Bourbon Pursuit

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marianne Barnes, Master Distiller at The Distillery Formally Known as Old Taylor, discusses her new role, what everyone can expect coming from this revitalization, and insights into what it takes to be a master distiller.Show Notes: Tell us a little bit about your past How does chemical engineering play into this role? Talk to us about why we have you on the show Are you going to keep the name Old Taylor name or will it be renamed? What’s being invested into restoring the distillery? Where is the distillery in relation to the bourbon trail? Where do you see this business in the next 5 years? How do you measure success? What can you do differently versus Brown-Forman? What does it mean to be a woman in this male dominated field? Talk to us a little bit about what made you so successful and why you were chosen for this role What is going to set your bourbon apart from everything else on the market? When is the distillery going to be up and running? Follow Marianne Barnes on Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ewan Morgan, National Director for the Diageo Masters of Whiskey, joins us from DC to talk about his past with whiskey, scotch, and bourbon. We dive deeper into the Orphan Barrel releases as well as the latest, Blade and Bow.Show Notes: Tell us about your love story with bourbon. How did you get into the industry? Give us an idea about the differences you see in scotch vs whiskey vs bourbon Talk about your role at Diageo as a Master of Whiskey How would you even begin in that career path? Talk about how Diageo started getting into pure bourbon? Give us a little bit of history and the inspiration behind the Orphan Barrels How did Diageo come up with the bottle designs? Can you talk a little bit about the Diageo Orphan Barrel releases? Old Blowhard, Barterhouse, Lost Prophet, Rhetoric, and Forged Oak. What makes each unique? Some Orphan Barrel series such as Barterhouse are seeing new batches show up while some others such as Lost Prophet are pretty much done. Can you give an indication of which releases we can expect to see more of? And which ones are done? Diageo recently released Blade and Bow. Talk to us a bit about both releases What is solera aging? Talk about the marketing of the key and the name “Blade and Bow” What does it mean to call the old Stitzel-Weller distillery "home"? How much Stitzel-Weller juice do you have on hand? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marianne Zickuhr, Executive Director of Preservation Louisville, talks about the history of Whiskey Row and her involvement with preserving this iconic landmark in downtown Louisville, KY.Show Notes: What was your first memory or first bottle of bourbon? What’s your role at Preservation Louisville? Did you study history in college or have you been a history buff? What is Whiskey Row in Louisville, KY? How did you get involved with it? Can you recall any of the names that might have inhabited Whiskey Row? Can you explain more about the building because the facade is there but what about the rest of the building? Why did Whiskey Row die off? Do you know the origin of the tiles on the block showing names of the old distilleries? Is everything done what can be done to preserve it? There is a bourbon called Whiskey Row but it’s actually made in Crestwood, KY and you have a story about that. Follow @PreservationLou on twitter and @PreservationLou on Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jim Rutledge, Master Distiller at Four Roses, joins us for Part 1 of this 2-Part podcast and talks about his education, job history, his love for bowling, and how he brought Four Roses straight bourbon back to the US.Show Notes: What was your first experience with bourbon? What was your journey from different roles with Seagrams and your path into Four Roses? Who gave you the opportunity to get back into distillery operations? Blended Whiskey by Seagrams were top shelf at one time What impact did Kirin have on Four Roses since it was primarily an export only? How has the Four Roses brand grown since it’s been back in the US? What are you most excited for with the future of Four Roses? How are you planning for Four Roses future? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices