Master Distiller, Maltster & Co-Founder | Leopold Bros. Distillery & Malthouse
@leopoldbros @leopoldbrosfloormaltings
Todd Leopold is a three-time James Beard Award semi-finalist for Outstanding Wine, Spirits or Beer Producer, and a 29-year veteran of the brewing and distilling industries. He holds a Diploma in Brewing and Malting Science from the Siebel Institute, and attended the Doemens Brewer’s Academy in Germany. In addition to operating one of the largest floor malting operations in the world at Leopold Bros. Distillery & Malthouse in Denver, he revived the Three Chamber Still, a special and once-popular still used by American and Canadian distillers to produce whiskies and brandies before Prohibition. Leopold Bros. Distillery & Malthouse was founded in 1999 and was honoured as the 2015 Distillery of the Year by the American Distilling Institute and has won many awards for its whiskies and other spirits.
Co-Owner & Master Distiller | Hollyrood Distillery
Rob Carpenter worked in Vancouver and Calgary as a corporate and commercial lawyer, concluding a 27 year legal career in 2017 as VP, Corporate Law with Enbridge. Always up for a side hustle, in 2013 he turned his business and legal experience to developing a distillery in Edinburgh, Scotland, working with his wife Kelly and former Master Distiller for The Macallan, David Robertson, to open Holyrood Distillery in the fall of 2019. Holyrood Distillery is the first single malt distillery in Edinburgh in almost 100 years.
Founder & CEO | Cirka Distilleries
Paul Cirka graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Landscape Architecture, after completing two years of a Bachelor of Science degree at McMaster University. An interest in computer-assisted design aids led him to graphics and the technology industry, and he spent nearly 15 years with start-ups in film special effects, television broadcast systems and creative learning solutions. Experience in software interface design, system architecture, marketing, business development and finance led him to explore early craft distilling, when there fewer than 200 micro-distilleries in the U.S. In 2014, he founded Cirka Distilleries, where as CEO and operations head he focuses on product development and business strategies. He met Michael Bublé in 2020 when Michael became a shareholder in Cirka Distilleries, and they’ve since collaborated on the creation of Fraser & Thompson Whisky.
Founder & Master Distiller | Workhorse Rye
@workhorserye @modernancientwhiskey
Rob Easter is the original ancient grain obsessive. An elite cocktail bartender-turned-specialty-grain-and-fruit distiller from Tucson, Arizona, he attended Siebel Institute of Technology's distillation program in 2011 and started his hands dirty in the distillery and the grain fields, where he believes flavor begins. He has worked for Kings County Distillery, the American Distilling Institute and natural wineries in California, and currently keeps busy running his own brands, Modern Ancient and Workhorse Rye. Far from his days serving cocktails to the likes of Jay-Z and Robert Parker at New York’s Neta Japanese restaurant and bar, today he focuses on planting local pollinator plants and growing heirloom grains to supply to bigger farmers, along with making unique modern spirits using ancient knowledge and raw materials.
Lead Distiller | Westward Whiskey
Anna Mantheakis holds an MS in Viticulture and Enology from University of California Davis and the General Certificate in Distilling from the Institute of Brewing & Distilling. She began her career in winemaking, crushing grapes around the world and making Pinot Noir in Southern Oregon, before transitioning into spirits. She now flexes her creativity by spearheading technical development projects at Westward Whiskey in Portland. As a distiller with a form of synesthesia (a neurological phenomenon where multiple senses are linked in the brain), in which sounds distort the flavor and texture of everything she tastes, she blends with headphones on. While working with her synesthesia as she tastes professionally, she also advocates for greater acceptance of neurodiversity.
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