Bluecoat Gin Creator Robert Cassell Is Leaving Philadelphia Distilling Company

I remember when Philadelphia Distilling Company first released Bluecoat Gin, the craft distillery’s flagship spirit. “Gin made in Philly?!” people would say when I told them about it. “No thanks.”

Nearly a decade later, no decent, self-respecting Philadelphia bar is without a bottle of Bluecoat on the shelf, and it is available in dozens of states. But now Bluecoat’s creator, Philadelphia Distilling Company master distiller and co-founder Robert Cassell (that’s him on the bottom), is leaving the company.

Cassell, 34, won’t get into the details of his impending departure from Philadelphia Distilling. He also won’t go on-the-record with his future plans.

But given that the man has already made gin, vodka (Penn 1681 Rye Vodka and the Chesapeake-inspired Bay), absinthe (Vieux Carre) and unaged white corn whiskey (XXX Shine), I’d say that the smart money is on a full-fledged whiskey operation.

Philadelphia Distilling Company president Andrew Auwerda, who also happens to be Cassell’s uncle, could not immediately be reached for comment.