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?

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Maggie Kimberl (@LouGirl502), author of everything bourbon for Louisville.com, joins the duo to talk about bourbon in the news and media.

Show Notes:

• What was your first bourbon memory?
• How do you perceive Master Distillers spending their time in liquor stores?
• Talk about your job for writing about bourbon industry news and culture for Louisville.com
• Has your following grown over the past year?
• Favorite barrel proof bourbons & Bottled-in-bond
• Talk about Bottled-in-bond
• Uncle Jemima’s Pure Mash Liquor
• What are your tips for traveling to bourbon country?
• Any bourbon bars you can suggest?
• Talk about being a woman in the whiskey world

Wes Henderson, Chief Innovation Officer of Angel’s Envy, joins us to talk about the start of this brand, his father’s heritage, and more

Show Notes:

• What was life like growing up around bourbon with your father’s reputation?
• Talk about the origins of the brand and the design
• Where did the idea for port barrel finishes stem from?
• Talk about the cask strength
• More stores are starting to offer ‘blended’ picks
• What’s going on with the new distillery?

Blake Riber, author of bourbonr.com, talks about the popularity of his blog, his ideas and the release of a brand new app!

Show Notes:

• How did you get into bourbon and how did it lead to the blog?
• You have almost two websites. The Blog and My Whiskey Cabinet.
• Where does inspiration for content come from?
• What are the most popular articles?
• Where did poor man’s pappy spawn from?
• What does your current collection look like?
• There is a brand new bourbonr.com app coming to the market

Harlen Wheatley, Master Distiller at Buffalo Trace, joins us we discuss multiple facets of his history and life at the famed Buffalo Trace Distillery

Show Notes:

• Do you remember life before bourbon? What led you here?
• Wheatley Vodka, the spirit named after Harlen.
• Sampling, tasting, and characteristics of the brands
• Don’t you get tired of tasting bourbon all day?
• History and future of the Single Oak Project
• Warehouse X… what’s the big deal?
• What’s more important? The mash bill or the aging process
• Forecasting demand for Pappy and other BT products
• What’s the best part about your job?

Meet Ryan and Kenny. Your hosts on this journey. They discuss everything about the show and more

Show Notes:

• Welcome to the podcast! So what’s this thing all about?
• Who are some of the guests in the queue for upcoming shows.
• How each of them got into bourbon, the history, and the culture.
• How to form a facebook hunting posse which has worked out well for us.
• Lastly, how do you throw a wrench into a bourbon tasting event?