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We sit down with the Echo Spirits team to talk about how a Columbus, Ohio distillery builds award-winning rum, creative whiskey blends, and a bar that feels like home. Along the way we dig into sourcing versus grain-to-glass debates, how finishes can rescue tricky barrels, and why community matters more than competition.
• Columbus distillery community and why collaboration works
• Why Echo starts with rum and how the portfolio evolves
• Queen Share rum and the “saved cuts” distillation method
• San Francisco World Spirits Competition medals and what they signal
• Engineer Series blends as a limited, never-repeated workbench
• Picking favourites like Trail Mix and Bavarian Rhapsody
• Elusive herbal liqueur built for Chartreuse-style cocktails
• Designing a cocktail bar that stays casual and welcoming
• Two Cats canned cocktails and how RTDs get made
• The costs and risks of fast growth and staying in stock
• How barrel selection works and why rejects become new projects
• Finishing barrels with beer casks and the amburana learning curve
• Bottle Your Own Bourbon tour and hands-on bottling
• Echo Spirits On The Vine seasonal location and Ohio events
echo spirits.com follow us on Instagram Facebook as Echo Spirits also the bar at Echo Spirits on both of those platforms Echo Spirits on the Vine is our location up in Liberty Township Powell area that's also the social media for them Echo Spirits on the Vine

Something interesting is happening in Columbus, Ohio: craft distilleries are getting better, bolder, and more connected, and Echo Spirits is right in the middle of it. We talk with the Echo team and our Cleveland rep Matt Lysen about what it really takes to build a modern distillery brand when you’re small, bootstrapped, and trying to “bat above your weight” without losing what makes you special.

We get deep into rum and whiskey making, including Echo’s Queen Share rum, a flavor-packed, barrel-aged release built with a traditional “queen share” process and proven on a huge stage with medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Then we pivot to bourbon blending with the Engineer Series, Echo’s limited, never-repeated blends that treat barrels like ingredients in a chef’s kitchen. We also unpack what sourcing means today, why transparency matters, and why “what’s in the glass” still wins when the pricing is fair.

There’s plenty of real-world talk too: how a cocktail bar can feel like a neighborhood hangout while still serving upscale drinks, how the bar team created Elusive to solve a Chartreuse shortage problem, and why canned cocktails like Two Cats help reach new drinkers. If you’re planning a Columbus distillery trip, we cover Echo’s Bottle Your Own Bourbon experience and their seasonal Echo Spirits On The Vine spot for live music, outdoor pours, and summer energy.

If you like honest industry talk, award-winning spirits, and practical behind-the-scenes detail, listen through and share it with a friend who loves bourbon, rum, or great cocktails. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: do you care who distilled it, or only how it tastes?

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