The American Distilling Institute's Annual Conference & Vendor Expo in Louisville, March 30 - April 2, turned in numbers that surprised even the organizers. Expecting only 1,200 attendees, registrations topped more than 1,500 people, an increase in attendance of at least 50% over last year, as the craft distilling movement continues to gain momentum. Among those attendees, 796 licensed distillers registered to attended the 141 vendor booths, 63 breakout sessions and filled the 13 workshops offered. 

ADI Research Economist Michael Kinstlick confirmed that sales of craft spirits have been keeping pace with distillery openings by presenting research that verified craft spirits sales have consistently increased by 50% over the past several years, estimating that there will be more than 1,000 craft distilleries in operation within 3 years. Presenting figures on the growth of craft distilleries since the 1980s, Kinstlick characterized the growth in distilling as a return to normal levels following prohibition and not a bubble.

More than 1,000 people attended the Tuesday night tasting of Kentucky spirits from both craft and heritage distilleries sponsored by the Kentucky Distillers Association. But the numbers were not what caught the eye of KDA president Eric Gregory. "The diversity of the crowd also was exciting," said Gregory, who was also the keynote speaker. "Young and old, hipster and cowboy, start-up and established." Read more.

As one of ADI's editors, I was fortunate to have the chance to attend my very first conference, selling books at ADI's White Mule Press booth. I thought I'd share my observations as a conference newbie.

Monday, the day before the official opening, I assisted in setting up the booth and unpacking boxes upon boxes of books. By Tuesday morning, after breakfast and the welcome and keynote address, our booth was up and ready to receive our first customers. 

From the booth, I observed throngs of attendees winding their way through the multitude of vendors, gathering around shiny, towering copper and stainless steel stills, checking out bottling equipment in action, chatting with vendors, and filling their "goodie" bags with samples, free goodies and literature.

Vendors visited our booth as well as new and seasoned distillers from all over the USA and beyond, including Germany, England, Scotland, Hungary, and Australia. Many were eager to learn all they could about craft distilling.

Our booth kept up at a bustling pace and sales were brisk as folks stopped by to thumb through books, grab a free copy of Distiller Magazine and buy up everything from books on making moonshine to branding to the history of distilling. Many took advantage of the scheduled book signings with authors such as Hubert Germain-Robin, Ian Smiley, David Smith, Eric Watson and Cynthia Sterling. 

At the gala dinner, ADI awarded medals to many of the 457 spirits entered: 85 bronze, 66 silver, 28 gold and 9 double-gold medals. Heritage Distilling Company of Gig Harbor, WA, brought home the most medals with 11: 7 bronze, 4 silver and 3 gold medals, including 5 Best of Categories. Other big winners were Huber's Starlight Distillery and New Holland Brewing and Distilling, each earning 6 medals. 

The Bubble Cap Award for Distillery of the Year went to Leopold Bros' founding partner, Todd Leopold, who has achieved guru status within the distilling community for his knowledge, gentleness and generosity of spirit. "Our distilling team was very proud to be named Distillery of the Year," said Leopold. "We just marked our 15th anniversary as a company, and it was a nice way to cap off all those years of work."

ADI President Bill Owens, who considered the conference to be an unqualified success, exclaimed, "My arm is sore from patting my self on the back!" abc-def.

To view The Distiller's List's delightful and brief snapshot video of the conference, including vendor and distiller interviews, Click HERE.