When does the romance of the pot still stop making financial sense? For Kris Bohm, who has spent his career designing, installing, and running both batch and continuous systems, the answer comes down to a number and the honesty to act on it.

On this episode of Distillery Nation, I sat down with Kris of Distillery Now Consulting to dig into a debate most of us argue with feeling instead of math. Kris brings both. He walked me through the technical differences making cuts by taste and temperature on a pot still versus flash-extracting ethanol through sieve trays in about two minutes on a column — and then got to the part that matters for anyone signing equipment checks: around 200 to 250 barrels a year, the economics flip. Above that line, an 18-inch column produces the same volume in a quarter of the time at less than half the utility cost.

What struck me most was a story from a tequila operation in Mexico. The batch product cost $20 a liter to make and tasted better. The column product cost $5 and outsold it anyway. The market doesn't always reward the harder road a lesson I've lived myself, having built my identity around a direct-fire pot still before the math pushed me toward contract distilling for volume while keeping special batch releases alive.

Kris was equally direct about sourcing: it isn't a shortcut or a sin. He sourced for three years before releasing his own distillate and told his customers exactly that. Transparency, not method, is what earns trust.

Whether you're sizing your first still or rethinking the one you have, this conversation is full of math worth doing and assumptions worth questioning.

What happens when a whiskey critic stops writing about great whiskey and starts making it? For Jay West, the answer is Providence Bourbon and the journey in between is one worth hearing.

On this episode of Distillery Nation, I sat down with Jay West, the principal whiskey maker behind 1787 Providence Bourbon and Reverie's, both produced through Middleburg Barrel Company in Virginia. Jay's path to production is anything but conventional. He started writing about whiskey in 2015, not as a career move, but as a way to learn. Those notes, shared openly with the online community, slowly built something rare in any industry: trust.

In this episode of the Distillery Nation Podcast, Ian Stirsman, the master distiller of Ross and Squibb (formerly MGP), shared his journey into the whiskey industry and discussed the evolution of the distillery from MGP to its current rebranded identity.

Ian's path into whiskey was unexpected. He started as a process engineer at a paper mill before being recruited by MGP Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Working alongside experienced distillers like Greg Metz and Gordon Working, he learned the craft hands-on and eventually became master distiller—a dream job he didn't even know he was looking for.

The rebrand from MGP to Ross and Squibb wasn't about attracting tourists. It was about honoring the distilling history in Lawrenceburg that goes back to 1847 with the Rossville Distillery and 1869 with the Squib Distillery. The MGP name, which came along in 2011, didn't reflect that long heritage.

Ian explained the challenges of scaling up whiskey production, particularly maintaining quality and consistency as operations grow. From managing grain supplies to controlling fermentation and barrel aging at a large scale, every step requires attention to detail. He talked about the different maturation environments they use—various rickhouse styles and storage locations—to create different flavor profiles.

Ross and Squibb holds a unique position in American whiskey. They supply whiskey to many craft distilleries while also making their own brands like Remus and Rossville Union. Ian emphasized they put the same care into every barrel, whether it's for their own brands or for customers.

The conversation touched on today's whiskey market, where consumers are looking for quality products at fair prices. Ian stressed the importance of experimentation with different grains and processes, and the role sensory training plays in keeping quality high.

His main advice? Make whiskey you love and hope others will enjoy it too. Don't just chase trends—stay true to your vision.