How We Choose Our Distillery Partners
When Nora and Adam founded Lost Lantern, it was partially inspired by their own frustration: through their industry roles in New York, they were regularly hearing about great whiskey from small distilleries across the country. But, most of it was only sold locally in the distillery’s home state, so they weren’t able to get their hands on it.
Lost Lantern aims to close that accessibility gap and bring those whiskies to a wider audience. Initially, Nora and Adam spent eight months driving across the country, visiting distilleries to experience the full landscape of American whiskey firsthand, building relationships, and forming early partnerships along the way.
Through additional road trips, more research, and continuous travel to distilleries, that list of partners is always growing. Adam or Nora visit every distillery Lost Lantern sources from, but with well over 2,000 distilleries now operating in the United States, deciding who to partner with is no easy feat!
So how do we choose? Nora and Adam sat down to answer some of the most common questions we receive! Here’s what they have to say:
Nora & Adam Answer Distillery FAQ’s
How do you decide what distilleries to visit?
We are always on the lookout for new and exciting distilleries! Word of mouth recommendations are our favorite way to hear about somewhere new. We carefully research every distillery before visiting; we want to understand their ethos, processes and practices, and approach to making whiskey. Once we’re onsite, we look at their stills, their barrelhouse, and everything in between, and ask them extensive questions about their climate and philosophy for their whiskey.
Once you decide you want to work with a distillery, do you choose a whiskey right away?
No, the process of picking a cask takes a lot of time and careful attention to detail! We are usually looking for specific types or categories of whiskey, sometimes even certain flavor profiles. So, even if all the other stars align, we won’t necessarily work with a great distillery right away.
Do you ever commit to a cask while at the distillery?
Never! While we love the romance and experience of tasting in a distillery, we want to make sure we’re being as objective as possible. We put all potential casks through a rigorous sensory screening process back in our Vermont office.
Okay, tell me more about this rigorous screening process!
We taste all whiskies semi-blind: we know what distillery a sample came from, but not which cask is which (usually the mix will include a range of age statements, finishes, and styles). We start with a few screening flights to narrow down our choices, then taste the finalists over and over again, in different orders and at different times of the day. We taste in silence or separately, and only reveal our preferences after we’ve both completed the flight.
How do you choose a cask?
We taste until we’re absolutely confident and in agreement that our selection represents the very best of what American whiskey can offer. Both of us have to emphatically agree to every cask. If one of us disagrees, which does happen, we have to pass. It’s worth noting that we have very different palates: Nora trained in wine and Adam in whiskey, so if we both truly love a cask, we feel confident that other whiskey nerds will love it too.
What are you looking for in a distillery partner or cask?
We want great whiskey, obviously, but we also want it to be exciting and innovative! Our partners are inventing new techniques, reviving old ones, experimenting with new ideas. They are driving American whiskey forward. We will continue to work with previous partners, while also continuously seeking out new partners and introducing their whiskies through Lost Lantern.
Can I send you a distillery recommendation?
Absolutely. We’d love to hear from you, and we love to hear about your favorite hidden gem distilleries! You can reach Adam, our Head of Whiskey Sourcing, by email at: [email protected]