Catoctin Creek Distilling Company, LLC, a distillery operating in Purcellville in Loudoun County, Virginia, announced today that Constellation Brands acquired a minority stake in the Virginia distillery. This investment provides the company with new capital to grow production, marketing, and to provide more jobs in Virginia. (CatoctinCreekDistilling.com)

California-based grain-to-glass distillery Spirit Works has promoted Lauren Patz to the role of head distiller. The Sonoma County-based site, which boasts an all-female production team, will see production manager/distiller Patz take over the role formerly held by Ashby Marshall, distillery co-founder. (The Spirits Business)

"Our focus right now is to make great spirits," says Scott Nixon, general manager of Copper Collar Distillery, the craft spirit company he cofounded with head distiller Jason Pelle earlier this year. Pelle and Nixon met as divers in the U.S. Navy, and the Copper Collar name is a nod to the copper diving helmets used by divers dating back to the 19th Century. (San Diego Reader)

It started years ago on the Michigan State University campus, where spring temperatures provided Bryan Karrick with the chance to flirt and study outdoors with a fellow student, Kim Lenhardt. He mixed her a gin and tonic (his drink of choice), they chatted about how good it was, and their love of gin—and each other—began. After moving to Washington in 1996, Bryan—an optometrist—opened his first practice in North Bend with Kim (who ran the business side of the practice) before selling it and joining a practice in Edmonds. Meanwhile, Kim took a job at Sparkman Cellars and got “really geeky about wine,” until a “gin-centric” trip to London in 2013 led to an interest in distilling classes. After a couple of years of planning, testing and researching, the couple opened Scratch in July 2015. (Seattle Magazine)

Last fall, business partners Noah Braunstein and Yoni Rabino were holed up in their Port Chester, New York distillery crushing thousands and thousands of pounds of pears. Like 24,000 pounds. Instead of becoming centerpieces in a Harry & David holiday gift basket, those New York-grown pears are on their way to become a small batch of Neversink Spirits pear brandy. (Munchies.Vice.com)

Scott Neil, Rob Schaefer, John Koko and Tyler Garner weren't a bunch of retirees sitting around. However, they are a group friends who desired something different after achieving fulfilling careers. They had the passion and motivation, but needed to funnel it into a new project. American Freedom Distillery is that project. (Creative Loafing Tampa Bay)