Thank you to the Judges of the 2016 Distilled: Spirit Competition

Alex Delgado Alex Delgado, owner of Epitome Wines & Spirits Consultancy, has over 23 years of hospitality experience. Having worked with Westin, Hilton and Disney, Alex went out and started Epitome and dedicates himself to advising clients about wines and spirits. He is a Certified Sommelier by the Court of Master Sommeliers, Advanced Certification with Distinction from the Wine & Spirits Trust and also Certified Tequila Taster by Creativa Sensorial in México. Currently, Alex is working towards his Diploma in Wine & Spirits by the WSET in London.

Ryan Andrews After cutting his teeth in SF and Oakland Ryan ventured into the burgeoning San Diego cocktail scene and has since worked at and opened some of the busier cocktail bars in SD. Currently heading up the bar program at Prohibition Lounge in the Gaslamp. During this time he is also co-created and co-founded R&D Bitters and Spirits with two fellow colleagues and is now producing their product out of the R&D Bitters out of Old Harbor Distillery in the East Village. In addition to creating cocktails, bitters, shrubs, moonshine, rum, and various other fermented experiments he can be found drinking his favorite libation... grey goose and vodka... Bitches... Ryan Andrews Co-Owner / Co-Founder Golden State Spirits Ryan@goldenstatespirits.com

Jason O'Bryan Jason O'Bryan has built his life at the crossroads of writing and cocktails. After starting tending bar in Boston and writing for the Boston Phoenix, he moved to San Diego, running the program at URBN Coal Fired Pizza for 4 years, with intermittent writing projects for San Diego Reader and Pacific Magazine. He left URBN, and after a brief stint at Seven Grand San Diego, he opened Kettner Exchange as lead bartender. He currently works at The Lion's Share and the newly opened Mess Hall, and keeps drinksanddrinking.com, a spirits and cocktail blog.

Luke Oskam Luke Oskam helped found one of the first distilleries here since prohibiton, Kill Devil Spirit Company, back in 2011 in Spring Valley, San Diego county. Since then, Kill Devil products, with Luke as head distiller, have gone on to win multiple US and international awards. His focus now is to help the local San Diego distilling scene grow, focusing mainly on helping others start up through research and development, recipe design, equipment design and facility design for three up and coming distilling companies here in the city, You and Yours Distilling Co., Del Sol Distilleries and Calivore Spirits, as well as promoting all those in the San Diego Distillers Guild to our

local food and beverage industry. Collaboration with other distillers, bars and restaurants is another fundamental part to further this idea of local businesses supporting others in San Diego to succeed.

Cosimo Sorrentino San Diego native who spent over 10 years as a server and restaurant manager for before taking over Monkey Paw as Brewer and GM of the bar. Now brewer and director of operations for both Monkey Paw and South Park Brewing Companies, Cosimo creates over 40 recipes a year. Voted “Best Brewer in San Diego” in the West Coaster 2015 “Best of” poll and winner of both Great American Beer Fest and World Beer Cup Gold Medals.

Addison Poth As a Co-Owner of Liberty Call Distilling Company, Addison brought the skills and know-how learned during his years as a professional brewer to the spirits industry. In a destined transition from beer to whiskey, Addison helped develop and brews the mash bill for Liberty Call's popular 4-Grain Whiskey. But beer is not a part of his past, you might still see Addison working his "day job" at a local brewery he keeps to help pay for the rising cost of whiskey barrels.

Michel Servolds Mike Servold has been in the Spirits industry for 4 years. He has been with the Southern Wine and Spirits Artisanal Group since its inception over a year ago. He is the key account specialist for all of North County San Diego representing well over a hundred bars and restaurants. He has his hospitality specialist and beverage certification (HSBC) and level one sommelier and is a graduate of the bar smart program, and will be getting his certified specialist of spirits in June.

Maria Tilton Co-Founder and Blender San Diego Distillery Since moving to San Diego from Pittsburgh, PA, Maria has been an avid enthusiast in the city's craft beer culture. She later began to experience various other libations including whiskey, spirits and local wine. In 2014, Maria, along with her husband Trent, founded San Diego Distillery, and chose to specialize in making whiskey. Maria oversees the barrel blending program at the distillery, including selection of superior barrels for special release. She frequently operates the still and performs proper cutting of the spirit run, along with managing many other aspects of the business. She is a member of the San Diego Distillers Guild and the San Diego Whisk (e) y Enthusiasts, where she has hosted and participated in many tastings.

Adam Parker Adam Parker bartended at famous craft beer bar Small Bar, was a Managing partner and owner of Barbant Cafe, buying specialist of Beer and Spirits at KnB Cellars and is currently sales representative of craft beer and spirits at Wine warehouse.

Jason Pelle and Scott Nixon Copper Collar Distillery is a small Santee California business owned and operated by Jason Pelle and Scott Nixon. We founded the idea for Copper Collar Distillery in early January 2015, and by June of 2016 after much planning and preparation Copper Collar Distillery will finally open its doors to the public. After several additional years of research and practical application on the development and production of distilled spirits, we felt the time was right for us dive into the world of craft spirits. While Copper Collar Distillery is new to the scene of craft spirits, we have not wasted any time in obtaining a thorough understanding of the craft by perfecting our processes. Our focus is to hand craft every spirit we sell to the highest quality standards, and our intent is to cater to those who truly want to enjoy craft spirits for their unique qualities. Jason and Scott are both U.S. Navy veterans who completed their military tours as Navy Divers First Class. We want to continue honoring the legacy of current and

former Navy Divers by producing high-quality, hand-crafted spirits which bear the Copper Collar name. To provide a little bit of insight, the name Copper Collar is an endearing term used to describe the sailors who dived wearing the old copper dive helmets from the mid-1800s all the way up to the 1980s. The copper collar was the portion of the diving dress which fastened the diving helmet to the diving suit. These divers were not blue collar nor were they white collar, they maintained a working class all their own. Thus earning them the name of copper collar workers. While modern technology has allowed the development of new diving helmets made of a variety of materials such as fiberglass and brass, the old copper dive hat remains as a defining symbol of Navy Divers. Coincidently, copper has played an important role in distilling as it has in diving which gives the Copper Collar name all the more meaning, because copper has also been a prime element in the construction of stills throughout history. We may have traded in our copper collars for copper stills, but Jason and Scott are fully dedicated to making premium liquors while still bringing honor to the copper collar workers. Whether you want to talk about liquor while enjoying good liquor, talk about diving while enjoying good liquor, or talk about anything while enjoying good liquor, make Copper Collar Distillery one of your local destinations for premium craft spirits. Thank you from Jason Pelle and Scott Nixon.

Tony Konja Tony Konja grew up working in his family’s grocery store and liquor stores. He remembers going to the store after school and on weekends as a young boy and stocking the shelves. He continued to work there after school all through college. He graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelors in accounting and became a CPA. Tony’s Family’s first purchased a grocery store in 1975 and then switched gears and moved on to their first Liquor store in Lemon Grove in 1981, and as the years passed additional locations were added in National City, Claremont, College Area, Sorrento Valley, Santa Barbara, Rancho San Diego, La Jolla, and a Bottle Shop / Bistro in Del Cerro known simply as KnB. The Stores took on a name change in 2001 and are all know as Keg N Bottle. The stores become well known for strategically engineered “Liquor Walls” that house every type of spirit imaginable.

Tony’s mentor was his father whom would always say, “if you don’t know what you are selling you can’t sell it” Tony interpreted this as a challenge to taste all that is out there to determined what would make it onto the shelves. Tony has also went through numerous blind tastings as well as identifying and creating drink lists to match the needs of his restaurant customers at KnB. Tony is credited for taking his “mom and pop” family business to the next level by leading the charge in creating the identity, expansion, marketing efforts and vision for being the leading provider of alcoholic beverages in the San Diego County. These efforts caught the eye of the world giant Amazon, whom selected Keg N Bottle for their San Diego Partner to exclusively delivery alcoholic beverages to the entire San Diego County market within an hour of ordering! In his free time Tony enjoys spending time with his wife Leadya and their 3 Kids, is a devout Catholic, and enjoys playing basketball, Softball, and Soccer. He is happy to say that after 35+ years in the business along with his Mother Bernadette and his 2 brothers Roby & Randy they are still a family owned and operated.

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Tony Konja Tony Konja grew up working in his family’s grocery store and liquor stores. He remembers going to the store after school and on weekends as a young boy and stocking the shelves. He continued to work there after school all through college. He graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelors in accounting and became a CPA.

Tony’s Family’s first purchased a grocery store in 1975 and then switched gears and moved on to their first Liquor store in Lemon Grove in 1981, and as the years passed additional locations were added in National City, Claremont, College Area, Sorrento Valley, Santa Barbara, Rancho San Diego, La Jolla, and a Bottle Shop / Bistro in Del Cerro known simply as KnB. The Stores took on a name change in 2001 and are all know as Keg N Bottle. The stores become well known for strategically engineered “Liquor Walls” that house every type of spirit imaginable.

Tony’s mentor was his father whom would always say, “if you don’t know what you are selling you can’t sell it” Tony interpreted this as a challenge to taste all that is out there to determined what would make it onto the shelves. Tony has also went through numerous blind tastings as well as identifying and creating drink lists to match the needs of his restaurant customers at KnB. Tony is credited for taking his “mom and pop” family business to the next level by leading the charge in creating the identity, expansion, marketing efforts and vision for being the leading provider of alcoholic beverages in the San Diego County. These efforts caught the eye of the world giant Amazon, whom selected Keg N Bottle for their San Diego Partner to exclusively delivery alcoholic beverages to the entire San Diego County market within an hour of ordering!

In his free time Tony enjoys spending time with his wife Leadya and their 3 Kids, is a devout Catholic, and enjoys playing basketball, Softball, and Soccer. He is happy to say that after 35+ years in the business along with his Mother Bernadette and his 2 brothers Roby & Randy they are still a family owned and operated