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Kris Comstock, the Bourbon Marketing Director at Buffalo Trace, talks about how he made his way to Kentucky and gives us insight into the brands and even the new 2015 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection (sorry about the horrible audio on this one).

Show Notes:

• Firenado/Bourbonado
• Tell us your bourbon story
• What led you to Buffalo Trace?
• What do you do in your current role?
• Give everyone a bit of insight on how you do forecasting for production?
• Since you are in charge of packaging let’s talk a bit about some of the labels we see today.
  Can you talk a bit about some of them and perhaps some backstory. Maybe even give the listeners an understanding why Buffalo Trace is even called Buffalo Trace?
• Now I know Blantons has the collector series of caps. Am I right?
• You’ve also had a hand in developing some of the other brands like EH Taylor, Experimental, Stagg Jr and Single Oak. talk about each one of those a little bit and the roles you played
• The Antique collection was just announced. Talk to us about it a bit
• Follow Kris on twitter at @BUFFALOCOMSTOCK

Carol Perry, or just Perry, is a legend in his own right. Perry has worked at the Stitzel-Weller distillery in Shively for 45 years. He has held about every job you could possibly have and is currently working security and head greeter for the Bulleit Frontier Experience.

Show Notes:

• Give us an idea of what you have been doing here for the past 45 years
• Talk about what life is like working at the warehouse
• Why did they have windows open only during the day?
• What other kinds of experiences did you gather from working at warehouse?
• Drinking your own product on the job probably wasn’t uncommon back then
• How automated were the processes back then?
• What do you mean by dumping the glass?
• Did you ever have any interactions with the Van Winkle family?
• Wasn’t there a break room incident with Julian?
• What were you doing when the distillery closed its doors?
• Any security incidents in your time?
• You’ve seen the ups and downs, is this the craziest time you’ve ever seen?
• Is there a best memory that sticks out for you during this time?

Brent Goodin, Master Distiller at Boundary Oak Distillery, discusses his new startup distillery and how his first bottle of bourbon off the line sold for $28,000.

Show Notes:

• What’s your bourbon story? Do you have an earliest moment with bourbon?
• Are you picking up the family lineage of getting back into the bourbon industry?
• What led you to becoming a Master Distiller? Any influencers along the way?
• How long have you been practicing your trade?
• Where does the name Boundary Oak come from?
• Where is your location in relation to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail?
• I don’t get to use this word very often, but What’s it mean to be the first distiller in Hardin County after a “centennial plus some”?
• There was an Insider Louisville article lately that talked about a record being broken for the most paid for a first bottle of bourbon. Talk about that
• Most consumers think 2 year old bourbon is under-aged. Are you doing something different to age your bourbon to make it more appealing?
• How big is your operation? and how many barrels can you age?
• Are you thinking you are going to have multiple brands or mix them all together to have a consistent flavor?
• What price point are you targeting?
• As with most distillery startups, you already have a product for sale, Kentucky Amber, talk about it a bit
• How can people get a hold of you and learn more about the distillery?

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Brian Haara (@SippnCorn), Attorney and blogger at Sipp’n Corn, joins the podcast to talk about the history of the bourbon industry through the lens of lawsuits. Listen to find out how Colonel Taylor loved getting himself into trouble as well as the real story behind Ezra Brooks.

Show Notes:

• Do you have a favorite office bourbon?
• What’s your bourbon story?
• How did you get into bourbon?
• The one thing I love how blog is such an interesting angle into the past. You stumbled upon this, now are you going through archives in Lexis Nexis to search for keywords like “EH Taylor”.
• Do you think more people are looking to become educated consumers?
• You have an article on your blog on how to read the Four Roses single barrel label
• Talk about Copycat Whiskey with Jack Daniels and Ezra Brooks
• Who is the most notorious for being in legal trouble with bourbon?
• Talk a bit about Taylor and the bottle-in-bond act
• What about the lawsuits between George Stagg and Taylor? What did that mean about the brands and the distilleries?
• Is there more legal trouble about Taylor’s Signature?
• You’ve got another article called Kentucky Isn’t Big Enough for Two Colonel Taylors. Talk about that.
• Did you see a lot of cases based off copyright or brand infringements?
• Churchill Downs Distilling vs Churchill Downs Inc.
• Were there any cases involving Stitzel-Weller?
• Are there any recent laws or cases that are interesting?
• Give me your favorite bourbons you have reviewed recently

David Mandell, CEO of the Bardstown Bourbon Company, talks about the beginning of one of the newest and largest distilleries to ever hit Bardstown, KY. We talk about the present and future of this up and coming distillery.

Show Notes:

• David tell us about your background
• Tell us about the spirits you will be distilling
• Give us your bourbon story. What led you into the spirits business?
• Talk a little bit about the operation you are currently building
• What edge does this give you compared to Heaven Hill, Four Roses for outsourcing bourbon?
• What are you going to do with 37,000 square feet of space?
• We’re the first to break the news about Harrison-Smith House being a staple at the new distillery.
• What else can you fit inside this massive space?
• What’s the timeline to get the stills running?
• To be called a bourbon it needs to be aged for two years. So what’s your two year plan to fill the gap?
• What are the long term plans with that facility?
• What was the solidifying fact by choosing Bardstown as the home for this new distillery?
• What are the biggest hurdles you see as the biggest blockers for trying to get into the spirits industry?
• Tell us about Steve Nally and what he brings to possible micro-distillers wanting to expand their product lines
• Where are you exactly in Bardstown?
• Like Bardstown Bourbon on Facebook, Follow @btownbourbon on twitter

Marianne Barnes, Master Distiller at The Distillery Formally Known as Old Taylor, discusses her new role, what everyone can expect coming from this revitalization, and insights into what it takes to be a master distiller.

Show Notes:

• Tell us a little bit about your past
• How does chemical engineering play into this role?
• Talk to us about why we have you on the show
• Are you going to keep the name Old Taylor name or will it be renamed?
• What’s being invested into restoring the distillery?
• Where is the distillery in relation to the bourbon trail?
• Where do you see this business in the next 5 years?
• How do you measure success?
• What can you do differently versus Brown-Forman?
• What does it mean to be a woman in this male dominated field?
• Talk to us a little bit about what made you so successful and why you were chosen for this role
• What is going to set your bourbon apart from everything else on the market?
• When is the distillery going to be up and running?
• Follow Marianne Barnes on Facebook

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Ewan Morgan, National Director for the Diageo Masters of Whiskey, joins us from DC to talk about his past with whiskey, scotch, and bourbon. We dive deeper into the Orphan Barrel releases as well as the latest, Blade and Bow.

Show Notes:

• Tell us about your love story with bourbon. How did you get into the industry?
• Give us an idea about the differences you see in scotch vs whiskey vs bourbon
• Talk about your role at Diageo as a Master of Whiskey
• How would you even begin in that career path?
• Talk about how Diageo started getting into pure bourbon?
• Give us a little bit of history and the inspiration behind the Orphan Barrels
• How did Diageo come up with the bottle designs?
• Can you talk a little bit about the Diageo Orphan Barrel releases? Old Blowhard, Barterhouse, Lost Prophet, Rhetoric, and Forged Oak. What makes each unique?
• Some Orphan Barrel series such as Barterhouse are seeing new batches show up while some others such as Lost Prophet are pretty much done. Can you give an indication of which releases we can expect to see more of? And which ones are done?
• Diageo recently released Blade and Bow. Talk to us a bit about both releases
• What is solera aging?
• Talk about the marketing of the key and the name “Blade and Bow”
• What does it mean to call the old Stitzel-Weller distillery “home”?
• How much Stitzel-Weller juice do you have on hand?

Marianne Zickuhr, Executive Director of Preservation Louisville, talks about the history of Whiskey Row and her involvement with preserving this iconic landmark in downtown Louisville, KY.

Show Notes:

• What was your first memory or first bottle of bourbon?
• What’s your role at Preservation Louisville?
• Did you study history in college or have you been a history buff?
• What is Whiskey Row in Louisville, KY?
• How did you get involved with it?
• Can you recall any of the names that might have inhabited Whiskey Row?
• Can you explain more about the building because the facade is there but what about the rest of the building?
• Why did Whiskey Row die off?
• Do you know the origin of the tiles on the block showing names of the old distilleries?
• Is everything done what can be done to preserve it?
• There is a bourbon called Whiskey Row but it’s actually made in Crestwood, KY and you have a story about that.
• Follow @PreservationLou on twitter and @PreservationLou on Instagram.

Sean Higgins, Chief Fun Officer of Mint Julep Tours, talks about the array of tours they offer with customized trips with their tag line “the purpose of fun is to have some”. From bourbon to horses to zip lines, Sean is your Louisville concierge.

Show Notes:

• Tell us a bit about Mint Julep Tours
• How did you get into the bourbon industry?
• You helped drive Makers Mark into Southern California. Was this pre-Ambassador Program?
• What are in the catalog of products you offer?
• Can you just hop on a tour on a whim?
• How many distilleries can you see in one day?
• What’s the cost?
• What’s the range of people to charter your own bus?
• Give us an idea of a bachelor party trip?
• How did this idea come about?
• How do you find your tour guides?
• What can you do for corporate events?
• Talk about the “expert” bourbon tastings you advertise
• Talk about the Mint Julep Exclusives like the Makers Mark After Dark tour

Adam Johnson, Director of the KY Bourbon Trail & Bourbon Affair, joins us as the first ever two-time guest! This time we talk about the Kentucky Bourbon Affair that will be taking place June 3rd-7th 2015.

Show Notes:

• What’s your elevator pitch of the Bourbon Affair?
• Tell us about some of the events that take place
• The hype video shows the polo players getting bathed in bourbon?
• It’s the hardest event to pack a suitcase for
• How do you respond to “what’s the best?”
• Fred Minnick says this is an event usually Press and Analysts get to do
• These events do cost money to attend
• Which events did you like from last year?
• Casa Bourblanca
• Louisville bars do stay open till 4am
• visit the Facebook page and kybourbonaffair.com to get more info

Kevin Curtis, Distillery Operations Manager, and Kyle Henderson, Production Manager and grandson of Lincoln Henderson, from Angel’s Envy join to talk about their roles and the new distillery in the works.

Show Notes:

• Kevin, how did you get your start?
• What was your role while you were at Brown-Foreman?
• How did your time at Brown-Foreman prepare you for role at Angel’s Envy?
• Kyle, talk about your family lineage with Angel’s Envy.
• Kyle what’s your day to day operation?
• When you’re analyzing the maturity of a port barrel, what are you looking for?
• Kevin, what’s your day to day role as well?
• What do you think makes Angel’s Envy so special and such a success?
• Give us a verbal map of how it goes from 500 East Main Street to the old Yellowstone Distillery.
• When is the expected start date for visitors to come to the distillery?
• How has the Louisville bridge project effected your start date?
• Has the project effected your future forecast?
• What do you want to leave our listeners with?

Jim Rutledge, Master Distiller at Four Roses, joins us for Part 2 of this 2-Part podcast and discusses his travels, limited edition releases, one floor warehouses, and how he’s shaping their future.

Show Notes:

• What experiences stand out from your travels?
• Talk about your super premium releases such as the Single Barrel and Small Batch Limited Editions
• What goes into the process of selecting the premium limited edition barrels over regular bottling barrels?
• Do you look at limited editions as a form of experimentation?
• Talk a bit about the single barrel bottle labels providing the consumer information for warehouse locations and recipe used
• Have you selected the barrels for 2015 limited edition releases?
• Four Roses has one floor warehouses, is that done to minimize variables of temperature fluctuations?
• Why wouldn’t you create 10 different brands from 10 different recipes?

Martha Carlin, Great Great Granddaughter of George T. Stagg, talks about her gaggle of Stagg bottles up for auction, her family history in the bourbon industry, and how much George T. Stagg really loved to fish.

Show Notes:

• Pappy Spring Release in Louisville
• Bourbon auction: A gaggle of Stagg on thebourbonbabe.com
• What’s the auction currently priced at?
• Did you grow up around bourbon or did you just recently discover it all?
• Sour Mash smells like home
• Do you still have any family in the bourbon industry?
• Did you or your mom collect all of this research of family history?
• What happened to all the money?
• Any memories of George T. Stagg from your mother?
• Paul Sawyier was supported by Frank Stagg
• Lots of pictures in the show notes of the website
• Can you talk about the picture with the lock of hair in the folded envelope?
• What was George T. Stagg doing in Baltimore when he died? And how?
• Ryan is going to take Martha out to dinner if she gets him her extra bottle of 2013!

Beau Beckman, Barrel Select Manager at Buffalo Trace (and great great great great great grandson of Colonel EH Taylor), talks about his family legacy, the process of buying a barrel, and how technology is changing the future of the program with Single Barrel Select.

Show Notes:

• Tell us a bit about your lineage and the dirty rundown of the Taylor’s
• Where did the EH Taylor packaging and logo come from?
• What led you to Buffalo Trace?
• Talk about your role as a Barrel Program Manager
• How many barrels are available for the program?
• How do you choose who gets to pick a barrel?
• What’s the process of going through the barrel selection?
• What brands can you choose and the history of the barrel program?
• Why does the barrel program exist? Why mess with the “chef’s recipe”?
• Talk about “Honor Tradition, Embrace Change” with Single Barrel Select app to follow the barrel selection process online.
• What your thought’s on the Old Taylor brand getting a re-birth?
• If you have a Tornado you are willing to part with, Beau is in search of it!
• What’s the best part about the job?

Adam Johnson, Director of the KY Bourbon Trail & Bourbon Affair, talks about tourism, the places to visit, horse country, and craft distilling.

Show Notes:

• Can you remember your first drink?
• Live, Eat, Drink, and Sleep Bourbon
• What’s your elevator pitch for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail?
• What increase are you seeing in visitor attendance?
• There are quite a few on the trail. Is there a best way to plan this all out?
• What’s the difference between the Bourbon Trail & The Craft Tour?
• Is there a better time of the year to visit?
• Talk about the Passport Program and free t-shirts
• Talk about biking (bicycle or motorcycle) the bourbon trail
• Are there plans for a bullet train between destinations?