The Atlantic looks to the Leopold Bros.

The Atlantic talked to Leopold Bros. in a story about whether the craft-distilling boom is too big for the industry's good.

Excerpt:

Scott and Todd Leopold began distilling in 2001, and since then demand for their craft spirits and liqueurs has been so high that they’ve already had to expand twice. The tidy, whitewashed new Leopold Brothers distillery in Denver has more than triple the capacity of their last place. They moved their old copper-pot still to the new location, and then added two more identical to it, plus a towering column still. Two of the copper stills will be dedicated solely to producing the brothers’ much-sought-after Maryland-style rye, the latest batch of which sold out in 45 minutes. "Did we foresee this?," Todd said. "No. I thought I’d be running a small still for the rest of my career. And I was okay with that."

Craft distilling -- a loosely defined industry consisting chiefly of distillers producing fewer than 50,000 cases a year -- is now in its heady, early-Internet phase. There were about 70 small distilleries across the United States in 2003; today there are more than 600. Hardly a day passes without the announcement of a new distillery opening its doors to produce craft gin or bourbon or an obscure liqueur inspired by a Pflümli someone once tasted in Pfungen.

"I'm approaching my sixth year as a consultant in the craft industry," said Dave Pickerell, a former master distiller at Maker's Mark. "And 100 percent of the clients I worked with in years one, two, and three have already expanded. And the clients I picked up starting in year four are expanding now."

Read the rest here.