>> Tobacco Barn Distillery (Hollywood,

>> Dark Cloud Malthouse (Cooksville,

MD) is on the Maryland Green Registry and offsets over 32% of total distillery energy consumption by combining a solar PV array, custom designed geothermal fields and intensive water recycling. They are in the process of building a 100% solar powered tasting room, and are launching an Indiegogo campaign for “solar panel” sponsorships.

MD) has reignited a key industry — since launching two years ago, they are already expanding and providing locally grown & malted grains to over 40 craft distillers and brewers across the state. The guild continues to build a robust & successful event series. Spirits of Maryland, now in its second year, hosts tasting events all across the state where distillers can sample,

MASSACHUSETTS

permanent extension of the FET reduction. After successful days in DC, focus now turns to rallying individual MDA members and continue to lobby their members of Congress directly. As Massachusetts continues to review current laws and regulatory guidelines, the MDA will be lobbying on the state level for parity with wineries and breweries. Also, this spring the MDA participated in workshops supporting the craft beverage industry in Massachusetts. Presented by the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism and Massachusetts Department

of Agricultural Resources, workshops were developed for producers of beer, wine, cider, and spirits, and consisted of presentations and panel discussions from industry experts with a focus on marketing practices and brand strategy to attract culinary travelers. For more information, find us at www.massdistill.com.

with unanticipated cash flow from the state’s revitalized oil & gas industry, the legislators were not inclined to offer any further tax reductions for our nascent industry. With added membership and interest we hope to push our legislative efforts to this end in next year’s legislative session. Speaking of new members, we’re happy to welcome Dry Point Distillers in Las Cruces and Blackstar and Tractor in Albuquerque, which brings our membership to 11 and adds new experience and talent to our organization. Updates to our website and social media as well as a more targeted

legislative campaign are in the works as a result. On the FET front we want to acknowledge our guild president and ASCA board member, Colin Keegan of Santa Fe Spirits, for his tireless (ha!) efforts on all of our behalves towards making the FET reduction permanent. He was at the recent legislative lobbying fly-in in Washington, DC and met with four of our state’s delegation who all expressed their support. Thanks, Colin, for all you do for your state, ASCA and our industry! Dr. Greg McAllister

MASSACHUSETTS DISTILLERS ALLIANCE The Massachusetts Distillers Alliance continues to work toward promoting distillers throughout Massachusetts. Focus in 2018 continues to be the extension of FET reduction as well as parity at the state level with winery and breweries. In May, MDA Board member Andrew Cabot joined the ACSA in lobbying members of Congress and their staff to push for a

NEW MEXICO NEW MEXICO DISTILLERS GUILD Hoping to capitalize on the momentum from the Federal Excise Tax reduction signed into law in late 2017, the New Mexico Distillers Guild approached the state legislature with a similar excise tax reduction proposal based on the federal model. The proposed law would have brought distillers into parity with state excise tax reductions currently enjoyed by the state’s brewers and wine makers; however, despite being flush

NEW YORK NEW YORK STATE DISTILLERS GUILD This year the New York State Distiller’s Guild held our inaugural NY Distilled Spirits Competition. The competition was open to all

16 

sell spirits, and educate consumers through distiller-led talks. MDG members are also actively participating in cross-industry events & festivals with the Brewers Association of MD and the Maryland Wineries Association.

Jaime Windon

Owner/Co-Founder | Lyon Distilling Co.

MASSACHUSETTS DISTILLERS ALLIANCE BOARD Andrew Cabot — Privateer Rum Alison DeWolfe — Damnation Alley Distillery Matt Nuernberger — GrandTen Distilling

Algodones Distillery

New York State distillers as guild members. Our guild competition was conducted in tandem with the Great American International Spirits Competition. Partnering with an existing and larger competition allowed our judging to have a reduced cost associated with the staffing, proctoring, accommodations, and logistical operations

needed. Since both competitions were judged simultaneously, entries were afforded the opportunity to enter both without paying additional fees or proving further product. Once judging was completed, New York spirits were separated out in a data cut from the overall numbers to be used for our Guild’s competition.

WWW.ARTISANSPIRITMAG.COM