Rogue Distiller Jake Holshue elected to American Craft Spirits Association Board

He’ll help lead the nonprofit industry organization.

Rogue’s own Level 10 Spirits Wizard and head distiller Jake Holshue was recently elected to the American Craft Spirits Association Board of Directors.

The ACSA is a nonprofit trade group representing the craft spirits industry. Governed by an elected 15-member board, the group lobbies on behalf of the distilling industry, offers educational opportunities to members, hosts an annual convention and more.

Jake will serve a three-year term on the board, but he and Rogue have been involved with the ACSA for many years.

“For the past year and a half, I’ve been volunteering on the education committee for the ACSA, something that I’m still doing and find a lot of satisfaction in,” he said. “I am happy to continue the tradition of representing not only Rogue but Oregon on a national level.”

Rogue Spirits has been working with the ACSA since its inception as one of its founding distilleries. Rogue President Brett Joyce even served as an ad hoc board member and helped establish the group’s code of ethics and other framework when it was founded.

Despite his longtime involvement, Jake wasn’t planning to join the board until a conversation with outgoing president Paul Hletko of Few Spirits.

“I actually just asked him a basic question about it and he was like, ‘well, you’re nominated now, so good luck with that,’” he laughed.

Even with the daunting prospect of campaigning for himself at the annual convention in February, Jake was excited to get more involved in an organization he cares about and to represent the craft spirits industry.

His colleagues must have clearly seen this passion and dedication (in spite of an end-of-conference speech he called “horrendous”), as well as his admiration for fellow distillers and board members.

“I may be a Level 10 Spirits Wizard, but they’re my heroes,” he said. “So if I can represent them in any way, I’m just trying to do my best there.”

We don’t need to worry that all this power will go to Jake’s head. He has no desire to “wield an army of distillers to march across the country,” he said. “Which is too bad. I could be a badass general. Wizard general... I don’t know, we’ll work on it.”

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