Isaac Winter

In 2025 I completed my Master Distiller certification through the Chartered Institute of Brewers & Distillers. I’ve come out with a holistic view of how to run a global spirits program. Whether it’s grain or grape, business strategy or blend development - I’m here for it.🧵

Up close and personal with Kelvin today. Using multiple cooperages is one way we build in layers of complexity and iterations on a theme.

Bourye is one where we typically lean on 3-4 different cooperages to add one more layer of complexity to the blend: mash bill, producer, lot age, cooperage. These are all pieces of an intricate puzzle we stitch together as we assemble the blend.

We use wood to add additional layers of texture and character to spirits. Whether it’s for primary maturation or finishing - choosing the right oak makes all the difference. Each cooperage puts their own stamp on the whiskey: pic.twitter.com/ioaDLrdLqj

We’re getting things dialed with the crew at BBC. There are some new mash bills on the horizon that will be really fun levers to pull as we put blends together. We love 21% bbn but higher & lower rye, impactful yeast, high wheat all can add peaks and valleys to drive complexity

@Henrok0469 Fair push…

@isaaczwinter TBH i don’t think that glass has enough water spots…needs a few more…lol

Our 2012 lots of 95/5 are tasting great. We sampled this beauty and saw some wonderful balance and personality at 130 proof. More to come

Look what showed up on my desk this morning. Nice to have buds who are generous with their wares.

Interesting read regarding grain provenance. He poses an interesting question: how much nitty gritty production data do you (or should you) give the consumer? Do they even care? For me, I say put the whiskey-nerd deets on the website and let the big headlines drive on the label

The idea of the neck pour is the biggest eye roll for me…

@4RosesBourbon It was 82 degrees in Salt Lake City today. Sign me up!

It's spritz season and National Cocktail Day. Meet your new go-to patio pour: the Four Roses Southern Spritz. Light, refreshing, and irresistibly sippable. Save this recipe ⬇️ Ingredients: 1¼ oz. Four Roses Bourbon 1¼ oz. Campari 1 oz. Strawberry Syrup Soda water Strawberry and orange slices for garnish Directions: Combine bourbon, Campari, and strawberry syrup in a wine glass. Add ice and top with soda water. Stir to incorporate. Garnish with strawberry and orange slices, and enjoy.

Our core sensory team supports all of the CBI Spirits brands. This wide exposure to spirit types, blend profiles, pricing bands, and producer character keeps us sharp

I love the smell of tequila in the morning.

“Vanilla, apricots, and oak” sounds like a nice trifecta to me

As the US continues to see wild swings in climate, distilleries need to focus on engineering their systems to maintain process inputs, lower their energy footprint, and ultimately reduce costs.

These variables play an integral part in achieving and maintaining mash pH, efficiency of softening, and will even shorten the lifespan of your equipment. High West is fortunate to have input water fed from a well and aquifer which means our chemistry is very stable.

Spring is here in Utah - for better or worse. This year we clocked one of the worst snowpacks on record. It’ll be challenging for those on municipal water this year. Depending on water source process water can change wildly: hardness…total alkalinity…

Lots of things on the horizon…Some pet projects of mine: foeder aged rye and a virgin Mizunara finish. These will likely hit the Saloon Society first. As a team, we have a very special deep cut that will drop this fall to celebrate our 20th Anniversary… stay tuned.

And new ideas with a ready buyer on the other end. We work with a lot of brokers but since joining CBI in 2016 we have a direct line to our sister wineries. We can talk with the wine maker as they’re dumping and the barrels show up the next day purged with CO2. No more SO2 issues

Wood: not just for primary maturation any more… We have made a name for ourselves with finishing casks. Midwinters, Prisoner’s Share, Yippee - each of these was born out of our single barrel program. This serves as a rapid R&D lab for us where we’re able to test new flavors -

Chattanooga Distillery is one that I pay attention to. Love the focus on malt. We were able to play with a custom KY bourbon recently that was 60% corn 40% malt - but we haven’t ever experimented with unmalted before. Gotta give that a go!

@obky_bourbonite @btownbourbon I remember Garry oak from Westland being pretty phenolic, almost like there was some peat used in the mash bill. Matt mentioned this phenolic note was oak chemistry derived but I’ve never explored. Did you find this to be phenolic? Was it more of a traditional double wood flavor?

Meet Garry. Garry is rugged, Pacific Northwest-raised, and slow-grown. He enjoys long walks through Oregon forests, cozy evenings by the fire, and leaving a lasting impression on everyone he meets. He’s not your typical oak. Most guys came from the same forest. Garry did not.

@d_tao ‘Preciate you…