Meet the Creators Who Make Craft Whiskey Possible Heidi Korb and her father, Russ Karasch, provide craft distillers with custom barrels from Black Swan Cooperage. (Photo by Peter Garritano) “Folks in the craft spirits industry are looking to make differentiated products,” says Dave Green, president and CEO of Skagit Valley Malting in Washington. “You can’t do that with commodity ingredients.” Green supports small-scale distillers, valuing flavor over yield, with locally grown grains like Obsidian, an exotic barley variety originally from Egypt, and Skagit white club wheat, introduced to the Pacific Northwest from Spain in the 1700s. Green’s customers include forward-thinking whiskey makers like