A long time overdue, we're finally having Mark Vierthaler on the show! Mark is Head Distiller of Whiskey Del Bac, makers of Mesquite-smoked American Single Malt Whiskey. Smoked whiskey is a particular point of passion for me, and especially alternative sources of smoke like mesquite wood. Can't wait for this conversation! We'll see you there!

Join us in The Whiskey Lodge Discord: https://discord.gg/KQGkBmtzPT

Articles, reviews, and more: https://demitastes.com

Buy Phill's barrel stave pens! Find him in The Whiskey Lodge or visit his Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheRangersRespiteCo?ref=shop-header-name&listing_id=1717319220&from_page=singlemaltfrontier

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Disclaimer: Some of our guests give us samples of their products for us to discuss with them on air. In these cases we receive no compensation outside of the samples themselves, and we maintain our journalistic integrity: we feature the brands and products that we love *because we love them* and for no other reason. In this case of this video, Whiskey Del Bac provided us with samples of the products we discussed.

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Caitlin Bartlemay, Head Distiller of Clear Creek Distillery, returns to the show! Bartlemay makes one of our favorite whiskeys, McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt. Even so, as Head Distiller of Clear Creek and Hood River Distillers, she's responsible for a whole lot more than that!

The last time we had Bartlemay on, she convinced us whiskey geeks to not dismiss vodka out of hand as a spirit with potential for quality and nuance! So I guess we're vodka nerds now. Let's see if she can convert us to brandy next!

See our previous interview and tasting with Caitlin Bartlemay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4CFIaTCYUE

Join us in The Whiskey Lodge Discord: https://discord.gg/KQGkBmtzPT

Articles, reviews, and more: https://demitastes.com

Buy Phill's barrel stave pens! Find him in The Whiskey Lodge or visit his Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheRangersRespiteCo?ref=shop-header-name&listing_id=1717319220&from_page=singlemaltfrontier

You can also support us by buying us a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/demitastes

Disclaimer: All of the products we discussed in this video were purchased with our own money.

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Ryan Negley of Boulder Spirits has been one of my best industry contacts and advocates for the last 5 months ever since he sent the invitation for me to join the ASMWC at the ACSA conference in Denver at the end of February 2024. He's super passionate about the whiskey and spirits industry and is one of the leads at the head of Boulder Spirits and a portfolio of no fewer than 6 American Single Malt Whiskeys. We'll be discussing how Boulder Spirits (Vapor Distillery) came to be, tasting through possibly all 6 of the Boulder Spirits ASMWs that I have on hand, and getting into the usual industry geekery. Looking forward to it!

Join us in The Whiskey Lodge Discord: https://discord.gg/KQGkBmtzPT

Articles, reviews, and more: https://demitastes.com

Buy Phill's barrel stave pens! Find him in The Whiskey Lodge or visit his Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheRangersRespiteCo?ref=shop-header-name&listing_id=1717319220&from_page=singlemaltfrontier

You can also support us by buying us a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/demitastes

Disclaimer: Some of our guests give us free or discounted samples of their products for us to discuss with them on air. In these cases we receive no compensation outside of the samples themselves, and we maintain our journalistic integrity: we feature the brands and products that we love *because we love them* and for no other reason. In the case of this video, all of the products we discussed were purchased with our own money. Specifically, I purchased this set of 6 Boulder Spirits products from a charity silent auction. These bottles were donated by Boulder Spirits to that silent auction. I paid less than MSRP for the set.

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This week's interview is with Kirstin and Yura Vracko of the Cheeky & Dry Non-Alcoholic Bottle Shop in Seattle.

The Whiskey Lodge's Quarterly Dry Week is April 5th through 11th, inclusive.

As usual, we'll be talking about all the great things you can taste while you're taking a break from alcoholic beverages!

The Whiskey Lodge: https://discord.gg/KQGkBmtzPT

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Sydney Jones gave an awesome talk on Mental and Physical Health / "Booze on the Brain" during the American Craft Spirits Association Conference 2024 in Denver. This week, we'll talk about FEW Spirits, American Single Malt, and Mental and Physical Health in the spirits industry.

The Whiskey Lodge Dry Week Starts 4/5. Tune in for this Dry-Week Kickoff!

More about Sydney:

- https://www.barleycorndrinks.com/spotlight-meet-sydney-jones-f-e-w-s-accidental-distiller/

- https://www.lostlanternwhiskey.com/few-spirits-guest-post-sydney-jones-on-distilling-in-the-midwest/

- Sydney hosts a podcast for the ACSA, go check that out too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H9mjR1tsLQ

- Find Sydney on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sydneat_jones

The Whiskey Lodge: https://discord.gg/KQGkBmtzPT

Cheers to drinking more FEW and "drinking fewer more".

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Reade is a highly knowledgeable American whiskey producer, and our kind of geek. He's willing to talk at length about just about any aspect of production in broad terms, and we'll just have to see where the conversation goes. We'll try to get him to speak a bit about his brand of whiskey as well, which is in the early stages and pre-production.

- https://demitastes.com/about/

- The Whiskey Lodge Discord: https://discord.gg/KQGkBmtzPT

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Jonathan and Anna are excellent resources I've had the good fortune to meet several times in the past and they've graciously agreed to appear on our show! We'll get into the nitty gritty of production, blending, and sensory analysis, and any other topics of personal geeky interest that tickle our fancy.

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Today we'll be interviewing Amanda Beckwith, Lead Blender for Virginia Distillery Co. We'll talk about constructing the flavor profiles and blending a portfolio of releases from at least 3 major cask types at one of the country's most influential American Single Malt Whiskey distilleries. We'll also talk a bit about American Single Malt Whiskey education, and VA Distillery Co's free 1-hour ASMW online course: https://learn.vadistillery.com/american-single-malt

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Today we speak with Alex Alejandro Myers of Big Gin. We speak about general gin production techniques, the major styles of Gin including London Dry which is made at Big Gin, Big Gin's specific blend of botanicals that make it stand out in a cocktail, crafting a "Gin Concentrate" that is consistent batch to batch, and unique barrel finished gins, as well as blending a standard Peat Barreled gin blend. Alex has also been dry for a year and does all this without consuming his own products, using a spit cup for the rare taste his job necessitates. Alex also experiments with flavored gin and other fermented and distilled products; fingers crossed for a future line of Captive Spirits products beyond Big Gin.

Follow Big Gin at https://www.instagram.com/_big_gin

Follow Alex at https://www.instagram.com/myers._alejandro/

https://biggindistillery.com/

Big Gin is a subsidiary of Hood River Distillers. You can buy Big Gin online at https://www.hrdspirits.com/ -- If you want to see the Big Gin Peat Barreled release available for sale online, write to HRD to request it!

Alex is also an investor, co-owner, and operations manager of The Rendezvous Bar & Theater in Seattle. Check them out: https://www.therendezvous.rocks/

Remember to Like, Comment, Subscribe, and catch us Live, usually on Thursdays at 5pm PST.

Thanks for watching, and until next time, we'll see you in the Lodge! - The Whiskey Lodge Discord: https://discord.gg/KQGkBmtzPT

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Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/demitastes/

Read my reviews and articles at https://demitastes.com/

You can also find my reviews as well as the reviews of a group of other talented reviewers at https://maltrunners.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/maltrunners

Follow Duckphill Platypus at https://www.instagram.com/rangersrespite and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcbe4znIOiAGHAsWIa62-zw

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Killowen is a relatively new Irish craft distillery, with a philosophy of making spirits inspired by traditional recipes and techniques, with a bit of a modern twist. Killowen uses direct-fired stills and worm-tub condensers. Their portfolio includes poitin, rum, and whiskey from traditional pot still recipes, although some of those recipes don't qualify under the current standard of Irish Pot Still whiskey. I've had a chance to sample a number of their expressions and I'm looking forward to getting really geeky about Killowen's production choices, recipes, and the resulting products.

Learn more from the source at https://www.killowendistillery.com/

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