New Riff Distilling in Newport, Kentucky named Brian Sprance its first master distiller this week. Sprance has been New Riff’s head distiller since it started 10 years ago.
Before coming to New Riff, Sprance was a brewer for the Boston Beer Company in Cincinnati. Once at the distillery, Sprance was under the tutelage of consulting master distiller and “godfather of rye whiskey” Larry Ebersold.
“When I founded New Riff in 2014, my goal was, and still is, for our Northern Kentucky distillery to become one of the great small distilleries of the world. The person at New Riff leading that charge to make world-class whiskey to share with the world is our head distiller Brian Sprance. So, it’s fitting as we approach our tenth anniversary, that we recognize Brian for his leadership role in moving us forward toward that aspirational goal and for sharing with us all such outstanding whiskey by conferring on him the well-earned title of master distiller.”
