“It is the sort of camaraderie — all of us join.”
Rob Dietrich, grasp distiller for Metallica’s Blackened American Whiskey, caught up with Chuck Armstrong on Loudwire Nights (Sept. 25) and opened up about his love for the band’s fanbase.

“We all know the songs we’re singing, we’re headbanging collectively. Should you’re within the mosh pit and any person drops, there’s seven individuals there to raise that individual up instantly. They’re ensuring they’re okay and you retain going, proper?”
As Dietrich shared about his experiences with the followers, he recalled one particular second at an M72 present the place he noticed simply how highly effective the Metallica household really is.
“I bear in mind being in L.A. and I used to be within the Snake Pit,” he mentioned, considering again to Metallica’s cease at SoFi Stadium in August 2023.
“Right here comes Jason Momoa simply working in and like diving into the mosh pit and working round like a madman. We’re at that time, he is identical to anyone else. We’re all in that mosh pit to sweat it out, to work out the angst and to be a part of one thing. And he wasn’t some large film star or something — he was simply one among us at that second. That is what I really like. It is the good equalizer.”
What Blackened’s Newest Collaboration Means to Rob Dietrich
During the last yr, Dietrich and Blackened have launched some new batches of whiskey, together with the 72 Seasons mix celebrating Metallica’s most up-to-date studio album and the second version of their rye whiskey, Rye the Lightning. These bottles adopted the newest addition to Blackened’s Masters of Whiskey sequence, their collaboration with Rabbit Gap.
Dietrich mentioned he is actually excited for the subsequent partnership he is been engaged on.
“I am doing a collaboration right here in Colorado with tenth Mountain Whiskey,” he mentioned.
“I used to be at Stranahan’s when tenth Mountain began and once I was within the military, I used to be within the tenth Mountain Division, which was primarily ski and mountaineering troops — though all of my deployments have been within the desert and nowhere close to the snow and mountains.”
As Dietrich mirrored on this, he mentioned that tenth Mountain Whiskey reached out to him and mentioned they’re celebrating their tenth anniversary in Vail and so they requested him to come back in and collaborate.
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“They have been following my profession for years within the whiskey business,” he famous, however he additionally mentioned they have been as a result of he is “a fight veteran of the tenth Mountain Division. They thought it will be symbiotic that we might work collectively. I used to be very happy to be requested to do this.”
Dietrich took a second to have a good time what this new collaboration actually means to him.
“It was fairly extraordinary to be a part of that mission. Leaning into the group and doing one thing fairly extraordinary with these guys was an actual deal with.”
What Else Did Rob Dietrich Talk about on Loudwire Nights?
- What it was like serving with the tenth Mountain Division and the way he tried to make wine in Mogadishu: “It was completely horrific. It was horrible. I imply, I did not have very a lot to work with. I used to be utilizing Kool-Assist packets.”
- How he ended up celebrating his twenty second birthday whereas serving with a bottle of black market Chivas Regal whiskey: “The Italians had arrange their very own cantina [on the embassy compound]. They’d their very own guidelines. We weren’t allowed to go to their cantina.”
- What his first Metallica present was and why it can without end be one among his most memorable: “It was ’96. They have been headlining Lollapalooza and I used to be working as a rigor for Invoice Graham Presents out in San Francisco. I used to be ecstatic, that was Metallica headlining, Soundgarden. Inexperienced Day was there. Devo was there, which was superior.”
Take heed to the Full Interview within the Podcast Participant Under
Rob Dietrich joined Loudwire Nights on Wednesday, Sept. 25; the present replays on-line right here, and you may tune in stay each weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you may also see if the present is out there in your native radio station and take heed to interviews on-demand.
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