November 6, 2026

From Rebellion to Revival: A conversation with Jewel Rozanski

Jewel Rozanski is co-owner and managing partner of Cultured Travel, which designs educational group tours in the U.S. and abroad under the slogan “Epic Experiences in Spectacular Places with Awesome People.” She’s now building a five-night tour that follows Pennsylvania whiskey from the rebellion to today’s distilling revival. Kristi Chabola, assistant project manager on Spirits of PA, the statewide initiative promoting Pennsylvania distilling, talked with her about how the tour came together, who it’s for and why she wants the world to know this story.

A rabbit hole close to home

Kristi: You’ve done quite a few international tours, but you have a new tour in the works in the Pittsburgh region. How did that happen?

Jewel: I do a couple of domestic tours, Savannah and New Orleans, but lots of international stuff for sure. I’m originally from northwest rural Pennsylvania and lived there for most of my life. I’ve only been in the suburbs of the ‘Burgh for three years. A good friend of mine from college asked me, “Hey, why don’t you think about doing a Whiskey Rebellion tour? All the stuff is right in your area now.” I said, “Oh, interesting. I don’t really know anything about it.” I’m sure I heard the term in high school at some point, but that was it.

I have a tendency to go down rabbit holes, so that’s what I did. I bought books, watched documentaries, mapped out which sites still exist and set out exploring and meeting people. I ran the Whiskey Rebellion tour in August of 2025, and several of my top repeat clients came in for it. It was amazing. After meeting some of the distillers and visiting those sites, I just really fell in love with all of it.

This past August, I decided I wanted to run the tour again, maybe for 2027. So I reached out to Jim Hough at Liberty Pole, because I really like him and love their stuff, and I asked who he could connect me with in this industry. He ended up connecting me with a handful of really amazing people: Ron Mattocks (Spirits of PA); Nate Kresge, who’s doing the documentary; whiskey historian Sam Komlenic; and Matt Strickland and Pete Katz of Iron City.

That’s when I started realizing there’s so much more to Pennsylvania whiskey history. I kind of knew up through the rebellion, and then it’s like, okay, Jefferson repeals the whiskey tax, and then what? So I went down another rabbit hole and realized what massive distilleries we had in PA, and how Prohibition essentially wiped them out. Add in Pennsylvania’s crazy liquor laws, and it started to make sense why I don’t remember distilleries, or even that many breweries, from my younger adulthood. And now I’m seeing this revival, as I’m calling it.

I was really lucky that Sam took my husband and me around to sites in Westmoreland and Fayette counties. We went to the ruins of two different distilleries, Dillinger and especially Old Overholt, this beautiful, massive building that’s just decaying. Think of all the people who must have worked there. This had to be such a huge source of income and economic prosperity for the town, and then it’s just wiped out. He also took us to grave sites of some of the distillers and to Washington’s Grist Mill and Shreve’s Distillery in Perryopolis. It was really eye-opening, and I feel like the world needs to know this story.

Our own backyard

Kristi: One of Spirits of PA’s taglines is “American whiskey was born here.” When people think whiskey, they think bourbon: the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky, Buffalo Trace, Maker’s. Rye isn’t even a blip on the radar, which is so crazy, because rye was the original.

On the tourism side, we’re seeing a trend across the industry: people are still traveling, but a four-hour road trip is much more feasible for a lot of people than an international trip. And we have so much history within a drive from us that we just have no idea about.

Jewel: That’s my hope, too. The tour I’m building now is going to be five nights, and I don’t really do anything half you-know-what. When I do something, I want it to be the best. I want the experts who are really the best in their field, whether they’re historians or distillers, to bring their passion and their magic to the table. Nothing’s really cheap anymore, but at least, for some people, there’s no $1,000 to $2,000 flight to get there.

Of course I want people to do my tour. But if seeing my tour inspires people who are local to come stay at a Motel 6 for a night, hit up some of these sites and just do it on their own, cool.

These historical sites are run primarily on volunteers and shoestring budgets. The maintenance is so extreme, and if we lose some of these places, we’re not getting them back. I’m planning on baking in donations to all four of the historical sites as part of the cost of my tour. It’s really important to me that we preserve our history here.

Kristi: That’s awesome. For the people who have preserved this history so far, it’s been such a labor of love. Over at West Overton, a lot of the whiskey gallery was donated from Sam’s personal collection thanks to his interest in all of this.

Jewel: Yeah, 100%. I am by no means an influencer. I’m a 40-year-old with an iPhone. But I love West Overton. There are a million cool places, but there’s only one West Overton, and it’s a hidden gem. I’ve done some video there and at other places like Woodville, and I’m trying to post some little piece of whiskey history every Wednesday now. My hope is that people who live here see it and say, “I didn’t know about that. I’m going to go there.” I want it to be a reason why people come to Western Pennsylvania.

Building the itinerary

Kristi: There’s so much history here, including Monongahela rye. How did you decide what to include? How do you even pick?

Jewel: It’s really hard. I picked the Omni William Penn Hotel—Henry Clay Frick was the driving force behind that hotel. He was born at West Overton, he made his money from Coke, and his grandpa was Abraham Overholt. So that was an obvious choice. I want even the hotel to be a part of the experience.

After my first tour, I realized we need more time in these places. I don’t want anyone rushed. My tours attract people who ask questions, so I have to give things room to breathe. I was a Spanish teacher for 14 years and a curriculum coordinator for foreign language, so I approach it like a curriculum. I want people to start where the story somewhat starts, pre-1791, before the Whiskey Rebellion.

Day 1: Arrival.

Day 2: We start at the Whiskey Rebellion Education and Visitor Center and the David Bradford House, with historians or speakers giving us the lay of the land before we tour them. Then we go up to Liberty Pole, because people will glaze over at some point, right? Alex Baker’s their chef, and oh my god, his stuff’s amazing. We’ll have lunch, a tasting and a tour, meet with Jim and his family, and do some special things there. Then it’s back to the city for a free evening, with a list of places I’ve vetted.

Day 3: We go out to the Oliver Miller Homestead in South Park. The living historians there are volunteers, and they’re amazing and so knowledgeable. We’ll see what life was like on the frontier and where these whiskey rebels were living in the wild west of Pennsylvania. After lunch, it’s on to Woodville to find out what the other half lived like: the Neville family’s experience, their homes and how those things differed.

Day 4: We bus out to the West Overton area, farther southeast, and Sam joins us. We’ll go to Washington’s Grist Mill and Shreve’s Distillery in Perryopolis, where I’ve befriended some amazing people. Sam will take us by the ruins of the mega distilleries that existed. Some are completely gone, but we can still get a feel for what that was like. Then it’s back to West Overton, still with Sam, to meet with Patrick and hopefully Amanda and Aaron, historians and distillers, and explore this amazing little industrial village. It’s a distillery again now, and it was once the brains behind Old Overholt.

Day 5: Our last full day starts with Wigle in the city, with a tour, a tasting and lunch led by Alex Trask, their production manager. Then we’ll go out to Iron City.

I’m calling this tour From Rebellion to Revival, because I want people to experience a piece of whiskey history at every stage, in order. And the American Distilling Institute conference is in Pittsburgh right after this, so I picked those August dates on purpose, in case anyone wants to stick around.

No jerks allowed

Kristi: How selective is the group? Is this also a fit for someone who just really enjoys PA whiskey?

Jewel: I haven’t officially put it out for sale yet. I’m talking to Sam and a couple of others, because it’s so important to me to make sure I’m doing justice to the story.

I have a strict “no jerks allowed” policy for all of my trips. So I think it can be open to anyone: someone who likes history, someone who likes whiskey, ideally a combination of both. Most importantly, it has to be someone open to learning and a kind, decent human being.

I love group travel because I love people, but one bad seed who complains about everything, or has to dominate the conversation or be a one-upper, affects everyone. When someone registers for any of my tours, there’s a check box that basically says, by checking here, I agree that I’m a generally awesome person. I’m not high maintenance. I’m not whiny. I’m not prone to complaining. And I’m not going to do things that cause the rest of the group to look at me with disdain. I mean it. You’ve got to have good people when you have group travel. That’s really the core of the experience. So anybody can be welcome, just as long as they’re not a jerk.

Sign up at the Smash

Kristi: For anybody reading this, West Overton has a great event every November called the Whiskey Smash, and this year it’s November 14. You get a little bit of museum and a whole lot of spirits tastings. It’s not just whiskey, either. Last year they had moonshine and all sorts of other spirits. Jewel, you’re hoping to take sign-ups for the whiskey history tour at the Smash, right?

Jewel: Yes. I’m planning on having flyers ready and accepting sign-ups at the Smash. And all of my tours are small group, so I’m capping it at 20 participants. I also take monthly payment plans for all my trips, because I want to make travel as accessible as I can.

Building something bigger

Kristi: Is there anything else you want people to know?

Jewel: I really hope this is the start of something much more than just one tour, something that becomes sustainable for many years to come. I’m a huge collaborator. Maybe we can build these little pocket tours. Maybe there’s even some room in my life someday for day tours, where Pittsburgh-area people meet and we bus up to Meadville Distilling. I’m hoping that in my lifetime, we see Pennsylvania become sought after the way Kentucky is. I’m thrilled to do whatever small part I can to shed light on this history and the amazing work our distillers and preservationists are doing.

Kristi: Your work and your goals perfectly align with what Spirits of PA is doing and why the Department of Agriculture thought this program should exist. We have such a rich history, and it’s a great engine for tourism to our area, just like we see in Kentucky.

Spirits of PA and Jewel with Cultured Travel will be at the Whiskey Smash, so please come say hi to both of us. Ask Jewel about her tour and sign up to go on a whiskey history adventure next August. Jewel, thank you. It was lovely talking to you.

Jewel: Thank you. I’ll be there!

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Jewel Rozanski, Cultured Travel | culturedtravel.org | Instagram: @cultur.ed.travel

Spirits of PA is a grant-funded initiative administered through the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Distilled Spirits Industry Promotion Board and managed by Bull Moose Marketing.