Meet the TrOop
Christine Riggleman (Hooch Mama)
Christine Riggleman (@HoochMamaDistiller) is the CEO and Master Distiller of Silverback Distillery. Born and raised in Manassas, Virginia, Christine married her high school sweetheart, Denver, at the age of 19. Shortly after, Denver joined the Air Force and their journey across the United States and far-off lands began. Christine earned a scholarship from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School in 2000 but due to her husband's military career, she turned down the offer. Christine’s passion for culinary delights never wavered and eventually veered into the world of extraordinary spirits. She became fascinated with distilling on a tour of Ben Nevis Distillery in Scotland in 2012, and shortly after began researching distillation and maturation processes with Denver. In 2014, after a year and a half of strenuous planning, research and construction, Silverback Distillery opened its doors. Although Silverback has only been open since August of 2014, Christine’s spirits have racked up accolades, earning 16 international awards among numerous local and statewide awards. In 2014, she was named one of the top gin distillers in the United States through MSN.com, and in 2017 became the first person inducted into the ABV Network's Bourbon Hall of Fame.
Lauren Riggleman (Baby Hooch)
Lauren Riggleman (@BabyHooch) is the co-Master Distiller at Silverback Distillery and the youngest master distiller in the United States. A second generation distiller, Lauren received her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia in 2015. In 2017, she received her Master's Degree in Fermentation Sciences: Brewing and Distilling from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. While spending a year in Scotland, Lauren became a member of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and spent time researching the similarities and differences between Scottish and American distilling and brewing practices. Lauren loves to get involved with all things whiskey on social media, and has appeared on the ABV Network's podcast The Bourbon Daily a number of times. She joined her mother in the ABV Network’s Hall of Fame as the 39th inductee. Lauren is also teaching the first ever General Certificate in Distilling Course starting at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville. Lauren released her first lead-project as co-master distiller in November of 2022. Her White Rum was a huge success and we are excited to see what she does next!
Denver Riggleman (The Silverback)
Denver is co-owner of Silverback Distillery, husband to the indomitable Christine Riggleman and father to an extraordinary trio of daughters. Despite rumors to the contrary, Denver has never been an exotic dancer or movie star. His occupations over the last twenty years include: USAF avionics technician, commissioned USAF Intelligence Officer and co-founder, former CEO of a successful federal contracting company. Denver has been a huge advocate for small business rights, and that started his involvement in politics. He is now a congressman for the 5th district of the great state of Virginia. Denver's most important Silverback responsibility is being the world's preeminent "taste-tester" for all Silverback products. Denver is also an author andaspiring space traveler.
Visit his website at denverleeriggleman.com
Abby Riggleman (Ramon- don’t ask)
Abby (@media.abbyriggleman) is the Chief Media Officer of Silverback. Being the middle child of Denver & Christine, she has always been fiercely driven to travel and explore the world. After studying media arts and design at James Madison University, she and her husband, Daniel (Danny), made the journey to Scotland so she could complete her Masters in Film Directing at the University of Edinburgh. Abby is now responsible for Silverback's media and works on her own documentaries on the side.
Ryan Blackwell (Rye Guy)
His past is shrouded by tall tales and soft-spoken rumors. Some say he emerged fully-formed from a dark wood in Afton, with a fifth of whiskey at his hip, and others say he was found abandoned in an ancient, time-worn fermenter, but most agree he developed his chipper demeanor, attention to detail, and interpersonal skills in Loudoun County, Virginia, among a loving family. Ryan’s title at Silverback Distillery is General Manager - Poconos and Apprentice Distiller, but he has a hand in everything from tasting room management, marketing and media, to distillation and packaging. Despite not being really, really, ridiculously good looking, nothing makes Ryan happier than a chance to act like a GQ model and practice his looks (Blue Steel is definitely not the same as Le Tigra), but sometimes he has to settle for rugby, building computers and reading poetry.
Zane Roberts
Zane is the Tasting Room Manager at our Virginia location and is (constantly) made fun of for being the youngest full-time employee at Silverback Distillery. Hailing from Staunton, Zane is a trained bartender. In his free time, you can find him shredding at guitar hero, playing with his daughter Jane, or listening to country music whilst completing a word search. Zane loves his job and being a part of the Silverback troop. Silverback loves him back.
JC Clifford
JC is our Poconos Tasting Room Manager. He comes from a Sales, Product Development and Marketing background in both the Automobile and Music Industry. After spending the past 10 years traveling the world with his company, Scorpio Marketing, he has now found a home here at Silverback managing our tasting room, giving tours of our facility and helping out with whatever needs to be done. In his free time, JC lives on the Trails of the Appalachian and on any Mountain he can find. JC’s approach to life is to practice extreme enthusiasm and lives to see people smile and enjoy themselves.
Jarrad Wisherd (J-Rad)
Jarrad is the Operations Assistant and Apprentice Distiller at our Virginia location. He handles everything from filling barrels to keeping the production space clean and tidy. In addition to all of these responsibilities, Jarrad also enjoys entertaining each and every employee of Silverback. Jarrad is participating in an apprentice distiller program at Silverback where he is learning hands on the ins and outs of whiskey production. He currently holds the record for most speakers blown in the tasting room after blasting tasty, crunchy tunes. In his free time, Jarrad loves playing disc golf or as he puts it "chucking frisbees at trees with his friends." He also loves spending time with his two pups, Alexis and Bear. Sadly, he is in fact a little bit shorter than Trevor.