Beth Burrows, Kentucky Bourbon Ambassador for Beam Suntory, gives us all the history behind Jim Beam and the different expressions. We even get the chance to learn how Baker’s Bourbon got its name.

Show Notes:

• Tell us about your history with bourbon
• Do you miss bartending?
• What has the passing of Senate Bill 11, allowing producers to serve cocktails and more whiskey going to do for Jim Beam?
• Jim Beam is really pioneering and doing all flavored whiskey like the Apple and Honey, Black Cherry, Fire, Maple. Thoughts?
• Who’s your target market with these?
• Then you’ve got Jim Beam white label, black, double oak, devils’ cut, rye, bonded, single barrel,
• Tell us about the Jim Beam distiller’s masterpiece
• Names behind Knob Creek, Baker, Basil Hayden, OGD, Old Crow, Booker’s

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Bernie Lubbers, Whiskey Ambassador for Heaven Hill and also known as The Whiskey Professor, joins the show to talk about bottled-in-bond and what makes these bourbons “bricks of gold”.

Show Notes:

• Talk about Bern’s Corner and how you arrange your bottles
• What has made you so fascinated with Bottled-in-Bond.
• Talk about the issue or necessity behind bottled-in-bond
• When people were diluting whiskey or using tobacco spit, were people still buying it?
• Why 100 proof and not 90 or 80?
• Is the bottled-in-bond act still a binding piece of legislation?
• So you can have bottled-in-bond of spirits other than bourbon?
• There is an interpretation for bottled-in-bond corn whiskey
• Why did Issac Wolfe Bernheim against the bottled-in-bond act?
• Talk about Colonel Taylor and his involvement
• Were there any palms that were greased to make this happen?
• After this bill passed, did it put brands out of business?
• What’s the importance of having bottled-in-bond today?
• What is the responsible for the resurgence of bottled-in-bond?

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Tim Knittel, Bourbon Educator at Distilled-Living.com and a certified Stave & Thief Society Executive Bourbon Steward, kicks off “back to basics” month by giving an in-depth Bourbon 101 and 201 level knowledge bomb. You will learn something new, guaranteed or your money back!

Show Notes:

• let’s start from the top. What is bourbon?
• How’s it made?
• What goes into it?
• What’s the average proof coming off the distillate?
• Some people say that limestone water is a big reason why Kentucky bourbon taste better. Is that true or can I get the same effect out of a garden hose?
• Is anything stopping someone outside of America from making a bourbon or it just can’t be called that?
• What advice do you give people of the first bottles to buy that give you a variable taste range?
• So people like us who think we know everything, what’s a common misperception or falsification we tend to fall for?
• What’s the most common question you get asked at your tastings

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Kevin Didio, Manager of Kentucky Visitor Experience at Bulleit Frontier Experience, talks about his career in bourbon with multiple distilleries, dives into the history of Stitzel-Weller and IW Harper, and talks about the visitor attractions you can see at the reinstated Stitzel-Weller Distillery.

Show Notes:

• Talk about your role here at the Bulleit Frontier.
• Before we talk about some of the other positions you’ve held, Talk about how you got into bourbon. I found my calling in college, what about you?
• Talk about your career with various players in the industry
• Talk about more about your time at Jim Beam and what you were doing
• This is also the historic site of the Old Fitzgerald / Stitzel-Weller Distillery. Now, we do have a lot of people listening for the education, so talk about the history of the distillery itself.
• Can you comment on what you think made people Stitzel-Weller crazy?
• Talk about what’s happening on the grounds here today. Distillation? Aging? Bottling? Brands?
• Is there a possibility that Bulleit can have the same product as the famed Stitzel-Weller?
• Talk about the bottling happening here
• Give people the small run-down of Bulleit history
• Talk about Blade and Bow
• It’s a bit of an odd duck here because this is owned by Diageo. You’ve got a whole heap of brands that you can talk about. Bulleit, IW Harper, Orphan Barrels, blade and Bow etc. Talk about which one of those you have a bigger fascination with and why
• At this point, I guess we never talked about some IW Harper history. Can you school us there?
• Talk about a typical tour done here?
• How can people schedule tours?

Fred Minnick, acclaimed bourbon author who also happens to have the Amazon #1 Best Selling book in the Whiskey Category Bourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American Whiskey, shares his history before bourbon, dive into chapters of bourbon history, and get his opinion on barrel finishes if it’s still a bourbon and age statement removals

Show Notes:

• Acclaimed bourbon author and media pundit on all things bourbon who is always dressed to the 9s and who also happens to have the Amazon #1 Best Selling book in the Whiskey Category Bourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American Whiskey
• Now lets talk about life before bourbon. What were you doing before then?
• What was the turning point that got you into bourbon or just whiskey in general?
• Let’s talk about your latest book Bourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American Whiskey and I want to read everyone the first line from it so they have an idea what they are in for.
  “Bourbon is more American than Apple Pie, existed before baseball, and has built more roads, schools, and government infrastructure than any other non-petroleum domestic product” and you finish off the thought with “Bourbon is good for America. And it’s time we understand the historic intricacies that make it so unique”
• Talk about the inspiration behind writing this piece.
• I want to learn a bit about some of the individual chapters without giving too much away. So i’ll give you the title for a few of them and give the listeners an idea of what they can expect when they read
• What did you learn through the process of writing?
• Last week there was a pretty interesting discussion happening online and everyone has to weigh their own opinion. It was an argument that a bourbon finished in a different barrel can no longer be considered a bourbon and should have it’s own category defining itself. What’s your thoughts on finished bourbon in regards to the technicality of their category?
• You can find all of Fred’s books including Bourbon Curious, Whiskey Women and more on Amazon and links on his website fredminnick.com

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Tim Judge, Global Ambassador for Bulleit Bourbon, dives into the Bulleit Bourbon origination and all the new expansion taking place.

Show Notes:

• Tell us about your journey into whiskey
• Why did you choose Bulleit as your spirit of choice in the portfolio?
• What lessons did you take away from Tom after meeting him?
• We’ve had plenty of ambassadors on the show that talk about going around to different places and telling bartenders about their bourbon or attending events and handing out cocktails. but you’re a “global” ambassador, what more does that entail?
• You also have passion outside of spirits, talk about that
• For those folks who are unfamiliar, which I think would be pretty hard to do at this point, tell people about Bulleit bourbon.
• Also let’s talk individually about the different expressions that are available. and what makes each unique or special. sort of the pitch that you would do during a tasting event.
• Bulliet Bourbon has the tagline that says “Frontier Whiskey”. The thing of it is, you would probably never want to drink Frontier Whiskey
• And marketing plays a heavy role in the label positioning as well, talk about that.
• Bulleit is now owned by Diageo and is hypothesized to be distilled by Four Roses. However, mistake me if I’m wrong, I believe that the agreement or contract with Four Roses is going to be coming to an end and distillation is going to be moving to the Bulleit Frontier experience at the acclaimed Stitzel-Weller Distillery.
• Do you see a change in the flavor profile coming as new operations come online?
• We had Carol Perry back on the show back in episode 23 and you had the opportunity to meet with him. What did you think?
• Back to you, a lot of people here in the states are starting their own bourbon and whiskey collections, trying to round up as many as they can for the fun of tasting and even for potential profit, do you have a big collection yourself?
• This is a question from Blake @ bourbonr.com – if you want to make some classic bourbon cocktails, what are some of the ingredients you should always have on hand?

Josh Hollifield, Visitor Center Manager for Barton 1792, gives a history of the grounds and an insider look to the resurgence of the 1792 brand.

Show Notes:

• Shoutout to Adam Johnson of the KY Bourbon Affair
• What all does your job entail?
• What’s your coming to age tale of bourbon?
• Most people may or may not know, but Sazerac is your parent company who also owns Buffalo Trace. Talk a bit about that background
• Can you give us some history of the distillery?
• Talk about the different brands coming out of Barton
• Talk about Ridgemont
• Lets talk about the new 1792 expressions
• We know our friend of the show Owen Powell picked a barrel of 1792 and asked it to be Full Proof. Are barrel proof offerings of 1792 something that you all are considering for a majority of these soon?
• Can you talk a little bit about your mash bills?
• What other spirits do you age here?
• What’s the one thing people are always surprised about when leaving or taking tour
• The barrel char in the gift shop
• What’s next for Barton?

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Matt Gandolfo, Brand Ambassador for Wild Turkey, talks history of the brand, non-GMO grains, each of the expressions and the new “Decades” release set for May 2016.

Show Notes:

• We kick off the show talking about one of our past guests, Marianne Barnes, and the new name for the Old Taylor Distillery.
• Tell us about your first encounter with bourbon
• Tell us about your role and what it consists of
• Why is Wild Turkey 101 and not 100?
• How did it grow to a business from 101?
• What did the name Austin Nichols mean to Wild Turkey?
• So why remove the name Austin Nichols from the brand?
• What are some of things during the process makes Wild Turkey unique compared to other brands?
• What does Non-GMO products give you in regards to quality?
• What’s it like hanging around Jimmy Russell?
• Talk about the individual expressions and the differences between each.
• Talk about the new release called “Decades” that will be coming in May 2016
• Is there something that holds true to the quote “Older turkey is better turkey”?
• If you have to have one Wild Turkey product on the shelf as a staple, which do you choose?

Jackie Zykan, Master Bourbon Specialist for Old Forester, talks about each of the individual expressions and the history behind this Louisville based brand.

Show Notes:

• We are coming to you from Rye On Market in Louisville
• Tell us your coming to age of tale of bourbon
• What is it about Old Forester that made you leave working behind the bar
• Is Old Forester the same thing as Woodford Reserve?
• What do you actually do as a Master Bourbon Specialist?
• The name “Brown” has a stigma and prominence in Louisville. Talk about George Garvin Brown?
• Where is the 2nd “R” in the name?
• How did Old Forester move from sourcing to distilling it’s own stuff?
• How did Old Forester survive prohibition?
• Brown-Forman owns it’s own cooperage and what does that mean to you?
• Talk about each of the Old Forester brands and what makes each unique compared to the next
• What was the market reaction for the Whiskey Row edition?
• Give the listeners some kind of idea behind Birthday Bourbon
• What can you tell us about 2016 Birthday Bourbon
• Give us some of the more well-known cocktails you make

(Part 2) Bernie Lubbers (@BernieLubbers), The Whiskey Professor and Brand Ambassador for Heaven Hill, continues in Part 2 talking about Heaven Hill bourbon brands, the removal of the 12 year Elijah Craig age statement and breaks out the guitar for a Bourbon Pursuit first.

Show Notes:

• Let’s talk about some of the brands from HH, because there are quite a few of them. But we will focus on the bourbon, of course. I’ll give you a name and you give us a fun fact or tidbit. (this is awesome! must listen part!)
• The cat is out of the bag. And it’s been the hot topic for the past week Elijah Craig is dropping the 12 year age statement and it’s going to be a blend of 8-12 years. You have a pretty firm stance on age statements. Talk about what that means to you
• What are the pros and cons of keeping and removing the the age statement?
• We wrap up the show with Bernie playing an original tune that has lots of different bourbons.