Meet the Makers
Meet The Makers: Great Wagon Road Distiller Michelle Piechowicz
The road to becoming a distiller isn't always a straight one, and it can start just about anywhere. In the cast of Great Wagon Road Distiller Michelle Piechowicz, the road started with a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Science. BW: How do you use your background in...
Meet the Makers: LA Spirits Awards Co-Founder Nicolette Teo
After a career as a three-time Olympic swimmer in her native Singapore, Nicolette Teo pivoted to a career in wine and spirits. This career included a stint as the Managing Director of the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC) from 2015 to 2018 before she...
Meet The Makers: Blaize & Brooks Founder Cara Osborne
A bout of homesickness and a reading of Fred Minnick's Whiskey Women led Bourbon Women member Cara Osborne to create her own whiskey brand, Blaize & Brooks. BW: What led you to the decision to start your own whiskey brand? CO: In November of 2019, I read Fred...
Meet The Makers: Catoctin Creek Master Distiller Rebecca Harris
Rebecca Harris had a background as a chemical engineer when her husband and business partner, Scott, came up with the idea of opening a distillery. Eventually Catoctin Creek was born and the rest is history! BW: How did you find yourself owning a distillery and...
Meet The Makers: Sonoma Distilling Production Operator Roxanne Tiburolobo
Roxanne Tiburolobo (he/they) is the Distillery Production Operator at Sonoma Distilling Co, whose background in forensic pathology led to a career first in brewing and later in distilling, a career path he began back in 2013 when California had just changed the laws...
Meet The Makers: Reservoir Distillery Education Director Shelley Sackier
Shelley Sackier is a writer of novels on top of being a whiskey educator at Virginia's Reservoir Distillery. Her passion for whiskey was ignited on a trip to Scotland, and these days she is passionate not only about educating consumers about whiskey, but also about...
Meet The Makers: Uncle Nearest Master Blender Victoria Eady Butler
Victoria Eady Butler is a force of nature in the whiskey blending world. A descendant of Nearest Green, Butler had barely retired from her decades-long career in law enforcement before embarking on her new passion project, blending whiskey for the Uncle Nearest brand....
Meet The Makers: Big Nose Kate Co-Founder Melissa Heim
Melissa Heim was distilling at Rogue Spirits back in 2008. Her whiskey journey didn't stop there, and today she is co-Founder and Master Blender of Big Nose Kate Western Whiskey. BW: I love what you said on your LinkedIn profile about believing in potential over...
Meet The Makers: Bardstown Bourbon Co Quality Control Chemist Meghan Mattingly
Can a childhood passion for forensic chemistry lead to a career in the Bourbon industry? That's exactly how it happened for Bardstown Bourbon Company Quality Control Chemist Meghan Mattingly! BW: How did you first become interested in chemistry? MM: Becoming...
Meet The Makers: Reservoir Head Distiller Mary Allison
There are a surprising number of theater majors in the whiskey business. We recently caught up with one of them, Mary Allison, who is the Head Distiller at Virginia's Reservoir Distillery. BW: At what point did you decide to become a distiller? MA: I do not think...