About the Distillery
West End Distillery offers handcrafted spirits created from near-at-hand grains, fruits, herbs, and roots. West End Ciderhouse zymurgist Kelly Sauber creates high quality distilled spirits made from all-natural ingredients farm-raised or wild-harvested close to the distillery. As a distiller, West End Distillery is able to fulfill the wish to “know our growers.” After a long renovation & permit process, West End Distillery began production in 2018, a block or so from the West End Ciderhouse.
Sources & Partners
Learn More About Our Sources & Partners
Awards
Dancing Tree Spicebush Gin Earns Silver Medal in Annual ADI Competition
American Distilling Institute 7th Annual Judging of Artisan American Spirits
On March 4-5, 2013, ADI judged 317 artisan American spirits at Huber Orchard and Winery in Starlight, Indiana: 127 whiskies, 66 gins, 36 moonshines, 47 rums, and 41 fruit spirits were submitted from 124 independently-owned, small-batch, distilled spirits producers. Judges awarded 23 gold, 44 silver, and 46 bronze medals, again upholding the highest standards by awarding medals to only 37% of participants.
Judging Director Andrew Faulkner and Research Director Nancy Fraley began sorting boxes and cataloging entries on Wednesday, February 27. The backroom team swelled to 9 staff members and volunteers by Monday. Bottles were photographed and divided into 22 categories (below) depending on the source fruit or grain, the amount of aging and whether or not they were distilled entirely by the producer. Each category was judged separately for products that were produced at one facility and products incorporating spirits produced at multiple facilities. Spirits from artisan merchant bottlers were judged separately from those that were craft distilled.
Gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded based on the judges’ consideration of the spirit’s merits, and not on their numerical scores. Best of categories were awarded to the medal-worthy spirits that scored numerically better than other spirits in the same category. The tasting was totally blind and evaluated in terms of Nose, Palate, Finish, and Balance. Judges were not allowed to see bottles or know what spirits were submitted until all judging was complete.