Craft Spirits Weekly
Welcome to the eigth issue of Craft Spirits Weekly, a service dedicated to bringing you the news most important to the craft spirits distiller. Check your inbox every Thursday to find a curated selection of articles and news pieces from the American Craft Spirits Association.

American Craft Spirits Association Announces 2017 Awards
The American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) announced the winners of its Fourth Annual Judging of Craft Spirits, who were honored during the Awards Dinner as part of the Fourth Annual ACSA Distillers Convention and Vendor Trade Show at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville, Tenn. Winners were hand-selected among a record-breaking pool of more than 550 entrants – up more than 20 percent over last year. ACSA proudly bestowed the evening’s ultimate honor, the Best in Show Award, to Long Road Distillers (MI) for their Long Road Aquavit. (ACSA PR Release)

Retiring U.S. Honda Head Starting Craft Distillery
The U.S. head of Honda is retiring to make gin and vodka with his sons. John Mendel, 62, executive vice president for the Japanese carmaker at American Honda Motor Co. in Torrance, Calif., told a group of dealers Monday night that he’s retiring. (L.A. Times)
Twin Spirits Opens This Weekend in Minneapolis
Don't let the name fool you. It may be called Twin Spirits, but this here is a one-woman show. The name behind the new Northeast distillery is a nod to Michelle Winchester's vodka and gin. She'll be serving both from her new cocktail room in Minneapolis, starting this Saturday, February 25. (City Pages)
Colorado Spirits Scene Grows, Diversifies
The independent brewery scene in Colorado has been steadily growing for decades, and that same approach is now following suit in the world of distilling. According to the Colorado Distillers Guild, the state is home to more than 50 distillers making everything from whiskey and gin to kümmel and aquavit. In this growing industry, there’s all kinds of room for experimentation and variety. (Highlands Ranch Herald)
Ky. Craft Bourbon Distillers Booming Among Large Producers
Bourbon in Kentucky is big business. In fact, we learned last week that it has grown to an $8.5 billion industry and employs 17,500 people. Alongside the big boys of the bourbon world like Four Roses and Woodford Reserve is a booming craft distillery sector, helping add to the bourbon craze. These small operations are adding big bucks to Kentucky's economy, including a new distillery bringing bourbon back to a place that hasn't seen production there in nearly a hundred years. (WYMT)
Actor Walton Goggins Launches Spirits Co.
You may know Walton Goggins from Justified or Hateful Eight — or the series Six currently airing on the History Channel—but he is now making his way into everyday life via another popular vice: spirits. The actor and his longtime friend, L.A. native and cameraman Matthew Alper, have launched Mulholland Distilling, one of the first spirits companies to call L.A. home since prohibition. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Jersey City to Host Whiskey Festival
Over 100 styles of whiskey and spirits will be available for the tasting when the Jersey City Whiskey Fest comes to town on March 24. . Whiskey distillers, master blenders, and other whiskey experts will be on hand in Jersey City, N.J. to answer your questions. (JerseyDigs.com)
Dogfish Head Upping Its Spirits-Making Activity
Dogfish Head is about to step up its craft spirits game with some new, off-centered whiskey. Since launching a commercial-scale distillery at its Milton headquarters in late 2015, the company has sold more than 5,000 cases – or about 30,000 bottles – of its Analog Vodka, Compelling Gin and Whole Leaf Gin, headliners of the brewery's burgeoning liquor line. The company now is seeking final approval to build two 9,900-square- foot rackhouses, also known as rickhouses, to store and age its latest creation. (Cape Gazette)
Copper & Kings Honors African-American Pioneer with Bartender School Launch
Few know of the achievements of Louisville native Tom Bullock, but Copper & Kings American Brandy Co. hopes to change that. Bullock was the first African-American to write a cocktail book, “The Ideal Bartender,” in 1917, having worked his way up at various bars, restaurants and country clubs in the region. (Insider Louisville)
American Craft Spirits Association | americancraftspirits.org