Charlie Downs, Artisanal Distillery Manager at Evan Williams Bourbon Experience (a part of Heaven Hill Brands) talks about the operations, his mentorship with Parker Beam, and the recollection of events that took place at the Heaven Hill fire of 1996.

Show Notes:

• Before we dive into it, people have to know about you. As most people may know, my wife works at HH and I was at the company Christmas party this year where you were honored by spending your 40th year at HH.
• What has this business taught you?
• Talk about how you carved your path in HH and who was your mentor and who gave you those lucky breaks?
• Do you have a favorite memory with Parker?
• Lots of people like to just call this a tourist center, but this is actually a functioning distillery as well
• Is it just Evan Williams or a different mash bill are you distilling?
• How many barrels a day?
• And you’re about to hit that 4 year mark, what’s the plans for the first few barrels?
• Talk about the fire of 1996 and where were you
• Other than amount, what the difference between you here and Denny over at the Bernheim plant
• Do you often feel like a hamster in a cage?

(more…)

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?

(more…)

(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.

(Part 1) Bernie Lubbers (@BernieLubbers), The Whiskey Professor and Brand Ambassador for Heaven Hill, talks about his past, catchphrase, and overview of bourbon badges in Part 1.

Show Notes

• Talk to us about how you first got into whiskey.
• You signature catchphrase or tagline is “Stay Bonded”. Tell the folks what you mean by that.
• http://www.whiskeyprof.com
• Bernie talks about the history of Bottled-in-bond
• Bernie talks about words on labels and how those are badges
• You do a lot of bourbon-related research. Is there something you’ve found that has fascinated you?
• Bernie talks about flavor profiles and how they are attained through distillation, aging, and yeast. How each distillery does something different.
• What’s the day in the life of Bernie for being a Brand Ambassador?
• Give us a 101 level rundown of why a bar needs three different labels of the same stuff.
• Stay Tuned for the next episode where we talk about the removal of the Elijah Craig age statement, dive into the individual brands, and also a solo guitar performance.

Two part podcast. First part discussion about Heaven Hill growth and demand. In the second part, Ryan joins Mike Sonne, “Chief” Bourbon Quality Control Taster at Heaven Hill, to talk about his job working with Parker Beam and Denny Potter.

Show Notes:

• We’re out hunting for Elijah Craig Barrel Proof
• Does bourbon need to stay closer to KY?
• Heaven Hill fills their 7th million barrel
• The bottling facility is something impressive
• What’s a typical day for tasting bourbon?
• How did Larceny come about?
• Vodka vs Bourbon in age preference
• How is Parker’s Heritage decided every year?