Rob Cassell

“A Distiller’s Journey”

Robert “Rob” Cassell’s path to becoming one of America’s most influential craft distillers began with an early love of science and hands‑on work. In his college years at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia, he studied nuclear medicine, where he discovered that while lecture halls bored him, laboratory work ignited his curiosity. “I always loved labs and never loved the bookwork,” admitted Cassell. “I had perfect attendance in any science lab I’ve ever had. I was only half-there for the bookwork.” To support himself, he also worked part-time as an assistant brewer at River City Ale Works, and it was there that he first experienced the alchemy of fermentation. After that formative experience, Cassell spent a year brewing at Harpoon Brewery in Vermont, before moving back to Pennsylvania. There, he joined Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown, where his meticulous approach led to a swift promotion to Director of Quality Assurance. While at Victory, he took distilling courses from Heriot‑Watt University in Scotland, laying the groundwork for his later ventures.

In 2005, inspired by a lack of Pennsylvania‑made spirits, Cassell partnered with his uncle Andrew Auwerda and Timothy Yarnall to launch Philadelphia Distilling, the state’s first craft distillery since Prohibition. Early successes included Bluecoat Gin (2006), Penn 1681 Vodka (2008), and Vieux Carré Absinthe (2009), and by 2011, the company had shipped nearly 120,000 bottles and ranked among the top ten smaller distilleries in the United States. 

Cassell also became a leading advocate for craft spirits. In 2011, he testified before the Pennsylvania Senate, successfully pushing for reforms that allowed distilleries to sell direct-to-consumer—changes that transformed the industry in the state. As a result, Pennsylvania’s craft distillery count grew rapidly in the decade that followed.

Then, in 2014, Rob Cassell took a bold step: he left Philadelphia Distilling to found New Liberty Distillery in Philadelphia’s Kensington district, where his passion for whiskey found full expression. He designed his own 240‑gallon copper pot still and began experimenting with local grains and malts to blaze new trails in small-batch whiskey production. New Liberty is well-known for producing “Kinsey Rye” as well as “Bloody Butcher Bourbon”. In 2022, the distillery was named "Distillery of the Year" by the American Distilling Institute. At the same time, Cassell co‑founded Connacht Whiskey Company in Ballina, Ireland, transforming an old bakery site into a modern whiskey distillery and extending his significant influence across the Atlantic.