30: Bob Dillon of Dismal Harmony Refines Flavors with Creative Flair
Bigger world events have a way of bringing clarity and focus to individual goals, and for Bob Dillon of Dismal Harmony, (https://www.dismalharmony.com) the COVID pandemic gave him just the push he needed to change careers and explore the technical and creative side of craft distilling. Now, from his outpost in Morristown, New Jersey, he’s focused on both serving boundary-pushing cocktails and creating the spirits to make them possible. A recent Best in Show award for his Vidisha’s Masala liqueur from the American Craft Spirits Association’s 2025 competition is proof that his focus on finding new flavor expressions (within the confines set out by the TBB) is paying dividends.
In this episode, Dillon and host Sydney Jones discuss:
the challenges in opening a craft distillery
balancing technical precision and artistic creativity across a range of spirits
building a high-end tasting room with a refined cocktail program to support the distillery’s business plan
distillery techniques for achieving great results with challenging ingredients
working up to the edge of the TTB’s generally recognized as safe (GRAS) ingredients list
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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29: Devon Trevathan of Liba Spirits and Trovador Rum Distills Spirits with Stories
Storytelling is in Devon Trevathan’s blood, and whether she’s distilling unique spirits in Austria, New Orleans, or Australia, or writing about the inspiring technical work of peers for articles for Spirits & Distilling, she remains focused on the dual side of making—pushing outside of one’s comfort zone and finding truth. Through Liba Spirits (https://libaspirits.com), she pursues a nomadic approach, producing spirits with their own stories at often far-flung locales. And with Trovador Rum (https://www.trovadorrum.com), based in Nashville, Tennessee, she applies her developed blending skills to create a synthesis of various rum traditions. But her interests stretch well beyond specific styles and schools, and in this conversation with host Molly Troupe, she touches on:
the unique flavor profile and historical significance of peated whiskey
navigating the unique challenges of nomadic distilling
exploring new ingredients and processes in the context of foreign distilleries
working with infusion and maceration in place of barrel aging
finding balance between sweetness and bitterness in aperitivo
fine tuning spirits with filtration and adjustments
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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Episode 28: Brett Steigerwaldt of Lyon Rum is Crafting Contemporary Expressions with Timeless Methods
The process of making rum is rife with lore, but for Brett Steigerwaldt of Lyon Rum (https://www.lyonrum.com) in St. Michael’s, Maryland, breaking down the variables and understanding the impacts of each factor—ingredients, fermentation, distillation, finishing—leads to more refined expression. In this episode, Steigerwaldt and host Sydney Jones discuss:
double pot distillation’s impact on flavor and texture in finished rum
distilling various iterations of white and dark rum as well as finishing in alternate spirit barrels
understanding base ingredients for better perspective on fermentation impact
the challenges of working with molasses
adapting traditional rum techniques to whiskey, making for greater ester formation
working with Rosalie Bay Distillery in Dominica
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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27: Ashley Barnes of The Blending House Uses Data to Drive Better Blends
Ashley Barnes, master blender at the Blending House, (https://www.theblendinghouse.com) joins host Molly Troupe for an in-depth discussion of the scientific and sensorial approaches to building characterful blends. A former pharmaceutical quality chemist, Barnes was recruited by Buffalo Trace, later moved on to Four Roses, and has worked with (and learned from) some of the greats in the bourbon world. Now, at the Blending House, she works with nondistilling producers to carefully age and blend fine spirits using a variety of creative and data-driven techniques, while tracking environmental data such as temperature and evaporation to better understand long-term flavor development.
Over the course of the episode, they discuss:
Learning quality, flavor profiling, and profile maintenance from Four Roses master distiller Brent Elliott
The challenge of creating different flavors from the same barrel stock
Useful analogies for thinking about cohesive blends
Both negative and positive selection for minimizing distractions while maximizing cohesion
Controlling variables in rickhouse aging for more favorable flavor development
Ongoing research on yeast and other topics
The basics of labs for both blending quality and bottling quality
Sensory strategies for maintaining consistency through varying personal circumstances
Building the right lexicon for sensory description
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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26: Caley Shoemaker of As Above, So Below Explores Character and Texture in Vodka Distillation
Caley Shoemaker got her start in whiskey at Denver’s Stranahan’s and went on to distill at Hanger One in Southern California before launching her own distillery, As Above, So Below (https://aasbdistillery.com) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2021. Now, from her home base on the edge of the mountains in a state nicknamed “The Land of Enchantment,” she’s summoning strong spirits with their own particular swagger.
In this episode, host Sydney Jones and Shoemaker discuss:
• Creating vodka, gin, whiskey, and botanical spirits inspired by place, travel, and experience
• Making vodka from a mash with darker grains, for creamy texture and flavor
• Aging spirits in the high and dry climate of New Mexico
• Managing cuts to balance flavor and character given target aging time and high loss from barrels
• Balancing botanicals in gin while prizing flavor over locality
• The secrets to her ACSA medal-winning absinthe
• Learning through consulting with a potato vodka distillery in Rwanda
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.
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.
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