By Richard Thomas When people think of craft whiskey in New York, they tend to think either of the city (Kings County,  Baron Nahimas, etc.) or of something more rural or Upstate (Finger Lakes, etc.). Yet in Rochester, the third-largest city in the Empire State, there is a singular outpost* in New York State’s busy craft whiskey scene, Black Button ...

By Richard Thomas American craft whiskey is a big and booming field nowadays, with nearly 500 active distillers and bottlers in operation today. In that crowded field, only a handful of operators enjoy the reputation of Paul Hletko and Few Spirits. As Master Distiller, Hletko has built up a solid reputation around the products of his Evanston, Illinois distillery. In ...

By Richard Thomas American history and whiskey are inextricably intertwined, starting with George Washington’s white rye-making distillery and The Whiskey Rebellion, or perhaps even further back with the roots of Bomberger’s Distillery and Elijah Craig if you believe the legends. Whiskey is such a constant fixture in the American story that getting away from it is nearly impossible, especially if ...

By Richard Thomas One thing I’m discovering in doing interviews with creative folks is just how true the stereotype is that musicians, actors, writers and artists love good drink. So it is with Midnight High, a reggae- and hip hop-influenced rock band from Astoria in Queens, New York. The trio of Ben, Kurt and Bogger are whiskey drinkers with tastes ...

An Interview with Dry Fly Co-Distiller Kent Fleischmann By Richard Thomas Distilling and whiskey-making has spread all around the United States in recent years, sometimes to surprising locations. One region where the craft boom has gone that should surprise no one is the Pacific Northwest, where craft beer-making got a foothold as far back as the 1970s. An increasingly familiar ...