Meet the TrOop

 
 
 

Christine “Hooch Mama” Riggleman  

CEO & Master Distiller, Silverback Distillery 

Christine Riggleman (@HoochMamaDistiller) is the award-winning CEO and Master Distiller of Silverback Distillery. A Virginia native, Christine married her high school sweetheart, Denver, and together they traveled the world during his Air Force career. She was accepted to Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School in 2000, but chose to prioritize family—though her passion for flavor and creating never faded. 

What truly makes Christine tick is creating something special for people and watching them enjoy it—that’s where she finds her greatest joy. That passion evolved into a fascination with distilling after a visit to Scotland’s Ben Nevis Distillery in 2012. By 2014, after intense research, planning, and construction, Christine and Denver opened Silverback Distillery. 

Career Highlights & Accolades: 

  • 21+ international spirits awards 
  • Named one of the top gin distillers in the U.S. by MSN.com 
  • 3-time “Best of Fest” winner – NOLA Bourbon Festival 
  • First-ever inductee into the ABV Network’s Bourbon Hall of Fame (2017) 
  • First female Master Distiller to release a product under her own name 
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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

 
 

Ashley Bosford- General Manager- Afton, VA

Ashley is the General Manager at our Virginia location, bringing both heart and precision to our daily operations. A former Tasting Room Manager, Ashley returned to the Silverback family last year and hit the ground running. With a strong background in office administration and years of experience working in schools, she’s known for her keen attention to detail and love of a good spreadsheet. Ashley is a proud mom of four, has been married for over 23 years, and balances distillery life with cheering from the sidelines at her kids’ soccer games. Whether she’s managing logistics or streamlining systems, Ashley keeps things running smoothly behind the scenes. 

 

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.

Emily Czerwik- Tasting room manager

Emily started in the tasting room as a Troop Ambassador in 2018, working her way up the Jungle food chain one miscellaneous job at a time.  From restaurant sales and tasting events to bottling hand sanitizer and flipping the tasting room into a shipping facility during COVID, Emily was here, adapting to the changing world of the Silverback Jungle.  Emily is back as Tasting Room Manager after taking a brief hibernation.  The warmth of Silverback’s aging bourbon has brought her down from the high hills of Staunton, reinvigorating her love of Hooch Mama’s craftwomanship.