Editor’s Note
SILVER LININGS, SANS PLAYBOOK I promise I won’t use the word “pivot.” But there’s no denying that there’s an overarching spirit of adaptability within the craft spirits industry and we’ve seen that play out in so many different ways throughout the combination rollercoaster/tilt-a-whirl/haunted house we call 2020. And that’s happened in ways I couldn’t even have imagined. In early November—at the tail end of the week that wouldn’t end (you know which one I’m talking about)—I paid a socially distanced visit to Stone Barn Brandyworks in Portland, Oregon (yes, I got on a plane, don’t judge me), the Rose City’s smallest distillery. I’d been there on a couple of occasions in the Before Times and distiller Andy Garrison has always been kind enough to let me disrupt his day, show me around and let me sample a few of the eaux de vie and whiskeys he’s been working on. This time was no different, except we stayed the requisite six feet away from each other, with half of our faces obscured by masks (except for a series of five-second spurts of masklessness when I had to sip from the Glencairn glasses.) Much had changed since the last time I set foot in the distillery about a year and a half ago—the facility, like so many of its peers, was closed to public tours and tastings. But, somewhat weirdly, Garrison told me he’s been as busy as ever. Even though Stone Barn has been facing the same uncertainty and vastly diminished market that every other distillery was experiencing, it had managed to find some silver linings. Not only was Garrison enjoying the solitude of working fully sequestered in the distillery, he’s been spending much of his time keeping up with a rush of contract distilling orders. Portland, of course, is near quite a few well-regarded wineries and cideries and many of those turned to Stone Barn to distill their surplus fruits for use in products like fortified wine and pommeau, or to age as their own bespoke brandies. And, back in my neck of the woods, Washington, D.C. distilleries have been finding their own small silver linings. I spoke with Reed Walker of Cotton & Reed for my D.C.focused Distilling Destinations piece in this issue, and he’s been counting his blessings. It’s certainly been a hard year
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for him and most other producers in the District and the rest of the country, but he touted the good fortune of his geography. Over the summer there was enough unused outdoor space adjacent to the distillery to open a fully permitted patio that was spread out enough to accommodate roughly the same number of consumers that fit in the Cotton & Reed tasting room pre-pandemic. And, the distillery is fortunate enough to have a landlord that’s allowed the business to move the same amount of seating into some unoccupied warehouse space to make it through the winter. I’m not saying every distillery, or even most distilleries, have access to the same opportunities that Stone Barn Brandyworks and Cotton & Reed have, but the majority have the same scrappy drive, ability to adapt and instincts to recognize and capitalize on the silver linings—however substantial or modest—within their own businesses. Most people who know me will likely tell you that optimism and I aren’t exactly best friends. But I’m definitely having an uncharacteristic bout of it now. It could be that the year’s longest week finally ended or that I’m writing this on the day that Pfizer announced a possible COVID-19 vaccine with 90% efficacy. But I’m going to just let the emotion wash over me. It’s probably a bit premature to say that we’re turning a corner. But I think that corner is finally in sight. Hopefully this time next year we’ll know if I was right.
Jeff Cioletti Editor in Chief
C R AF T S PI R I T S MAG .CO M