before building out and launching Old Dominick in Memphis. But her return to Kentucky to helm Augusta Distillery (https://augustakydistillery.com) and the Buckner’s brand has ushered in a new chapter of both learning and sharing, as she stashes away barrels of their own distillate for future releases while sourcing older barrels from fellow Kentucky distilleries for limited single-barrel releases. In this episode, Castle and host Sydney Jones discuss: learning the ropes at Town Branch Bourbon and Wild Turkey before building out and launching Old Dominick in Memphis building out Augusta Distillery in a historic Kentucky building the challenges in distillery processes that use Kentucky groundwater building a flavor through-line in aged sourced-bourbon releases barrel rotation as a means of balancing stock for intended age-statement releases the impact of rye on bourbon flavors how location can impact barrel maturation weathering the current spirits-market slowdown And more. G&D Chillers: (https://gdchillers.com) G&D Chillers understands that each distillery’s chilling requirements are unique. On every distillery project, G&D offers the front-end design and engineering your team needs at no cost to you. Hank Pressley, head distiller at Moon Drop Distillery says, “Early on, we made a decision to partner with quality American-made companies. One of those companies was G&D Chillers, and we are proud of that choice. Our equipment from them has run long and strong. We put our first barrel in our rickhouse in September 2021, and in the next 3 years we have put back more than another 540 barrels. What a great decision to team up with a company like G&D Chillers.” Reach out for a quote today at gdchillers.com.
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    58 mins
  • 41: John D.E. Jeffery Wants You to Balance Science and Intuition When Crafting Spirits

    41: John D.E. Jeffery Wants You to Balance Science and Intuition When Crafting Spirits
    Sep 17 2025
    John D.E. “Johnny” Jeffery’s journey into distilling began after a trip to Poland inspired him to make nalewka, a traditional infused liqueur. It’s a journey that’s taken him from Chicago and Michigan State University to craft distilleries such as Death’s Door in Wisconsin, Sante Fe Spirits in New Mexico, and Nevada’s Bently Heritage Estate—all of which he helped to launch. Along the way, he’s embraced a collaborative approach among craft distillers, emphasizing the need to share knowledge so that everyone can make better, more compelling spirits. He continues that work today, advising small distilleries on how to pay attention to customer feedback and create meaningful experiences while maintaining creative traditions. In this episode with host Molly Troupe, Jeffery also discusses: the unusual experience of building a prison still for a California death-row case the importance of having a skilled mechanic in the distillery how sound and music can help identify problems in the distillery balancing intuition with science in R&D projects and whiskey-blending the importance of customer feedback to refining products how storytelling connects the maker with the product and those who enjoy it maintaining authenticity when scaling up And more. G&D Chillers: (https://gdchillers.com) G&D Chillers understands that each distillery’s chilling requirements are unique. On every distillery project, G&D offers the front-end design and engineering your team needs at no cost to you. Sid Dilawri from Filibuster Distillery says, “From the design and engineering to installation and start-up, G&D was easy to work with. We’ve had great customer service since commissioning our chiller, and I’d highly recommend them for any distillery system.” Reach out for a quote today at gdchillers.com.
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    55 mins
  • 40: Joe O’Sullivan of Minden Mill Controls the Variables in Dry-Climate Whiskey Maturation

    40: Joe O’Sullivan of Minden Mill Controls the Variables in Dry-Climate Whiskey Maturation
    Sep 3 2025
    The romance of whiskey maturation meets environmental reality in many parts of the world these days—increasingly hot, dry climates can produce markedly different results than the humid environments of Scotland or Kentucky. That can leave distillers wrestling with the question of whether to lean into process- and environment-driven results, or to manipulate that environment to achieve intentional flavor goals. For Joe O’Sullivan—master distiller at Minden Mill (https://www.mindenmill.com) in Nevada’s high desert, just east of Lake Tahoe—the choice is clear: to prioritize consistency through distillation and maturation processes, so that they can let their estate-grown grain shine. In this episode, O’Sullivan and host Sydney Jones discuss: the impact of terroir on grain, and on distilled spirits made from that grain losing 3 to 4 percent angel’s share per month in a very dry climate building a distillery to optimize intended flavors in finished spirits identifying signature flavor characteristics and optimizing whiskey blends to highlight them controlling the rickhouse climate to mimic weather patterns in popular distilling centers such as Kentucky and Scotland And more. G&D Chillers: (https://gdchillers.com) G&D Chillers understands that each distillery’s chilling requirements are unique. On every distillery project, G&D offers the front-end design and engineering your team needs at no cost to you. Hank Pressley, head distiller at Moon Drop Distillery says, “Early on, we made a decision to partner with quality American-made companies. One of those companies was G&D Chillers, and we are proud of that choice. Our equipment from them has run long and strong. We put our first barrel in our rickhouse in September 2021, and in the next 3 years we have put back more than another 540 barrels. What a great decision to team up with a company like G&D Chillers.” Reach out for a quote today at gdchillers.com.
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    1 hr and 3 mins
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