Bourbon Pursuit

Eddie Russell from Wild Turkey needs no introduction. He’s one of the most honest Master Distillers in the industry and tells it like it is. This episode digs into the nuances of the Wild Turkey line up to see if we can figure out what could change. The biggest answer we all want to know is when will there be a barrel proof Russell’s Reserve? Tune in to find out.Show Notes: The week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about value whiskey. How often are you going to Jimmy with questions? Do you feel like you have the job down? When you retire do you think you will hang around the distillery like Jimmy? Do you feel like you have to work at the distillery? Since you travel so much, what airline are you loyal to? When you travel, do you wear Wild Turkey gear? Are there any travel destinations that have stood out to you? Do you get to have any fun when you travel? Are there any plans for changing barrel proof entry? How can you not get 101 proof out of bourbon that goes in a 110? What is the thought process behind where in the rickhouse you place the barrels to age? Is 108 your target for Rare Breed? How many barrels are being dumped into Rare Breed? Talk about the warehouses. Do you see a difference in the whiskey coming out of the brick warehouses? How often do you get the chance to take a gamble? Do you see 81 still being prevalent in the market place? How many more derivatives do you think you can do? Are you wanting to bring in another recipe? Will we ever see a barrel strength Russell's Reserve? Do you enjoy picking barrels with consumers? Talk about the proof difference between Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit and Russell's Reserve. Tell us about the partnership with Matthew McConaughey. Is it a goal to bring back the 8-year-old age statement? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will the U.S Supreme Court completely change alcohol sales across the country? The case of The Ketchum Family and Total Wine vs the State of Tennessee could bring interstate commerce parity and break down all the shipping law restrictions. The Roundtable’s legal counsel of Sipp’n Corn explains it in laymen terms while we discuss the opportunity this could present to retailers like Amazon. We keep the legal discussion going with KY House Bill 200 that would allow distilleries to have releases that don’t go to retail stores. Then we wrap it up with a hypothetical question of what would you do if you are creating your own whiskey label?Show Notes: The week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about new bourbon drinkers. Total Wine vs State of TN in the Supreme Court and what that means for nationwide shipping. House Bill 200 in KY is pushing for distilleries to have something unique that doesn't make its way to distribution. Does it actually compete with liquor stores? Say you are creating your own whiskey label. Do you create something new or do you try to revive an old defunct brand? Thanks to Bourbonr.com, BreakingBourbon.com, Sippncorn.com, and TheBourbonBabe.com for joining the roundtable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Rehwoldt, or better known as WWE Superstar Aiden English, is finding a passion in bourbon with WrestlingWithWhiskey Instagram and YouTube series. Matt was in town for a live event so we took the opportunity to invite him over to talk about wrestling and whiskey. We discuss a his career, personal life, and of course, when bourbon became an obsession. His traveling schedule has turned him into a national bourbon hunter and he's got some stories to tell.Show Notes: Find Bourbon Pursuit on Pandora Learn more about Pursuit Series Derby Museum Legends Series Bourbon Pursuit presenting at The Louisville Bourbon Society on 3/18 The week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about limited edition whiskey advertising. How did you get into whiskey? Is Wrestling with Whiskey the real you? Have your trips turned into adventures with side stops for Bourbon hunting? Have you connected with a store yet and built those relationships? Talk about how you got into wrestling. What demographic is the WWE fan base? South Park did a spoof of wrestling. Talk about the state of wrestling and how it’s perceived as choreography. Tell us about your wife. Were you nervous when you married into the top wrestling tree? What’s your persona in the ring? Have you ever thought about changing your persona? Is WWE against alcohol being portrayed? How have you been received on social media when sharing posts about wrestling and bourbon? Have you ever been stalked? Are you using Instagram to connect with fans and let them see the real you behind the scenes? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

A Bourbon Pursuit exclusive! Brad Boswell, CEO and 4th Generation Cooper at Independent Stave Company, rarely does any media coverage so we are ecstatic to not only capture his family story, but how they take customer service to the extreme and continue to invest in research and development to push the bounds of today’s bourbon. If you've ever wanted to know the extent of oak influence on whiskey, this one touches every aspect from types of wood, the building process, charring, and finishing.Show Notes: Learn more about Pursuit Series The week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about Bourbon at Great Wolf Lodge How did you grow into this business? When you were young did you have a feeling of your family's legacy in the cooperage industry? Did you family ever lobby to have the law put in place for new charred oak barrels? How has your family been able to maintain business all these years? What other side business have you had in the past? Have whiskey barrels always been the hallmark for your company? Talk about the size of your operation. Has the waiting list died down a little bit? Any issues meeting demand? What’s the process look like for bringing on a new client? Tell us the story of Maker's 46 from your perspective. Talk about the process of making a barrel. What are the differences between various oaks, French vs. American vs. Japanese? Do you have customers that prefer KY barrels vs MO? Why do you keep innovating? Are there any other core states you are harvesting oak from right now? Tell us about Oregon oak. What’s the wackiest spot you've gotten an oak tree from? Tourism has changed over the years, what has that been like for ISC and what is the future? What experiments are you doing with the barrels? Do customers ever get upset about other companies copying their barrel finishes? What's a barrel experiment that ended with a bad result? How can you control the variables? How long can you char a barrel? How many times can you reuse a barrel? Where are we in the growth of American Whiskey? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's yet another FAKE PAPPY ALERT! Yes, it's true and it's not going to be the last time either. Fakers are getting better and we talk about the most recent scandal with an employee of Buffalo Trace who has allegedly been selling counterfeit Pappy on the secondary market. And if you've been buying too much, maybe you should be watching Tidying Up on Netflix. Then we dig into the certification game that's happening. Is there really such a thing as a Whiskey Sommelier or is it just a hoax for your money and some large medallion? We finish off the conversation saying goodbye to Kerry and wish him well.Show Notes: The week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about whiskey marketing Fake Pappy and the secondary market Netflix's Tidying Up and how it relates to bourbon bunkers What is the definition of a Whiskey Sommelier? Whiskey Jug Article: http://thewhiskeyjug.com/whiskey/what-is-a-whiskey-sommelier/ Whiskey samples and reviews Goodbye to Kerry Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chuck Morton is a Bourbon Venture Capitalist with the Bourbon Bank Fund backed by Venture First. This episode compliments barrel sourcing from episode 182 on building a brand. But where do you get the funds? Is a traditional bank the way to go? Or with someone like our guest who knows how to put collateral on barrels of whiskey in return for dollars? Learn how to become a start up in the bourbon world and the common mistakes seen when looking for investors.Show Notes: The week's Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about the need to drink responsibly What is Venture First? What is the Bourbon Bank Fund? So you're not in this to lose money? What does SPV mean? What is your ideal customer? Why come to you instead of a bank? What did people do before when they were interested in expanding? How are customers responding? Are you lending to companies with no juice that just want to create a startup? How do you approach a startup that doesn't have a proven product? What are some common mistakes that you notice when distilleries are getting started or jumping from one level to the next? Do you feel the market might be saturated or is the there room for growth in bourbon? What data are your analysts using to determine trends? How did the idea come about? Do you see a bunch of defaults on the horizon? Are you allowed to work with people outside of Kentucky? How much does the name Kentucky come into an evaluation? Do you have a bullshit meter when people come to you with a proposal? What’s the worst pitch you've heard? If someone like Dave Pickerell came in, would it be a turn on or turn off? Are you looking for people that value the whiskey over the experience? Tell us about your investments in cooperages and rickhouses. How can you compete against Buzick for rickhouse building? What kind of return is coming to the owner on an investment? Are there signs that a distillery is about to sell? Are you receiving dividends? Would you prefer a distillery that is turning a good profit or one that intends on being acquired? How much do you need to start a distillery? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An insider exclusive where you get to see what happens behind the scenes of the bourbon business. Bourbon sourcing isn't a new concept but it's a hidden fortress of the industry the average consumer has no clue about. Jeff Hopmayer of Brindiamo Group tells us some of the tricks of the trade in the barrel sourcing world, how he has created a connected web across the world to get people access to any spirit, and how he has seen fake bourbon come from tankers that would fool even the best master distillers. He has helped brands like Kentucky Owl, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Barrell Bourbon and many more. This episode is one you can't miss.Show Notes: How did you cut your teeth in the industry? Talk about BRINDIAMO GROUP and some of the services you offer to the spirits industry? Can you talk about the evolution of sourcing? How hard is it to come by barrels now? How are you getting your hands on 12-14 year old bourbon when the demand couldn't be higher? So you can do transaction tomorrow for $15million? Are you looking to create blends or brands with an intent of selling? Say we want to create a brand called Old Ascot. Where do we start? How do you gauge if a barrel is worth the investment? Brass tacks, what's a barrel cost? When you get a barrel and it's big cost. Do you ever get a leaky or an empty barrel? How many brands are you supplying that are non-distilling producers? What's the typical acquisition of barrel amounts? How many barrels do you have in inventory? Are you buying a lot of younger barrels and waiting and aging? What's the level of risk introduced from buying barrels with younger distilleries that don't have a proven track record? Do you think there are NDPs that may not actually have bourbon in their bottles? Can you give us a percentage of what you think that's out there is fake bourbon? How much is stuff being reclaimed from overseas? Do you think should consumers should know if it was reclaimed? You've got very successful brands like Kentucky Owl, Barrell Bourbon, and Bardstown Bourbon Company as lighthouse customers that our listeners are familiar with. At what stage were you helping these brands out? What contributes to not being successful? What's your long term view on where this market is going? You seem to think $50+ is the successful strategy for pricing products. That seems steep to us. Are you concerned this may price out those true bourbon consumers? Are manufacturing costs and trading hands contribute to a higher cost? How do you buy barrels on the open market? Is there a dashboard of what's available like the stock market online or is it an old boys club? Talk about the 1792 Barton Warehouse collapse. Were those barrels owned by you or the distiller and what happens in that scenario? Is there a distillery NOT selling their whiskey on the open market? Any other states besides KY, IN, and TN that has a lot of whiskey on open market? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Larry Kass has done it all at Heaven Hill. Public relations, brand management, legal, and even more behind the scenes rolls over his 20 year career. Larry first made an appearance on the podcast back on episode 167. You're going to hear about growing some small family run operation managing a few brands turned into hundreds, how the infamous Rittenhouse Rye 21, 23, and 25 year bottling came into existence, the disappearance of Heaven Hill 6yr BIB, and the original partnership with the Kentucky Distillers Association before it was a real thing. This is a real piece of history and we wish Larry years of relaxation in his retirement. Show Notes: This week's Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about Bourbon Geek Pricing Fred, tell us a little about Larry Let’s start at the beginning. Before coming into Heaven Hill did you have a fascination of spirits? We’re you doing the job of 45 people back then? Did you ever find a knack for brown and aged goods? Who really stood out for you? What was marketing like for whiskey back in 1998? Talk about the Rittenhouse Rye 21, 23, and 25 years What do you think of the secondary market? Do you all use it as market data? Is that why we saw the end to Heaven Hill 6yr Bottled In Bond? Give us a story about a writer that pissed you off over the years Do you think Heaven Hill has done a poor job at PR over the past few years to whiskey geeks? Who are the leakers? Fred has feelings of remorse about Elijah Craig 12 Take us through the days of high aged stuff like Martin Mills 24 year that were part of the export market. As a brand manager, how much influence do you have into the final product? You’re part of the original KDA partnership Can you leave bourbon? What’s the retirement plan? What's the proudest thing you accomplished in your career? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's one of our favorite episodes of the year. The Roundtable takes a look back at Bourbon in 2018 and our picks for Whiskey of the Year. We then kick off the second half of the show with our predictions for 2019 about expansions, acquisitions, price increases, and lots more...including our favorite 90s and 2000s rap artists. Show Notes: This weeks Above the Char with Fred Minnick has him answering random questions off twitter. 2018 Year in Review What was your whiskey of the year What is your greatest accomplishment of 2018? Vintage Spirits Law came into effect in KY We picked our first barrel together Longbranch made it's Wild Turkey debut Brian won a case with Castle & Key against Sazerac over the Old Taylor distillery name 2019 Predictions Banned Crotchshots in Bourbonr and now he's looking for the next great suggestion to improve the group for 2019 Lots of year end expansions being announced in 2018. Do we expect more in 2019? Will prices continue to grow? Four Roses Private Barrel program increase starts Jan 1. Henry McKenna won SF Spirits comp in 2018. Will the Henry McKenna fad pass in 2019? Denny Potter left Heaven Hill for Maker's Mark in 2018. Will Heaven Hill find a new Master Distiller? Is there an issue if they don't find one in a timely fashion? Then we finish talking about 90s and 2000s rap icons Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices