With a Bachelor degree in Chemistry (with an emphasis in forensics) and a Master degree in Brewing and Distilling from the legendary Heriot Watt University, Molly Troupe uses her education and experience to create products focused on localized ingredients and masterful flavor combinations. As Master Distiller and Partner at Freeland Spirits in Portland, Oregon, she has released six different products ranging from gin to whiskey to canned cocktails.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hosts Sydney Jones and Molly Troupe recount some of the most intriguing and thought-provoking episodes of the past year, discuss developments such as the American Single Malt designation, and look toward what 2025 has in store.
The senior spirits blender at Sydney's award-winning Archie Rose shares his perspectives on sensory analysis, blending, and producing distinctive spirits with Australia’s ingredients and climate.
The world of gin, from the creative and technical side to marketing and sales, is experiencing the same flux that’s affecting the broader craft-spirits world. But Ward—veteran spirits journalist, brand builder, and consultant—offers a broad look at the category, from evolving definitions and flavors to breakthrough marketing.