A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: My favorite journalistic mantra is, “never bury the lead.” A mostly bullshit expression when it relates to a letter from the editor. Which, almost by definition, is meant to tease out the good stuff and make you dig deeper into the print. But I’m too damned excited to tease this time. So, for the 30th issue of Artisan Spirit Magazine, we are recognizing an:

“Artisan Spirit of the Year” This is not meant to recognize a business or brand, but an individual distiller. A person who exemplifies the best facets of our industry. Someone who lives and breathes the fundamentals of distillation, but also a person willing to go beyond the art and science itself and invest efforts into the success of our industry for the benefit of us all. Of all the topics I wanted to cover in the Spring issue of Artisan Spirit Magazine, this is the one that had us the most excited. The irony is, while the award bestows our name upon the recipient, we did not pick the nominees or even vote on our preferred recipient. Instead, we gathered a group of distilling veterans to do the brutal work of narrowing their peers down to one special distiller who warranted recognition. It was important to us that we act only as the platform, and let the industry speak for itself. So please join us in honoring the first Artisan Spirit of the Year. Which can be found on page 72. OK, I had to tease it just a little.

Brian Christensen (509) 944-5919 /// brian@artisanspiritmag.com /// PO Box 31494, Spokane, WA 99223

P.S. I want to take a special moment to thank our sponsors, advertisers, and readers who made not just this award possible, but also the entire publication itself. We love every damn one of you.

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