Launched in 2016, Roulaison Distilling Co was (appropriately) born out of a casual conversation between old friends over drinks.
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Andrew Lohfeld and Patrick Hernandez moved to New York City. One day in 2013, the two met up at a local bar to “catch up.”
Andrew, a Philadelphia native and Kings County Distillery (The American Distilling Institute’s 2016 Craft Distillery of the Year) alum, had long been mulling over an idea and had made up his mind to follow through on it. He shared with Patrick his vision and laid out his plan of starting a craft distillery focused on crafting a truly unique rum that pays tribute to its pre-industrial heritage. He also had a potentially ideal place in mind. The culture and history of New Orleans as well as the abundance of sugar cane nearby seemed to him the perfect fit. There was just one problem: Andrew had never been to New Orleans.
That soon changed. After hearing Andrew’s vision, Patrick, a Louisiana native working in finance at the time, was instantly sold on the idea. Patrick was certain that Andrew would love New Orleans as much as he did; and within weeks, Patrick and Andrew set off on a “market research” trip.
Once in New Orleans, Andrew and Patrick were convinced that it was the natural place to launch Roulaison and the partnership was born.
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