Our latest guests on The Craft Spirits Podcast are Megan Campbell, Renée Newton and Sean W. Richards—the new owners of Montanya Distillers in Crested Butte, Colorado. 

In this episode, the trio talks about how they came together to join a partnership; their plans to honor the distillery’s past while also asserting their vision for its future; the current state and future of the American rum industry; and they also tease some upcoming products.

45: Megan Campbell, Renée Newton and Sean W. Richards of Montanya Distillers

James Donaldson is the co-owner and creative director of Chemist Spirits in Asheville, North Carolina.

The distillery was founded by Debbie Word, and was born of many hours of experimentation with Word’s daughter, Danielle Donaldson, an actual chemist. The distillery and its bar, Antidote, are located in Asheville’s South Slope district, which did not suffer severe damage when Hurricane Helene devastated the region in late September. However, Chemist also has a facility in historic Biltmore Village, which is located alongside the Swannanoa River and experienced flooding.

In this episode, James discusses the current state of things in Asheville a few months after Helene; the challenges of reinventing a historic building in a floodplain; how Chemist helped its community in the immediate aftermath of the storm; the story behind Chemist’s gin and whiskey; the potential for collaborations born out of the storm; and more.

57: James Donaldson of Chemist Spirits

The Craft Spirits Podcast

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