Craft.  We’ve all heard it.  You’ve probably tried one.  But do you know what “craft” actually means?  No?  Me neither – nor anyone else really, because there is no standard accepted definition, and the commonly accepted definitions keep changing.  One common way to measure the “craft-ness” of a spirit is by its annual bottle/case production.  But this can be misleading: as products grow in popularity, and therefore in scale, do they necessarily lose craft status, even if the production process remains static?  Tito’s Vodka, for instance, is certainly considered craft by many, if not most.  But Tito’s has outgrown that designation if looked at on a production-basis, eclipsing the 40,000 case mark (considered the upper bound for craft designation by some trade organizations) more than 20 times over!

Today The Spirits Business, via Emily Miles – author of Craft Spirit World: A Guide to the Artisan Spirit-Makers and Distillers You Need to Try -, looks at alternative definitions that could be more appropriate.  Miles dislikes the idea of ruling out distillers because of their output, especially because the American Craft Spirits Alliance has amended the cap for craft designation and has not ruled out raising (or shrinking) it again.  She does, however, agree with the notion that a craft distillery should be independent, meaning not financially backed by a larger corporation.  While Miles’s preferred definition of “a person or bunch of people who – in pursuit of the dream of excellent booze – turn organic matter into delicious-tasting alcohol” feels too broad, I think she may be right in moving away from a production-based definition.

To read more, view the full article here