Meet Brian McKenzie of Finger Lakes Distillery on a special program in anticipation of the 2013 Manhattan Cocktail Classic. The Finger Lakes Distilling story begins in 2007, when Brian McKenzie of Elmira, N.Y., met Thomas Earl McKenzie of Monroeville, Ala., at a craft distiller's conference. The two men aren't related, but they did discover they shared a passion for high-quality, distilled spirits. Brian, a former bank vice-president, had experience in finance and was interested in starting his own business. Thomas Earl's background included wine-making, brewing, farming and consulting for distilleries. It was a fateful meeting - and a great match of talents to start a new distillery. Today, they are well on their way to realizing a dream of working with good friends and family to create products they can offer with pride. This program was sponsored by Rt 11 Potato Chips

"The idea was to create a distillery in a growing wine region, so we're seeing a ton of tourists come through the area to taste the wines and several of those people are also spirits drinkers so we're trying to cater to that market." [01:00]

--Brian McKenzie of Finger Lakes Distillery on HeritageRadioNetwork.org

Who's in the mood for whiskey? Tune into the Speakeasy and hear from "master blender" Nicole Austin from Kings County Distillery in Brooklyn. Find out how the small distillery has evolved over the past few years, and learn what exactly a master blender does. Learn about corn whiskey and what makes it different than other spirits and why when it comes to barels size does matter. Small barel distillation is a trickier task, but it makes for some absolutely delicious product. Learn all about small batch whisky on a boozy episode of The Speakeasy. This program was sponsored by Greenhouse Tavern.

"I have every intention of sticking with small barels. I'm not trying to out-Jim Bean Jim Bean." [09:00]

"Designing a still is the wheelhouse of chemical engineering." [18:00]

--Nicole Austin of Kings County Distillery on The Speakeasy

Small distilleries are becoming more and more popular in New York City, and this week on "In the Drink", Joe Campanale highlights one of the more interesting projects happening right now - Industry City Distilleries. Tune in as he chats with Peter Simon and Zac Bruner, who describe the inspiration behind the distillery and what it was like taking the initial steps in design and production. Find out why they decided to focus on vodka at first - and how they use beet sugar, which is usually a European tradition. Tune in for an on-air tasting and tons of insight into the life of an urban distiller. This program was sponsored by Fairway Market.

Photo: Christina DiLaura, 8.ate@eight

"For us if we wanted to actually test our equipment - the best test is to make a good vodka. Then, you can go anywhere from there." [09:00]

"We're caring more and more about our food and now people are starting to care more about what we're drinking." [15:00]

--Peter Simon of Industry City Distillery on In the Drink