50 States of Whiskey is, first and foremost, a show about craft whiskey. We talk to craft whiskey distilleries in every state, but we also like to show how these distilleries fit into the culture in their state and the craft whiskey movement in general. Each episode of this show is about the good men and women of the craft whiskey world. You should know that no one paid us to come their distillery, we chose these distilleries because of who they are, what they stand for, and the booze that they make. To make this show we reached out to distilleries across the country. In every case, the first time we actually ever meet is on camera. So, what you see is what you get. I hope you enjoy learning about these craft whiskey distilleries and the incredible people who are fighting tooth and nail to build an industry.
Blue Ridge Distilling Co. sits in
Golden Valley, North Carolina about 1.5 hours away from Charlotte. Deep sea salvage diver Tim Ferris was one of the first distillers to implement a now revolutionary way of aging whiskey. It’s an unconventional craft whisky made by
unconventional people.
In this episode we explore the Defiant property which hosts abandoned mines, old moonshine hoops, and a girl scout camp. We make the diving bell cocktail and learn about diving, whiskey, and genuine happiness from some of the most interesting folks we've met on our journey so far. #DefiantWhisky.
Check out our latest episode here.
This week we travelled to St. Louis Missouri to meet up with a restaurateur who started brewery and then a craft distillery. We also dive into the secret world of barrel making and create the Smile on the Rocks Cocktail. It's a craft cocktail that fuses beer and whiskey perfectly. It's also quite refreshing.
St. Louis is the "Gateway to the West", but beer is the Gateway to whiskey. Also distilled spirits start out as what is called "distillers beer", which is basically just beer. After the distillation, the whiskey is stored in charred oak barrels. You'd think it'd be easy to find barrels in the United States. It turns out that craft whiskey distilleries have a hard time finding barrels for their whiskey. It's a secretive and specialized field and there really aren't many cooperages in the US.
Check out this episode here.
In our 7th episode of 50 States of Whiskey we travelled to the epicenter of American booze lore to learn how one craft distillery turned into a distilling giant.
Koval Distillery in Chicago was the first craft distillery to start making whiskey in the second city. But they did not just build a craft whiskey distillery, they sought out to reshape the entire distilling world.
Koval also has a consulting branch where they help start new distilleries, like Few Spirits in Evanston, Illinois. For Koval we made the Ward Boss Cocktail.3
Check out this episode here.
For our 6th Episode of 50 States of Whiskey we travelled to beautiful St. Michael's, Maryland to meet up with Ben Lyon and Jamie Windon.
Ben and Jamie have a reputation in the distilling world for being incredibly easy to love. They essentially recreated the Maryland booze industry themselves. Not only that, but Jamie is the president of the Maryland Distillers Guild. Ben is a competitive sailor and a genuine booze wizard.
Maryland has a vibrant and often forgotten booze history dating back to the nation's inception. A lot of that history has been forgotten, and so we hope to correct that egregious error.
Check out this episode here.
