Inside Woodworks Distilling Company: A Story Told in Every Sip

Behind the Pour

Crystal and Roger have been regulars at Woodworks Distilling long enough to know it is not a typical Oklahoma distillery. Now they sit down with the founders — David Wood and David Alexander — to understand why. The answer involves literary themes on cocktail menus, an experimental series called Rough Draft that lets the team try ideas they are not sure about yet, locally sourced Oklahoma wood for barrels, and a gold medal-winning absinthe that most distilleries would not have the patience to produce. Woodworks is writing its story in every product it makes. This episode is the chapter with the authors.

What You'll Discover

• Five layers of storytelling on every label: David and David approach branding as literature. Each label carries multiple layers of meaning — the name, the visual design, the production note, the chapter number, and a deeper thematic reference. It is branding as a long-form project.
• The Rough Draft experimental series: Not every idea a distillery has should be in permanent production. The Rough Draft series is where Woodworks tries things — unusual grain bills, unconventional barrel types, new botanical combinations — without committing the whole operation to the experiment.
• Gold medal-winning absinthe: Absinthe is one of the most technically demanding spirits in production — botanical precision, accurate wormwood sourcing, and the louche effect on dilution all require serious craft. Woodworks earning a gold medal is not accidental.
• Local Oklahoma wood for barrels: Using Oklahoma-grown wood for barrel staves is an unusual localization decision that directly affects the flavor of the spirits aged inside. The barrel's wood species and origin shape the spirit as much as the grain and fermentation do.
• They dump what does not meet the standard: David and David's quality commitment is operational, not just rhetorical — batches that do not meet the standard get dumped rather than released. That kind of discipline is rare in craft production.

A Moment of Pourspective

The most interesting distilleries are the ones where the founders are still asking questions. Rough Draft is not just a product line — it is a philosophy. A spirit that admits it is learning is more trustworthy than one that insists it already knows.

Explore the Conversation

The Woodworks founders episode has a different quality than the house manager episode with Abby. Where Abby's conversation was about the bar program and the cocktail culture, David and David's conversation is about the production philosophy and the brand identity. Both perspectives are necessary to understand what Woodworks actually is. The literary theme running through the label design is not decoration — it is a consistent world-building exercise. Crystal notes having seen the before-and-after of the menu changes over multiple visits; the founders explain that the menus are built as narratives, with cocktail names and descriptions that connect to each other the way chapters of a book do. The Oklahoma wood sourcing is the episode's most technically specific detail. David explains that local wood species produce different flavor compounds than the standard American white oak used by most distilleries — the result is a barrel-aged spirit with a flavor profile you cannot replicate with commodity barrel stock.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Where is Woodworks Distilling? Woodworks Distilling Company is in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Crystal and Roger are regulars and recommend it as a destination if you are in the area.
• What is the Rough Draft series? The Rough Draft is Woodworks' experimental production line — expressions that are in development, testing new ideas, or exploring non-standard production approaches. They are released when ready, not on a fixed schedule.
• What is absinthe and why is it hard to produce? Absinthe is a high-proof spirit flavored with wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), anise, and other botanicals. The wormwood must be precisely sourced and dosed — too little and the character is absent, too much and it crosses into bitterness. A proper louche (cloudiness on water dilution) requires specific essential oil balance.
• How does local wood affect barrel aging? Different wood species contain different concentrations of vanillin, tannins, lactones, and other compounds that extract into the spirit during aging. Oklahoma wood species produce a flavor profile distinct from standard Missouri or Ohio-grown American white oak.

Episode at a Glance

• Guests: David Wood and David Alexander (founders, Woodworks Distilling)
• Hosts: Crystal and Roger
• Runtime: 19 minutes, 51 seconds
• Category: Spirits Education
• Location: Woodworks Distilling, Oklahoma City