We're not in the business of consulting to brands or distilleries, but a few months ago we asked you to submit your questions about brand building to give our honest feedback and advice. In this episode we take questions from entrepreneurs that are looking to start their own brand and what types of spirits to offer based on their location and our thoughts on unconventional grains like oats, buckwheat, and rice. We also analyze labels. How important is it see stuff like "rare", "super premium", "hand crafted", or "non chill filtered" on the label? Lastly, as a brand begins to scale or potentially halts growth when is it the right time to add a new state for distribution? If you want to ask us a question about brand consultation, nothing related to the distillation process because we're not chemical engineers, shoot us a message to [email protected] and we may read your question next time we record a show like this. Show Notes: Above the Char with Fred Minnick (@fredminnick) asks about falisfying information about bourbon history From Alen: As a craft distillery, would you recommend to start with a product that is popular on local level or to focus on already established type of spirit? From Alen: I'm also very dedicated to the bottle and label design. I'm planning to have my custom bottle and label that I designed by myself. Is that right way? What is your thought on additional text on a label such as "non-chill filtered", "rare", "hand crafted" and is it distracting? From Nick: What’s your opinion on the potential of whiskies made from unconventional grains such as oat, sorghum, buckwheat, etc? How does a new brand analyze when it's time to add a new state in which to sell? Support this podcast on Patreon