Adam Spiegel, owner and distiller of Sonoma County Distillery Company, took to the stage at the Craft Distilling Expo in East London to share his knowledge with aspiring spirits brand owners.

Spiegel took to the stage at The Boiler House in the Old Truman Brewery to share his knowledge and advice

The California-based whiskey distillery prides itself on its “grain-to-glass” approach – exercising full control over the mashing and fermentation of grains, its direct-fired copper alembic pot distillation, American oak barrel ageing, as well as bottling and labeling.

Since its launch in 2010, the distillery has gone from strength to strength – so founder, Spiegel, was well-placed to command the stage at The Boiler House in the Old Truman Brewery and share his knowledge and advice with attendees.

“The number one thing that really changed the way I look at distilling is the way I eat and the way I live my life,” Spiegel said as he rounded off the seminar.

“I go to the farmer’s market every single Sunday, I get my produce, I also get to know my local farmers – the same guys who give me grains.

“You start to realise what you like and what you don’t like, and you get a sense of where things come from and how things grow, and it’ll make you a better distiller.”

While visiting London, Sonoma County Distilling Company teamed up with East London Liquor Company to create a single batch wheat whisky.

Click through the following pages to discover Spiegel’s top tips for launching and sustaining a spirits brand. 

Stay hungry

“The first thing I would say is to go out every day and spread the word about what you’re doing.

“Once you’ve opened your distillery, whether you’re making gin, whiskey, rum; you need to be out talking to people and getting new accounts.”

Stay educated

“I go to seminars like this and talk to distillers, and I’ve been working with a lot of very, very famous master distillers and master blenders, and that’s kept me very fresh.

“So my strongest advice to you is go out and ask a lot of good questions and continue to read. If anyone wants a good read pick up Traditional Distillation Art and Passion by Hubert Germain-Robin on Amazon. He is a really, really smart guy and it comes down to, ‘why do we do what we do?’ – if you don’t have the passion, you might wanna leave the room anyway. We’re all here for one reason or another.

“Amazing distillers such as Nancy Fraley have actually come to our distillery before, and have helped me truly become a better distiller.”

Stay creative

“The reality is, plenty of people are worried about working within a certain box; you have to create certain things because you think they sell. My advice to you is to think outside the box, because that’s what’s going to make you money.

“At the end of the day if you want to make a whiskey that’s infused with cardamom, you should make a whiskey that’s infused with cardamom. I

“It might be hard to package it and it might be hard to verbalise what it is, but you’re going to be on the field working it anyway – so why not make something you love?”

Stay excited

“It kind-of pertains to what I’ve said thus far, but truly your excitement is going to make other people excited. If you go out and you host tastings at dinners, it’s really, really important that at the end of the day you love what you do.

“If you’re tired you go to sleep – and if you’re excited, people get excited with you so the energy is very, very infectious in that way.”

Stay humble

“At the end of the day, we’re not curing cancer or saving the world; we’re making spirits – so we’re not that cool. My advice to you really is just to work really, really hard, and create something fun and unique, and then people will believe in what you do and they’ll buy your product with their hard-earned money.

“Stay humble and remember that at the end of the day you’re one of thousands of distillers at any given time.

“Make sure you’re working with your teams as well – I think sometimes people overlook the fact that its not just you; there’s a whole team of people working around you. Make sure you divvy out the praise as much as you divvy out the corrections.”