Seth Thompson, of The Bourbon Classic, chats about all the awesome events being held from Feb 23-27th, 2016 and how you can get last second tickets.

Show Notes:

• Tell us your story of how you got into bourbon?
• If your house is on fire, what’s the one bottle you grab?
• Give the high level pitch of The Bourbon Classic
• How has the event grown over the years?
• Let’s dive into the events. Talk about the key events on Friday and Saturday
• It’s awesome because consumers can take away knowledge about food pairings
• It looks like Saturday is the big day. Friday is the pre-game. Talk Saturday’s all day extravaganza
• Bourbon and ham pairings sound very intriguing
• If you’re coming from out of town, you can learn about Louisville’s Whiskey Row in a session with Mike Veach. Talk about that.
• Talk about The Classic Taste
• How much are tickets and how many are left?
• Talk about all the events leading up to the main events on Friday and Saturday
• Talk about the Van Winkle event that is sold out
• What are the added benefits of VIP tickets?
• Talk about the brands and distilleries that are going to be a part of the event.
• Any ideas for the 2017 event?

Chad Hartsfield, Owner of ReWicked Candles, discusses the process of turning old bourbon bottles into works of art.

Show Notes:

• Tell us your story of how you got into bourbon?
• Tell us about ReWicked Candles.
• What was the inspiration?
• How do you get around legal issues with brand names?
• Explain to us the process.
• How do you experiment with the scents in the wax?
• Where do you get all your bottles?
• What’s the reaction you get from bars or distilleries when you’re asking for empty bottles?
• How do you plan on keeping up with demand?
• Talk about the light fixtures and display cases your getting into
• What are you always on the look for when your picking or hunting?
• When did you start collecting bourbon?
• Any tips for dusty hunters?
• Do you barter for higher-end empty bottles?
• Where can people buy your products? Etsy Shop or [email protected]
• Lets talk about the cost of the candles.
• What are the most popular candles?

Robert Mohr & Tom Johnson of Aroma Academy (@AromaAcademyUS) join the podcast to talk about the science behind using olfactory senses to know more about your bourbon and the key aromas.

Show Notes:

• How do you store your extensive bourbon collection? Is it like storing wine?
• Give us a quick intro about how you are and how you got into bourbon
• The tagline is “a sensory training for DRINKS PROFESSIONALS” so talk about what is Aroma Academy
• Are the smells common between everyone or does everyone smell something different?
• What are some of the key aromas we get from bourbon?
• Has there ever been a bourbon, scotch or wine that you’ve nosed and you said, “I’m not even going to drink that”
• Talk about your blog post on creating a Pappy Van Winkle nosing sample
• Have you found two particular brands of bourbon that are two polar opposites of one another?
• If someone purchases a kit, is there a 24-hour turnaround time or how long does it take to better develop your olfactory senses?
• Do aromas change based on density levels depending on the type of glass its in?
• Talk about letting the alcohol dissipate after pouring it in a glass before nosing and tasting
• Special 20% discount for Bourbon Pursuit listeners on the 24 Aroma Kit – When checking out, just use the coupon code “Pursuit”.

John Kowalczyk reveals how he started a Bourbon Christmas Gift Exchange that grew from just a handful of friends to an event that is sponsored by liquor stores and distilleries.

Show Notes:

• Overview of the past few bottles to come out and Ryan is becoming a dusty hunter after attending Whiskey Pig at Willett Distillery.
• What’s your bourbon story? How did you get into it?
• Tell us about your Bourbon Gift Exchange
• Are there rules to your gift exchange?
• Throw out some of the names of the brands you had your first year
• How did more people find out about it and spread?
• Is there a certain bottle that stands out among the crowd?
• How did you get sponsorships from local stores and even distilleries?
• What are the plans for this year? Are you trying to step it up?
• After the exchange is over, do people just immediately open their bottle and start sharing?

Matt Jamie, Founder and Owner of Bourbon Barrel Foods, talks about how he started a company with Bluegrass Soy Sauce into a brand that does everything to promote “Eat Your Bourbon”.

Show Notes:

• We’ve taken a hiatus and we apologize. Sometimes life just gets in the way… and bourbon hunting. lots and lots of bourbon hunting.
• What’s your bourbon story? I know you are a Louisville native, has bourbon always been in your blood like ours?
• Tell us the story of Bourbon Barrel Foods and how it got created.
• Talk about some of the products and what makes them special
• I notice that you also have a lot of products from Woodford Reserve. Can you talk about their products or the partnership you have with them?
• Talk a bit about Kentuckiaki and Bourbon Vanilla Extract
• I was also reading about a sponsorship you received in 2013 to help build a Kitchen Studio. Can you talk about that?
• Do you have any of your favorite recipes?
• If people in louisville and traveling for the bourbon trail want to find a retail store, where do they go?
• What entails the Eat Your Bourbon Class and the Chef Series?
• If you want to learn more, you can visit the online at bourbonbarrelfoods.com or follow them on twitter @bourbonbarrel

Mikael Mossberg, Co-Founder & CEO of Distiller, talks about his whiskey recommendation app and how his whiskey passion led him to be in the startup world.

Show Notes:

• Kick off the show talking about Parker’s Heritage Collection #9, The Malt Whiskey Release
• What has your past been that led you up into Distiller?
• Tell us more about the app, what would you categorize it as?
• How did the idea spawn?
• We really like the “trending bottle”, how did that idea come about?
• Walk us through the recommendation engine
• Where do you find your expert reviewers?
• The reviews are like Amazon reviews, short and to the point.
• What sort of glasses do you drink out of? I found a good tidbit of information from Marianne Barnes about density and nosing.
• How many people are on the platform?
• How do you get all these bottles and samples for reviews?
• How did you come up with the tagline “The Whiskey Companion”?
• Shout out to our new audio engineer David Isreal

Your hosts, Kenny and Ryan, take a look back on the past 21 episodes. We talk about the guests and what is still to come with the remaining part of the year.

Show Notes:

• Have we had some guests that have stood out more than others?
• Great history lesson with Brian Haara of Sipp’n Corn
• Learned a great deal about pot still vs column still with Brent Goodin of Boundary Oak
• Have you had any favorite bourbon releases this year?
• Lots of distilleries are having unique and rare releases for big money
• If you think you are going to visit Louisville for bourbon hunting, you’ve come to the wrong place
• Did you ever open your EH Taylor Cured Oak?
• Are people looking to get price for proof now?
• Take a look back on the Orphan Barrel releases with Ewan Morgan
• What other guests did you find interesting?
• We also get to visit some interesting places such as mansions to record our podcasts
• Jim Rutledge’s retirement made us thankful he recorded a show
• An Easter Egg… you have to listen to find out!!

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

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