We’ve had the opportunity to interview lots of great people from Michter’s such as their Master of Maturation Andrea Wilson, President Joseph Magliocco, and their former Master Distiller Pam Heilmann. When Pam retired in April of 2019, Dan McKee stepped in. Dan worked alongside Pam at Jim Beam for many years and has a wealth of industry knowledge. We talk about selecting barrels for the 20 and 25 year old releases and learn more about what goes into their everyday products.

Show Notes:

• This week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick (@fredminnick) talks about local store relationships.
• What’s the funniest animal you’ve owned as a pet?
• Are there ever any bad barrels when selecting Michter’s 20 and 25?
• What is your process for choosing older releases?
• How did you train your palate to pick these releases?
• What was it like working at Jim Beam?
• What can you tell us about your yeast?
• Talk about the distillery.
• Do you have specific protocols for picking barrels from certain places in the warehouse?
• How big are the batches?
• Is it easier to blend smaller batches?
• What was the transition like to Master Distiller?
• Do you overlap job tasks with Andrea?
• Are you a morning taster?
• What variations do you see in barrel proof?
• Does lower entry proof age well?
• What about the heat cycled warehouses?
• Talk about the toasted barrel craze.
• Any professional goals for 2021?
• @michterswhiskey, @michtersmasterdistiller

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We have both Masters from Michter’s today. Andrea Wilson was a guest back on Episode 47, and she makes her return with a new role as Master of Maturation. We dig into chemical compounds and wood effects on their bourbon. In addition, we have Pam Heilmann, the current Master Distiller, and we talk about her past at the Booker Noe plant and what they are doing at Michter’s. We touch on the new Fort Nelson Distillery and dive into the topics the whiskey geeks care about like limited high age expressions, barrel proof releases, and if could we ever expect to see a single barrel program? Listen to all of our Michter’s podcasts at https://bourbonpursuit.com/michters-podcasts/

Show Notes:

• Buffalo Trace’s Virtual Reality Tour
• Conor O’Driscoll Joins Heaven Hill Distillery as Fifth Master Distiller 
• Pursuit Series Episodes 3 through 7 are available for purchase. Visit https://pursuitspirits.com/episodes/
• The week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about Bourbon and teething.
• What does Master of Maturation mean?
• How did you get into whiskey?
• What’s a relief supervisor?
• Can you train your palate or is it a natural ability?
• Is the tasting panel the best job?
• What are the engineers bringing to the table?
• How much still time do you have?
• Is Willie Pratt still in the picture?
• What does toasted mean?
• Why don’t you make barrel strength bourbon all the time?
• Why hasn’t Michter’s started a single barrel program?
• How long have you been distilling here?
• What is your plan for your distillate?
• Was there some fine tuning performed on the still?
• Are you just making Bourbon? Or are you making Rye, Malt, anything else?
• Tell us about the Shenk’s and Bomberger’s lines.
• Are you all looking forward to the new visitor experience?

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Joseph Magliocco, President of Michter’s Distillery and CEO of Chatham Imports, joins the podcast to talk about the rebirth of an American Whiskey brand and how he used to sell it growing up. He talks about why he rebooted Michter’s in Kentucky rather than Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania and we talk through each of their whiskeys and ryes including their extreme high end expressions and whether or not the barrel proof bourbon will be a line extension.

Show Notes:

• Lets talk about the beginning because you’re an odd type of guest for us. We’re typically getting Andrea Wilson or Pam Heilmann on to talk about brands, but you my friend are the business end. Talk about how you carved your path in this wine and spirits world
• I’m glad to hear you call it Michter’s because i hear people call in “Mishters” and i cringe.
• Talk about the history of Michter’s and where you come in
• What legal hurdles did you have to overcome when taking the name?
• You could have created a new brand. You didn’t need the name. But why use the Michter’s name anyway?
• Why did you decide to revive the brand in Kentucky vs the history in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania
• I mean, that distillery in PA had one of the greatest iconic runs of all time with AH. Hirsch. Can you comment on that?
• You are also reviving other brands like Bombergers and Shenks.
• All of these brands have origins in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania
• You know I wish I was smart enough to get my hands on M25 Rye and even more bottles of M10. Those older vintages are out of this world
• I’m going to put you on the hot seat here for a minute. How do you justify the price tag of your Celebration bourbon?
• What’s future expansion looking like for Michter’s?
• Where are you planning to take the brand next?
• During the week of the KY Bourbon Affair you released a barrel strength Michter’s. Is this going to be a line extension?
• Listen to all the Michter’s Podcasts.

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Andrea Wilson, Vice President and General Manager of Michter’s Distillery, gives us the history of Michter’s, her rich history influencing the bourbon industry behind the scenes, and hints at a new 20 year bourbon release and potential Celebration.

Show Notes:

• Talk about your first encounter with whiskey or bourbon
• How did that influence you to make a career from it?
• What kind of path did you take because you can’t tell a distillery, “Hey i’ve got experience because i’ve been moonshining”
• You’ve got a historic past. First woman to serve as chair for the KDA. What does that mean to you?
• Talk about your current position at Michter’s and what that means
• Give some people a quick history lesson of Michters
• There is a new place being built on Whiskey Row, talk about that.
• There are 4 core products, talk about each one of those and choose a favorite child
• Then we have a few that are super extreme premium bourbons. Now choose a favorite child.
• You also have reminiscent feelings when drinking bourbon, talk about your tasting experience.
• What sort of legacy or impression do you want to leave on the industry?