(NOTE: FOUNDERS ARE LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
Craft Distillery Whiskey Founders
Western Plains
The Western Plains States Region includes the States of:
Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota
Below are links to Whiskey Founders that have made huge contributions to the growth of Western Plains Whiskey Industry. These may have been historical figures that lived long ago before prohibition or may be living leaders that have advanced the cause of the industry as a whole. Craft Whiskey has now been its own whiskey category for years.
1
Joel Kath
Proof Artisan Distillery
Joel Kath has involved the family deeply in the whiskey efforts. His brother Jay serves as Master Distiller and operations manager. Moreover, Joel notes that the tasting panel for quality control comprises himself, Jay, and Joel’s sons, Jamison and Jarek, keeping his sons part of the whiskey sensory evaluation.
2
Brian Nation
Keeper’s Heart
Brian Nation’s journey from Ireland’s renowned whiskey-making traditions to the establishment of a pioneering distillery in Minneapolis is a testament to his skill in crafting exceptional spirits. Brian’s deep understanding of the technical side of production, combined with his sensory expertise in taste and smell, has made him one of the most influential figures in the modern whiskey industry.
3
Patrick O’Shaughnessy
O’Shaughnessy Distillery
The distilling chapter of Patrick O’Shaughnessy’s life did not begin to take shape until 2017, at a O’Shaughnessy family reunion. As often happens at such gatherings, whiskey was on the table. A running joke surfaced: wouldn’t it be fun if the family had its own whiskey? The question touched something genuine
4
Jamison Rounds
Dakota Spirits
Jamison Rounds first set about preparing for the priesthood. He traveled to Europe for seminary studies and worked in Italy, Germany and Poland, but during those years abroad, his intellectual focus began to shift. When he returned to South Dakota, it was not to build his own parish church, but to build a distillery.
5
Cody Schmick
Sideshow
Cody Schmick described a secret-door transition into a Sideshow cocktail lounge designed to feel, “super high end,” with a different drink menu and a flow between the spaces. It’s a revealing detail: Schmick wasn’t choosing between mass appeal and premium experience, he was stacking them
6
Michael Swanson
Far North Spirits
Michael Swanson trained with seasoned distillers in Wisconsin and Chicago, absorbing methods, comparing approaches, and discovering that even among professionals, there was no single sanctioned “right way” to do the work, only decisionsthat, once committed, had to be executed with complete faith.
7
Zac Triemert
Brickway
Zac favors a double-pot still system and new, charred American oak, maturing his whisky in ways that pull from corn liquor’s heat-driven transformations while retaining a single-malt’s grain focus. The result is a spirit that stood between traditions: Scotch’s earthy purity and bourbon’s oak-and-heat.