Meet the co-founders
NORA GANLEY-ROPER
Production & Operations Czar
Nora got her start in the wine and spirits industry as a Sales Manager at Astor Wine & Spirits, one of the country’s top spirits retailers. Her love of wine gradually translated into a deep fascination with spirits, especially the growing potential of American whiskey from all around the country. She left Astor to work in operations for several startups, learning how to build and grow early-stage companies. Now, Nora handles all production and operations for Lost Lantern. She is half of the Lost Lantern tasting panel.
ADAM POLONSKI
Whiskey Cask Hunter
Before co-founding Lost Lantern, Adam was a Senior Whisky Specialist at Whisky Advocate, the country’s largest and oldest whiskey magazine. He has written extensively about whiskies from around the world, with a particular focus on new American distilleries. Adam works with distilleries to source unique and special casks for Lost Lantern. He is half of the Lost Lantern tasting panel.
Who We Are
We’re whiskey nerds, and we’re building an independent bottler that talks to whiskey nerds. We love hunting down whiskies that people haven’t discovered yet and evangelizing the distilleries we are most excited about. We love to tell a good story, and we care deeply about flavor. Ultimately, we just want to share what makes the world of American whiskey so exciting.
Our Mission
Shining a light on the independent spirit is our tagline. It’s also our mission. That means we’ll spend the time to truly understand what’s going on in American whiskey, in every corner of the United States. We’ll chase down unique and exciting whiskies that taste different than what you’re familiar with. We’ll tell the stories of these distilleries and why what they’re doing worth your attention. And we’ll be fully transparent because, for us, sourcing whiskey is the whole point. We don’t want you to think we distilled it: we want you to know who did, and why you should care so that you can discover them for yourselves! And our whiskey will always be presented in an unadulterated format: non-chill-filtered, natural color, often cask strength. That’s the way we want it, and we figure that’s probably how you want it to.
We aim to be completely transparent, and if you want additional information or technical details on any of our releases, please reach out and we’d be happy to share
Keep Up to Date With Our Blog
Breaking Bourbon — Review: Single Cask #8 Balcones Distilling
Having had many whiskeys from Balcones Distillery, I wasn’t sure what Lost Lantern Single Cask #8 was going to offer me. Why involve a second party and not just get it from the horse’s mouth? It became clear rather quickly that there is value in curation. Single Cask #8 is incredibly bold and rich with its wealth of dark and roasted flavors and a deep barrel char. This is a dark bourbon both in color and taste.
InsideHook — Review: Sourced From All Over the US, Lost Lantern Is a Whiskey Nerd’s Dream
Founded by Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski and launched last fall — delayed from an April 2020 start because of you-know-what — Lost Lantern is an independent bottler of American whiskey.
“We source different casks and single malts from around the country,” explains Polonski, a former whiskey journalist. “This model has existed in Scotland for 200 years. It’s a great discovery method.”
The idea here is Lost Lantern is not only shining a light on smaller, regional distilleries, but also getting that whiskey out to a larger swath of the country. As well, these releases are specifically designed for whiskey connessours — they’re non-chill filtered and cask strength.
Gear Patrol — The 15 Best New Bourbon and Whiskeys of 2021 (So Far)
While it officially released late in 2020, Lost Lantern’s debut bottle is as delicious as it is innovative. Founded by a former Whisky Advocate writer and a liquor store manager, the brand follows in the footsteps of the independent bottlers and blenders of Scotland, which buy up barrels of aged whiskey from distilleries with extra stock and spin them into something new. This American Vatted Malt is the first blend of American single malt whiskeys from different distilleries, and it’s unlike anything I’ve tasted. Find exactly what went into it here.
