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Unless you’re working with a single-grain mash bill, writing a whiskey recipe can be a daunting mental exercise worthy of trip to the therapist. From a master distiller, here are some tips to guide you through the process.

If you’ve built your distilling business to last, there will come a day to breathe new life into the brand and update its look. The first trick is in knowing when that day has come—then comes the soul-searching.

It can be time-consuming and expensive to establish and train a well-run descriptive tasting panel—but it’s a powerful tool for craft distillers to assess their products for flavor, aroma, and consistency.

Releasing your tasting room’s Manhattan or old fashioned as an RTD isn’t as simple as scaling up and bottling the recipe. Here’s some advice from two craft distilleries on how to do it successfully.

As small, independent distillers find more curious consumers, they’re learning how to communicate the technical side of their craft—and it’s driving interest in their spirits.

Blending on the small-batch scale, craft-whiskey makers have limitations that the bigger producers don’t have—but they also have distinct advantages. Heeding advice from accomplished blenders, let’s look closer at how to blend whiskeys mindfully, with art and with purpose.

Thoughtfully applying the science and craft of blending offers an avenue for distilleries to elevate their products—but it begins with a serious devotion to sensory analysis.

While there are limitations—and scoring high on likeability is no guarantee that a product will succeed—properly conducted hedonic testing can be a powerful tool for distillers and others in the beverage business.

Granulated peat—pulled from American soil and driven by environmental concerns—is different from the peat moss traditionally used in the production of Scotch. At least one distillery is experimenting with cold infusions that add a different dimension to single-malt whiskey.

When selecting barrels to finish their spirits, some craft distillers are going against the grain.