The company announced it was nominated as the Best Craft Specialty Spirits Distillery, Best Craft Gin Distillery, and Best Craft Brandy Distillery for 2020. This marks the fourth time Long Road was nominated in the Best Craft Specialty Spirits Distillery category.

“We’re incredibly proud to receive nominations in multiple categories again this year,” said Kyle Van Strien, co-owner and co-founder of Long Road Distillers. “We’re fortunate to be part of a thriving craft beverage scene in Michigan. While it feels odd to celebrate such honors in light of the challenges our industry is currently facing, we’re happy for the attention it can bring to our region.”

Over its five-year history, the distillery gained national and international attention for its award-winning lineup of craft spirits, including gins, vodkas, liqueurs and whiskeys.

Long Road Distillers is one of 20 nominees in each category from around the country chosen by a panel of American spirits experts.

The nominating panel includes Wayne Curtis, spirits and cocktail author of books including “And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails”; Brian Christensen, publisher and editor of Artisan Spirit Magazine; Ziggy Eschliman, founder of ZigStyle and award-winning radio host; Eric Grossman, a food and beverage writer and author of Craft Spirits; and Jack Robertiello, a writer and acclaimed wine and spirits judge.

The public will choose the winners by casting votes on 10best.com/awards. Each person may vote for their favorites once per day until Sept. 14. Winners will be announced Sept. 25.

“Unlike many competitions where the judging takes place behind closed doors, this contest puts the power in the hands of those that enjoy our spirits and those who have supported us over the past several years,” said Jon O’Connor, co-owner and co-founder of Long Road Distillers. “We’re humbled by these nominations and hopeful that we can spread the word far and wide to take home a few new honors for Grand Rapids.”

U.S. distillers are creating a splash with their own versions of the bitter Italian liqueur. Here, a guide to the best American-made amari

Published on Saveur.com BY LAURA ITZKOWITZ MAY 17, 2019

When Amor y Amargo opened in 2011 in New York’s East Village, there was only one amaro produced in the U.S. on its shelves. Now there are more than 20, though Sother Teague, the bar’s founder and New York City’s resident amaro expert, says the American amaro scene is “still incubating,” so more bottles are bound to come out of the woodwork.

The rise in domestically produced amaro is, at least in part, correlated to an increased interest among consumers in amaro (plural: amari), the category of bittersweet liqueur originally produced in Italy. And though the Italian giants like Campari and Aperol still dominate backbars across the country, a number of craft distilleries that were already making vodka, whiskey, and other spirits right here in the U.S. are adding an amaro to their portfolio. There are even some distillers that started out expressly producing amaro, even if they have since added other liqueurs to their range.

“Whatever was being produced was just being consumed by the maker or the neighborhood, which is how it starts all over the world,” says Teague, explaining why he’s got so many more domestic amari on his shelves now than he did in 2011. Now that they’re becoming more available, America is going through a bit of an amaro craze, and Teague is one of its most vocal champions. At Amor y Amargo, he pours the products that he likes best, and distillers send him their bottles with the hopes of getting them on his shelves.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about amaro is that each one is so unique that almost everybody can find a type that suits them. While American distillers are using some less traditional ingredients like coffee or hibiscus, Teague believes there’s no fundamental difference between Italian amari and American ones, since they’re so hard to define in the first place. “Overwhelmingly, even American amari try to stick to the traditional thinking and methodology,” he says, alluding to the rich history of sourcing local botanicals for amari, and creating a taste of place. “Each one of these is trying to do things with stuff from where they’re at.”

While the American amaro market continues to grow, there are already a few available that are the best of the best. Here are the 10 American amari Teague recommends seeking out right now.

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The Coffee-Tinged Amari

Teague sees these as a great alternative to saccharine coffee liqueurs like Kahlúa and Tia Maria. Both amari are made using local coffee. Amaro Pazzo—which translates to “crazy bitter” in Italian—is produced by Long Road Distillers in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The base spirit is distilled on-site, where they also make vodka, gin, whiskey, and a few other spirits and cordials. It’s infused with wormwood, gentian, chicory, orange peel, and several other botanicals, and then blended with coffee by Madcap Coffee Company.

Bartender and distiller Ryan Maybee revived Kansas City whiskey—a type of whiskey that died out during Prohibition—and named his distillery J. Rieger & Co. after the family that used to make it in the early 1900s. He recently teamed up with Kansas City coffee brewers Thou Mayest to create Caffè Amaro, which Maybee ages in his old whiskey barrels.