Liba Spirits is a distilling company with a sense for adventure. Cofounders Colton Weinstein and Devon Trevathan are lifelong distillery professionals who also independently love to travel. They met working at Corsair Distillery in 2016; Colton was head distiller and Devon, freshly back from a year in Taiwan, was the latest front-of-house hire. They bonded over a shared obsession with the industry and the same fervent ambition to be the best at what they do.
From their jobs in Nashville, TN, Colton and Devon crafted a business model that would allow them to pursue their greatest passion—distilling and releasing incredible spirits—while traveling the globe, accessing beautiful agriculture and regional knowledge. Every Liba spirit is tied to place, inspired by tradition, and filtered through the intuition and taste of its makers. They are memories in a bottle, meant to be a one-way ticket to a new destination.
1643 Alpine Gin
A super fragrant gin perfect for G&Ts, made in the Austrian Alps using fresh Italian juniper, hand-peeled Italian citrus, and Austrian spices
Terrativo
The first and only bitter aperitivo made from bourbon, infused with herbs, fruits, spices, and bittering inspired by America’s culinary landscape
Lafcadio Botanical Rum
A spirit unlike any other, fitting since we distilled it in New Orleans, a city all its own, with Bay leaf and peppercorn infused in a rum from molasses
HOW WE OPERATE
Liba Spirits are made nomadically—Colton and Devon travel
the world, renting distilleries belonging to other people. While they use
distilleries that aren’t their own, they do all their own product conception,
formulation, distillation, and blending. This model allows them to make
location-driven spirits around the globe, contained within the same
extended family of products.
Colton
Background & Experience
Colton Weinstein is the co-founder of Liba Spirits. He has only ever worked in the industry, which makes him something of a unicorn in this business. While in high school in Ithaca, New York, Colton secured his first job at a winery and distillery called Six Mile Creek, where he was tasked with managing the vineyards and developing a very deep farmer’s tan. He went on to study fermentation science at Oregon State University (go Beavs) before securing a position at Corsair in Nashville as an intern post-grad. They offered him a job full-time, and he worked his way up to head distiller in charge of production for three facilities in just a few short years.
Present
Colton is a member of the Board of Directors for the American Craft Spirits Association, the chair of their Safety Committee, and a co-owner of the consulting firm Liquor & Co. He also co-hosts a distilling podcast called Still Talking that would almost certainly make your grandma blush. The man is a firm devotee to wood-fire grills—to him, gas grills are nothing more than “outdoor ovens”—and is always game to sample whatever’s put down in front of him. He possesses a near-encyclopedic knowledge of the spirits industry, which comes in handy whenever his business partner needs to ask him questions for a story she’s writing.
We wanted to create a company that celebrates alcohol for all of its best qualities. For us, that meant championing quality raw materials, passionate producers and their techniques, and opportunities to gather together and swap stories over a good drink.
Ours is not the typical craft distillery origin story. There were no other careers before this one for either of our founders, no homebrewing operation that sparked an idea of “what if I opened an alcohol production facility?” There has only ever been commitment, passion, and a lifelong pursuit to make extraordinary spirits.
Devon
Background & Experience
Devon Trevathan is the co-founder of Liba Spirits. Devon’s journey to this position has been…less linear. She studied psychology and criminology at the University of Central Florida, where she developed absolutely no school spirit, and then moved immediately to Taipei, Taiwan after graduation. When she returned to the states, she visited Nashville and decided to move there “for the time being.” Eventually, she was recommended for a job at Corsair Distillery, one that would truly change her life. She was fortunate enough to land the gig, even though she didn’t know a thing about alcohol at the time (in her defense, she was only 22). After a period of studious drinking, Devon developed an appreciation for this industry that just won’t quit.
Present
Devon is now a senior writer at Artisan Spirit Magazine, to which she contributes multiple articles for each issue and crafts the newsletter each month. She is formerly a brand ambassador for one of the most awarded craft distilleries in the U.S., Maggie’s Farm Rum, and is an active volunteer with the American Craft Spirits Association. She dabbles in photography, mostly for this site. If she could have it her way—and was guaranteed that the sheets would always be clean in the morning—she’d probably be content to eat dumplings and drink effervescent white wine in bed for the rest of her days. As it stands, she only engages in that kind of reckless behavior in hotels.