Podcasts about master taster

“The barrels used in this exceptional Whiskey have been specially selected by our Master Taster!”Bei so einem Qualitätsversprechen MUSS es ja guter Stoff sein!Pünktlich zum St. Patrick's Day beschäftigen wir uns mal wieder mit irischem Whisky. Und mit Gerolsteiner.Der irisch-standfeste Trinity Turm von Clontarf ziert Steves und Lauras Wohnzimmer von Tag 1 an - längst überfällig, dass wir das Zeug verkosten und vertonen!Vertont haben wir nebenbei auch noch das Leben des Brian.Also in diesem Sinne: “always look on the bright side of life!”Sláinte und happy St. Patrick's DayVerkostete Whiskys:Clontarf Classic BlendClontarf ReserveClontarf Single Malt

Scott, Nick and Brian sat down with Matt Gandolfo, Master Taster of Penrod Ricard. We discuss his bourbon journey from Jim Beam, Rabbit Hole and Penrod Ricard. We also taste through a few of their products like Jefferson Tropics and Rabbit Hole Starlino. 

 In the latest episode of "A Steady Pour" podcast, hosts Drew, Calvin, Darius, and Tony are joined by special guest Denaya "Dee" Jones-Reid of DEEstilled Co. & Managing Partner of Seelbach, a luminary in the spirits industry. From her humble beginnings in catering to her current status as a whiskey aficionado, Dee's journey is as captivating as the spirits she evaluates. Together, they explore the intricacies of bourbon, dissecting the nuances of Fortuna Barrel Proof and debating the merits of batch labeling. With each sip, they navigate the complex flavor profiles, offering insightful commentary and playful banter that keeps listeners engaged. Moving beyond whiskey reviews, the conversation evolves into a thought-provoking discussion about craft distilleries and the challenges they face in a crowded market. The hosts express genuine concerns about the sustainability of the bourbon frenzy, questioning the authenticity of celebrity-endorsed spirits and pondering the future of craft brands. Amidst the skepticism, there's a palpable passion for quality spirits and a shared desire to explore the diverse landscape of whiskey production. Whether you're a seasoned enthusiast or a curious newcomer, this episode offers a delightful blend of humor, expertise, and genuine insight into the world of whiskey. So, pull up a chair, grab a glass, and enjoy a melanin infused perspective on "A Steady Pour" podcast. 

The crew sits down and reviews the 26th iteration of the Old Foresters President's Choice Bourbon. The PC bottles are a select group of chosen barrels that the Master Taster and Master Distiller set aside for the President to chose as their favorites and so PC's are born. 

Melissa Rift, Master Taster for Old Forester, joins us today to tell us why Old Forester is the *best* Bourbon for your home bar. What is a 'Master Taster?' Melissa trained under legendary distillers Chris Morris and Elizabeth McCall of Old Forester & Woodford Reserve and handles much of the quality control for Old Forester whiskies. Melissa also works on innovative projects, like their new 117 series. Why the Pairing Works:  Old Forester is the best bang for your buck on your back bar, but Melissa has also given us a 4-course meal with the "Whiskey Row" series Melissa's 4-Course Pairing Last Supper: Old Forester 1870. The fruits & florals of this whiskey pair perfectly with something citrusy like an arugula salad with parmesan cheese Old Forester 1897 Bottled- n-Bond . The woodsy, spicy, and earthy notes of this Bourbon will pair perfectly with a fatty cheese course, like burrata, and good crusty bread. The black pepper backbone will go perfectly with any fat, including charcuterie. Old Forester 1920 with prime rib! Going a little out of turn here, but it's time for a protein. This higher proof (115) cask strength whiskey has notes of salted dark chocolate and will pair well with the complexity of rare meat. Old Forester 1910 & banana bread pudding. This double barrel expression goes splendidly with any dessert, but the underlying banana tones of the 1910 will complement each other perfectly! What Makes These "Whiskey Row" Bourbons Special: Each of these whiskies mark a "First:" 1870 - The first whiskey released in a glass bottle 1897 - Old Forester's first Bottled-in-Bond 1910 - The first recorded double barrel expression, due to a major fire 1920 - the Prohibition bottle, 120 Proof. Learn more here: https://www.oldforester.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oldforester/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/what2drink/message

Heute gibt es mal ein kleines Spaßtasting. Ben Lüning, Master Taster von Whisky.de, probiert den Energy Drink "Gönrgy" von einem der größten deutschen Twitch-Streamer namens MontanaBlack. In diesem Video probiert Ben Lüning die ursprünglichen drei Sorten Gönrgy: Tropical Exotic, Raspberry Cheescake und Blueberry Coconut. Wenn ihr einen Teil 2 mit den neuen Sorten sehen wollt, schreibt es uns in die Kommentare. Nosing: 01:37 Tropical Exotic 04:02 Raspberry Cheescake 03:23 Blueberry Coconut Jetzt auch als Podcast: https://www.whisky.de/shop/newsletter/#podcast Geschmacksbeschreibungen und Informationen finden Sie in unserem Shop auf Whisky.de Abonnieren: http://www.youtube.com/user/thewhiskystore?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whisky.de/ Telegram: https://t.me/whisky_de Merch: https://whiskyde-fanartikel.creator-spring.com/

Melissa Rift is the Master Taster at the Old Forester Distillery, which is proudly marketed as the first ever bottled bourbon whiskey. From the story of the first bottling, to the history of fires on Whiskey Row, to modern day allocated bottles of Old Forester Bourbon, Melissa walks us through it all.  Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whiskeynoobs  

Chef Michael Kalanty chats with us about the interesting road that led him to a career in baking. From a mathematics major to graduate school in architecture, to writing his thesis on the flying buttress of France's cathedrals where he couldn't help but notice the boulangeries next to every cathedral. He was so drawn to them that he apprenticed with a baker he met while there. This episode is worth listening to just for the description of focaccia with olive oil and “little pools of harvest grape jelly.”   An award-winning, professional baker with more than 20 years' experience, Michael Kalanty is a craft bread baker, culinary instructor, and cookbook author. His certifications include Executive Pastry Chef, Culinary Educator, and Master Taster. Kalanty was also named Chef Instructor of the Year by Le Cordon Bleu and has several full-length baking courses online, produced in partnership with Craftsy.com. His first book, How to Bake Bread, won "Best Bread Book in the World" at the Paris Cookbook Fair in 2011.   Michael is also a culinary R&D professional offering laboratory expertise in fermentation, sensory, and food analysis who works exclusively with companies who support a more sustainable and safe food system. Applied sciences formed the core of his undergrad training at Bucknell where he earned a degree in mathematics, specializing in statistics. Michael draws on his science background to develop and teach food science courses for professional culinary schools.   Michael has generously arranged for a 30% discount for his “Discovering Focaccia” video class in partnership with Central Milling's Artisan Baking Center in Petaluma, CA! See link below.   MICHAEL'S LINKS: Website Instagram Facebook Discovering Focaccia   Women Beyond a Certain Age is an award-winning weekly podcast with Denise Vivaldo. She brings her own lively, humorous, and experienced viewpoint to the topics she discusses with her guests. The podcast covers wide-ranging subjects of importance to older women.   SHOW LINKS: Website Join our Facebook group Follow our Facebook page Instagram Episode archive Email us: WomenBeyond@icloud.com Denise Vivaldo is the host of WBACA. Her info lives here

Our guests this week are Jackie Zykan and Nate Winegar. Jackie and Nate have teamed up with Royce Neeley and Matt Danker to launch Hidden Barn Whiskey. The team has leveraged Jackie's skills in blending some damn fine whiskies and we are so excited to talk with Jackie yet again on Bourbon Lens.   We have a great time catching up with Nate and Jackie and are so excited to see how this emerging whiskey brand grows.  Stream this episode on your favorite podcast app and be sure to drop us a review while you're there.  We are thankful for everyone who has supported us. A huge shoutout goes to our growing Patreon Community as well! We'd appreciate it if you can take the time to give us feedback on our podcast. If you enjoy our content, consider giving us a 5 star rating on your favorite podcast app, leave us a review, and tell a fellow bourbon lover about our show. Follow us @BourbonLens on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.  And please check out our Patreon to learn how you can support our endeavors, earn Bourbon Lens swag, be part of future barrel picks, and more. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please email us at Info@BourbonLens.com. Check out our BourbonLens.com to read our blog posts, whiskey news, podcast archive, and details on our upcoming single barrel picks. Cheers,Scott and JakeBourbon Lens   About Hidden Barn Whiskey: Kentuckians have been known to stand united. The sense of community that was so crucial to the production of bootleg whiskey in those hidden barns of Kentucky is the same spirit that inspires the Hidden Barn brand today. Local gatherings to unwind, trade stories and share a good pour of whiskey are where the founders of Hidden Barn found their fellowship. The shared desire to build connection and fellowship drove them to become business partners. Founded in 2022 by Master Distiller Royce Neeley, Master Blender Jackie Zykan, 5820 Whiskey Society's Nate Winegar and Matt Danker, Hidden Barn honors the tradition of whiskey made the hard way in a celebration of community, shared passion and alchemy to create whiskey worth sharing. More information is available at HiddenBarnWhiskey.com. Follow on Instagram: @hidden_barn.   Bourbon Lens Coverage and Show Links: Need A Holiday Idea? Hidden Barn Series Two Coming Soon - Bourbon Lens Off Hours with Bourbon Lens Episode 11: Jackie Zykan Hidden Barn Whiskey Bourbon Lens Episode 95: Master Taster, Jackie Zykan - Bourbon Lens Old Forester 1910 Extra Aged By Jackie Zykan Hits A Home Run - Bourbon Lens

The guys take a trip to Louisville, KY to the Old Forester Distillery to speak with Master Taster Melissa Rift. A Louisville native, Melissa began her career as a tour guide in the whiskey industry, educating consumers about America's Native Spirit. She held leadership positions at distilleries in Kentucky and managed single-barrel programs before joining Old Forester in November 2022. Melissa authentically understands the rich culture of Kentucky bourbon and shares Old Forester's rich history and quality products with retailers, bartenders, media and consumers across the nation.

Master Taster. It just sounds like a really cool job. But what does it take to become a Master Taster? Old Forester is a brand that has a history of hiring people for this role and their newest is Melissa Rift. Ryan and I have had the pleasure of getting to know Melissa over the years but it was in different roles she held in the industry. Yet, thanks to notifications on indeed.com, she was able to apply and land this role. We talk about her history and career in the industry and then we dive into the position and what it takes to be a Master Taster. We also dive into consumer demand and where she sees trends changing over time. Show Notes: Above the Char with Fred Minnick (@fredminnick) talks about water contamination. What is your background and how you got into the industry? How do you stay invigorated when you have to give the same tour over and over again? Do you feel tours are an entry point into the industry? Tell the story of the stolen catalytic converters How involved were you with quality control and single barrels at Bulliet? How did you find out about the Master Taster position after Jackie left? What were the pre-requisites for this position? Did you feel confident going into this role or was it scary when it became real? When the press release was announced it highlighted your personal life being openly gay. Was this your idea? Did you taste through all product offerings so you can pick them all out? Do you think consumers will change their opinion on proof? Do you have some ideas on how you will change things to meet consumer demand? How does your wife feel about the amount of travel that will now be involved? @oldfomastertaster Support this podcast on Patreon

In this Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast, Mark and his special guest co-host, Stacey, spend some time hanging out with Elizabeth O'Neill McCall, the new Master Distiller at Woodford Reserve in her 1st podcast since taking over in that role last month. They talk with Elizabeth about her education and Master's degree in Counseling Psychology and the winding road that led her to the whiskey world and the sensory lab at Brown- Forman in 2009; her prior work as both Master Taster and Assistant Master Distiller and the education and experience she gained in working with, and training under, Bourbon Hall of Famer, Chris Morris; and what the future looks like for both Elizabeth and Woodford under her guidance and leadership. They also taste and review a Jackson's Wine & Spirits Double Oaked Pick, Woodford Rye, and the Baccarat Edition Woodford Reserve. This Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast is sponsored by Liquor Barn, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, The Stave Restaurant, Three Chord Bourbon, and District 7 Social. Check out all of our amazing sponsors online at:  www.liquorbarn.com     www.unclenearest.com www.thestavekentucky.com  www.threechordbourbon.com

It's This Week in Bourbon for October 21st 2022. Old Forester announced that Melissa Rift has been named Master Taster. New Riff debuts two new malted whiskeys. Blue Run announces  a biannual series of “micro batch” whiskeys.Show Notes: Fred Minnick To Host Blind Bourbon Live In Washington D.C. For The Uso On November 10 Wolverine and Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery unveils the Wolverine 1000 Mile x Old Rip Van Winkle Cap-Toe Batch III boot Old Forester announces Melissa Rift has been named Brand Ambassador/Master Taster Arcane Distilling introduces its second flagship whiskey, Arcane Imperial New Riff debuts the Maltster T50 Crystal Malt Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Aroostook Malted Rye Whiskey Michter's 20 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon The Garrison Brothers Cowboy Bourbon 2022 release Alberta Premium announces the Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye Blue Run Flight Series is a six-whiskey micro batch collection Chicken Cock Whiskey has released Chicken Cock Chanticleer Ross & Squibb releases Remus Gatsby Reserve Old Dominick launches Straight Tennessee Whiskey Wyoming Whiskey announces 1872 9-year-old straight bourbon whiskey Dr Pepper Bourbon Flavored Fansville Reserve Arby's and BrainBrew announce Arby's Smoked Bourbon @fredminnick @theuso @wolverine @oldforester @newriff @michterswhiskey @garrisonbros @albertadistillers @bluerunspirits @chickencockwhiskey @olddominick @wyomingwhiskey @drpepper @arbys @brainbrewwhiskey Support this podcast on Patreon

A new report measured the quickness and accuracy of fast-food restaurant drive-thrus. Taco Bell, which is owned by Louisville-based Yum Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) took the top spot for speed, but the one in last place may surprise you.Chick-fil-A took the last spot for speed, primarily because the line is already long before the store opens, Haley Cawthon told us during the Access Louisville podcast.You can read Haley's full story here.We discuss a food truck turned brick and mortar restaurant opening in Norton Commons, and a new seafood restaurant in New Albany.We also learn about a dream job: Old Forester's Master Taster. The whiskey company named Melissa Rift brand ambassador and master taster this week.We talk about all this and more on Access Louisville.

In this Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast presented by Hotel Distil, Matt and Mark spend some time hanging out onsite at Hotel Distil in downtown Louisville, Kentucky with our very first threepeat guest ever, Jackie Zykan, Partner & Master Blender, with Hidden Barn. The guys talk with Jackie about her time at Old Forester as Master Taster and the factors that played into her difficult decision to leave to start a new brand, how she and her 3 partners met one another and made the decision to start Hidden Barn, and what the future looks like for her and Hidden Barn. There may have also been a lengthy conversation about spirit animals. The guys also taste and review 2 different expressions with Jackie including Hidden Barn Bourbon Batch 1 and Batch 2. This Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast is also sponsored by Liquor Barn, The Stave Restaurant, Three Chord Bourbon, and Spirits of French Lick. Check out all of our amazing sponsors online at: www.hoteldistil.com    www.liquorbarn.com     www.thestavekentucky.com  www.threechordbourbon.com www.spiritsoffrenchlick.com

Our favorite spirit is Kentucky Bourbon. To be more precise: We enjoy Woodford Reserve the MOST. Our kids sip it, our parents love it, and we tend to serve it to our guests and friends more than any other adult beverage. We have history and take our bourbon drinking very seriously. Back in 2019, before the world shut down, my husband Craig and I, and two of our best friends, went to Kentucky to discover a new destination, follow The Kentucky Bourbon Trail and to learn more about how bourbon is created.  Is a trip to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail on your list too? Ever since our grown kids came home from college loving this delicious Kentucky spirit, I have been paying attention. Our kids' enthusiasm for all drinks made with bourbon was intoxicating and persuasive. Fast forward several years later, my favorite way to indulge is now a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned because I love the aroma and smooth flavor of high-quality bourbon. My husband and I toured The Kentucky Bourbon Trail with our friends Brad and Troy; we visited smaller distilleries, dined at excellent restaurants, and thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Woodford Reserve, where our bourbon of choice is carefully crafted. The art of making fine bourbon first took place on the site of the Woodford Reserve Distillery, a National Historic Landmark, in 1812. The perfectly balanced taste of their Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey comprises more than 200 detectable flavor notes, from bold grain and wood to sweet aromatics, spice, and fruit & floral notes. Mmm, delicious Kentucky Bourbon! During our visit in 2019, we sipped, listened, and toured Woodford Reserve and had the time of our lives. Never in a million years did I dream I would create a podcast and have the opportunity to interview Master Distiller Chris Morris and Assistant Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall. Dreams do come true, my friends; I am living proof. (pun intended) Chris Morris is Master Distiller for Brown-Forman Corporation, the seventh since the company began in 1870. A Louisville native, he has spent his working life in the bourbon industry. Chris is responsible for maintaining the award-winning taste of the whiskies produced at the Woodford Reserve and Old Forester Distilleries.  He is also one of three generations of his family to work at Brown-Forman and is a member of the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame.   Elizabeth McCall, CSS (Certified Specialist of Spirits), is the second generation of her family to work in the bourbon industry and one of the youngest female distillers in the United States. When she first began working at Brown Forman, assuming the role she is in today was never the goal. Realizing the excellent opportunity for employment the company offered, Elizabeth followed in her mother's footsteps, starting as a sensory expert and working in the quality department.  McCall has a master's degree from the University of Louisville and has been a member of Brown-Forman's R&D Department since 2009. Her ongoing devotion to quality, and interest in all things spirits, eventually led her to become Master Taster in 2015 and, in 2018, Assistant Master Distiller of Woodford Reserve.  Today she works directly with Master Distiller Chris Morris and R&D on the innovation and development of new products within Woodford Reserve.  In this episode: Personal insights from the experts! Plus, great stories! What is The Kentucky Bourbon Trail? What happened in 1990? What is a fermenter? Red & Blue Corn & Bourbon? ( A super fun story) Innovation at Woodford Reserve Plus, so much more! How Woodford Reserve was a pioneer in culinary pairings with bourbon What is so magical and timeless about Woodford Reserve? This episode is the first of four devoted to Kentucky and The Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Don't miss a new episode every two weeks.    Link to Woodford Reserve => HERE Kentucky Bourbon Trail Trip Details How to Find Adventure & Thrive  in the Empty Nest – Suzanne's E-Book My Amazon Travel Store – Suzanne's Favorite Must-Haves Hear No Evil Media Podcast Audio Production by Erik Hulslander 

In this episode of Bourbon With Friends. The BWF team sits down with Renowned Master Blender Jackie Zykan. Known for having one of the most respected palates in American Whiskey, Jackie Zykan's approach to blending looks a lot like her approach to life – focused on balance, structure and celebrating the unique nuances of each blend. A native of St. Louis, and now calling Louisville, Kentucky home, she brings more than 16 years of beverage alcohol industry experience to Hidden Barn. With degrees in biology and chemistry, and experience in multi-concept beverage directorship, cocktail strategy, category education, product development, and global marketing, her career has taken her to nearly every corner of  the industry, giving her both balance and structure that few can match. She's regarded not only for her technical know-how, but for her personal style of whiskey education, which is relatable and focused.Most recently, Jackie served as Master Taster for Old Forester where she came to develop her hallmark  style of blending and descriptive analysis, while remaining focused on quality, integrity and her signature approachability. For Zykan, it's not meant to be pretentious – whiskey is meant to be a celebration.Follow Jacki on Instagram @jackiezykanFind out more about Hidden Barn here - https://hiddenbarnwhiskey.com/------------------------------------------------------------------Check out our sponsors!Fudge Kitchen - In business for over 50 years. Fudge Kitchen ships delicious fudge, chocolates and sweet treats all across the USA. Fudge kitchen makes a perfect gift or decadent snack at all hours of the day!Check out their website - https://fudgekitchens.com/Blind Barrels - Blind Whiskey Tasting Kit that was born to disrupt the whiskey industry by showcasing American craft whiskey that don't make their way to liquor store shelves due to distribution limitations. Blind tastings are all about discovery, education, and removing brand bias, and Blind Barrels hits home with whiskey communities by supporting the very best in smaller distillers who are making the most amazing, innovative, and delicious products that you can't get at your liquor store.Instagram - blindbarrelswww.blindbarrels.com

Welcome to Episode 1004 Marc Millon interviews Marina Schmohl for the Cantina Aldeno in this special 5Star Wines & Wine Without Walls episode of Wine, Food & Travel with Marc Millon on the Italian Wine Podcast. This is part of a special sub series in which Marc interviews the winners and the contributors of the competition in the coming weeks! More about today's guest: Marina Schmohl. Official Sommelier Taster and speaker Italian Sommelier Association Trentino. Master Taster and speaker National Organization of Cheese Tasters. National Honey Taster. Activities in the field of food and wine promotion. Participation in national and international juries. More about today's winery: Cantina Aldeno in Trentino: The landscape finds its own characterization, as well as the people who make viticulture their main activity on which to base their future, their life. And it is precisely this dream that in 1910 led a group of producers to bet on Aldeno wine , deciding to join their efforts in the Cantina Sociale di Aldeno, which represents an example of the fervent cooperative movement that was developing in Trentino. The deed of foundation with the list of the members of the first management of the Social Winery documents the intuition of the farmers, aware that many small realities could have created a solid identity, capable of obtaining an image and an appreciable strength in the market. A few years later a second cooperative was born: the Aldeno Wine Union. The history of these two cooperatives will accompany the life of the community and town of Aldeno for more than half a century, until, in 1972 Cantina Sociale di Aldeno and Unione Vinicola Aldeno were founded in today's Cantina Aldeno , which was born with the aim to keep alive the historical combination of Aldeno and grapes over the years. To learn more visit: https://www.cantinaaldeno.com/chi-siamo/la-storia/ More about the host Marc Millon: Marc Millon, VIA Italian Wine Ambassador 2021, has been travelling, eating, drinking, learning and writing about wine, food and travel for nearly 40 years. Born in Mexico, with a mother from Hawaii via Korea and an anthropologist father from New York via Paris, he was weaned on exotic and delicious foods. Marc and his photographer wife Kim are the authors of 14 books including a pioneering series of illustrated wine-food-travel books: The Wine Roads of Europe, The Wine Roads of France, The Wine Roads of Italy (Premio Barbi Colombini), and The Wine Roads of Spain. Other titles include The Wine and Food of Europe, The Food Lovers' Companion Italy, The Food Lovers' Companion France, Wine, a global history. Marc regularly lectures and hosts gastronomic cultural tours to Italy and France with Martin Randall Travel, the UK's leading cultural travel specialist. He is soon to begin a regular series on Italian Wine Podcast, ‘Wine, food and travel with Marc Millon'. When not on the road Marc lives on the River Exe in Devon, England To learn more visit: quaypress.uk/ marcmillon.co.uk vino.co.uk quaypress.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/marc-millon-50868624 Twitter: @Marc_Millon Let's keep in touch! Follow us on our social media channels: Instagram @italianwinepodcast Facebook @ItalianWinePodcast Twitter @itawinepodcast Tiktok @MammaJumboShrimp LinkedIn @ItalianWinePodcast If you feel like helping us, donate here www.italianwinepodcast.com/donate-to-show/ Until next time, Cin Cin!

In this Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast, Mark and special co-host, Philip, spend some time hanging out with repeat guest, Jackie Zykan, Master Taster, from Old Forester, who was a previous guest on Episode 34. The guys talk with Jackie about the innovation that is going on currently at Old Forester, specifically the 117 Series, and what it means to Jackie to be the 1st woman in Old Forester history to have her name on the bottle, the effects of COVID on the brand and the Distillery as a whole and how they are dealing with the after-effects, and Old Forester's commitment to sustainability in the industry and what that looks like from a business perspective. They also taste and review the 117 Series 1910 Extra Old Bourbon, the 2021 Birthday Bourbon, and the 117 Series High Angels' Share Barrels Batch #2 Bourbon. This Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast is sponsored by Liquor Barn, The Stave Restaurant, Three Chord Bourbon, Spirits of French Lick, and Davidson Reserve. Check out all of our amazing sponsors online at: www.liquorbarn.com www.thestavekentucky.com  www.threechordbourbon.com www.spiritsoffrenchlick.com www.davidsonreserve.com

Old Forester's Master Taster

In honor of Women's History Month, I teamed with my friends at The Whiskey Lifestyle to celebrate just a few of the women who make the whiskeys we love via our first-ever Women in Whiskey series. Our first guest is Old Forester Master Taster Jackie Zykan.

Jackie Zykan, Master Taster from Old Forester Distillery drops in for the final episode of Season 4 to talk bourbon, mash bills and as always hip-hop. A bonafide bourbon-celeb (she doesn't like that btw) she's got her mind and palate on what's popping at "Old Fo'". We talk about Louisville, the industry, and find out which Old Forester bottle would be Ol' Dirty Bastard. Plus, you don't want to miss what her actual Wu name is! Pour one up and vibe with us as we drop this last joint. Stay Black and keep it Brown Follow us: @dablackandbrownpodcast Follow JZ (see that...): @jackiezykan Follow the fellas: @my_government_name_is @agbk06 @delvinj33 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dablackandbrownpodcast/support

This is a special week on The Bourbon Showdown as we welcome someone that you guys have been asking for us to have on the show for a while now! We have JACKIE ZYKAN on the show! Thats right the Master Taster for Old Forester sits down with Jesse and the two of them go all over the place. From how she got started in the industry, to her first release for Old Forester, to stories about why neither of them like Spiders, to how Old Forester got started and why they are in such capable hands with Jackie as their Master Taster. It's one of the funniest episodes in recent memory and we hope everyone enjoys this conversation with Jackie Zykan!

Jackie Zykan, Master Taster for Old Forester, is back on the Bourbon Lens Podcast.  This time, we talk about the unique, new offering from her 117 Series; Warehouse K Barrels.  We discuss the various warehouses of Old Forester and what makes some of them unique and different; including the spiders of Warehouse K.  A true bourbon nerd is going to love the insight Jackie provides in this episode.  We discuss the construction of various warehouses, heat cycling warehouses, finding the perfect balance of proof and flavor, and more.  Enjoy this episode and be sure to let us know what your favorite Old Forester Whisky is! We are thankful for everyone who has supported us. A huge shoutout to our growing Patreon Community as well! We'd appreciate it if you can take the time to give us feedback on our podcast. If you enjoy our content, consider giving us a 5 star rating on your favorite podcast app, leave us a review, and tell a fellow bourbon lover about our show. Follow  us @BourbonLens on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.  And please check out our Patreon to learn how you can support our endeavors, earn Bourbon Lens swag, be part of future barrel picks, and more. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please email us at TheBourbonLens@Gmail.com. Visit our website BourbonLens.com to check out our blog posts, or even purchase your own Bourbon Lens tasting glass or t-shirt. Cheers,Scott, Jake, & MichaelBourbon Lens   Press Release: Old Forester's The 117 Series: Warehouse K Barrels Batch   Louisville, Ky. (August 11, 2021) – Today, Old Forester Distilling Co. announces the release of the second expression in the 117 Series -- a blend of barrels from historic Warehouse K.    The 117 Series is a limited-expression lineup created in Spring 2021, directed by the unique palate of Old Forester Master Taster Jackie Zykan.  117 Series: Warehouse K features a blend of barrels aged on different floors from a warehouse known to produce exceptional liquid. Constructed in 1953, Warehouse K uses the time-honored tradition of heat-cycling and has long been one of Old Forester's favorite places for Single Barrel expressions.  "Warehouse K has gained a cult following among bourbon connoisseurs,” Zykan said. “This blend is a representation across multiple floors and locations within this warehouse, giving a more holistic example of the profile its barrels yield."  This year marks Old Forester's 151st anniversary, making it the only bourbon brand with an uninterrupted history, sold by the same family company before, during, and after Prohibition.   Old Forester Warehouse K is bottled at 110 proof and will be available starting August 12th at the retail shop at Old Forester Distilling Co. for $49.99 in limited quantities -- and at select Kentucky stores.  Visit OldForester.com for more information.  Distillery Notes:  Color:   Rich honey  Aroma: On the nose, creamy chocolate, caramel, and brown sugar lead, with a hint of golden raisin and a foreshadowing of the pepper the finish will unveil.  Taste: The palate brings with it a full-bodied and rich viscosity, peripheral spice, and a  touch of black cherry alongside bitter molasses.  Finish: The robust yet balanced spice finish completes the story of the well-known complexity which is the K warehouse.  Links: Old Forester - First Bottled Bourbon™ 95: Old Forester Master Taster, Jackie Zykan - Bourbon Lens  Old Forester 117 Series: Warehouse K Bourbon Review  Image Credit: Old Forester and Brown-Forman The Legacy of Brown-Forman begins with Old Forester - Old Forester Bourbon History & a Legacy of “Firsts” 1846 George Garvin Brown (GGB) was born in Munfordville, KY. 1870 GGB, a young pharmaceutical salesman starts J.T.S. Brown and Bro. with his half-brother with $5,500 in saved and borrowed money. Old Forester becomes America's First Bottled Bourbon​, the first bourbon to be sold exclusively in sealed glass bottles to ensure quality and consistency, an innovative approach at a time when whisky is commonly sold by the barrel. Their offices are housed at 322 W. Main Street Old Forester was blended from different distilleries, including Mattingly, Atherton and Mellwood to create a consistent flavor profile. Old Forester is originally presented at 90 Proof. Old Forester is named after a prominent physician and friend of GGB, Dr. William Forrester who endorsed Brown's innovative concept of medicinal whisky sold only in sealed glass bottles. Old Forester, originally spelled with 2 “r”s to be associated with the doctor, drops the second “r” when Forrester retired. 1882-1919 Brown-Forman offices and bottling lines were housed at 125 W. Main Street (today 119 W. Main Street). Main Street was the hub of the bustling bourbon business in Kentucky, home to 89 distilling companies. Only one of those companies is still operating today – Brown-Forman and its founding brand, Old Forester. 1890 George Garvin Brown gifts first single barrel selection to then Governor of Kentucky, Simon Bolivar Buckner 1897 U.S. Bottled in Bond Act is enacted. Old Forester moves to 100 Proof to comply with regulations. 1901 George Garvin Brown moved from blender to distiller with the purchase of B.F. Mattingly Distillery. 1910 Fire on the bottling line, housed at 125 Main Street (today 119 W. Main Street) threatened the building and the business. (October 2, 1910)  1920 Prohibition begins. Brown-Forman applies for and receives No. 3 of only six federal licenses in the state of Kentucky to continue selling Old Forester for medicinal purposes. 1924 Brown-Forman and Old Forester moves its headquarters to Howard Street at Dixie Highway 1933 Prohibition repealed. Old Forester increases production. Old Forester is the only Bourbon sold by the same company before, during and after Prohibition. 1941 Old Forester begins producing industrial alcohol (ethanol) to help World War II efforts. 1951 Old Forester is the first to issue Holiday Decanters 1959 Old Forester 86 Proof introduced, 100 Proof retained. 1964 Old Forester The President's Choice introduced by then President George Garvin Brown II 1970 Old Forester celebrates its 100th anniversary 2002 Old Forester celebrates the 156th birthday of founder George Garvin Brown with a limited-edition Old Forester Birthday BourbonTM on his birthday, Sept 2. Birthday Bourbon is the result of a single day's production and aged 12 years. 2014 Brown-Forman announces plans for Old Forester distillery on Whiskey Row 2015 Fire on Whiskey Row; 119 W. Main was not fire damaged, it becomes a vital piece of support while structural integrity was restored to the entire block, delaying completion by about one year. (July 7, 2015) 2018 Old Forester Distilling Co. returns home to Whisky Row and opens at 119 W. Main Street, housed in the same building that the brand called home from 1882 – 1919. Old Forester is the only bourbon continually sold by the same company before, during, and after Prohibition. Old Forester distillery is the only downtown distillery which houses an active cooperage, charring barrels in the same facility where spirits are being aged.

Join us on the porch as we sit down with the Master Taster for Old Forester, Jackie Zykan. Jackie tells us all about her role with the distillery and we taste through two amazing, rare products that Jackie is responsible for: Old Forester 150th Anniversary Batch 1 and the 117 Series High Angel's Share.Cheers y'all!

This special bonus episode is a sit down with our Master Taster, Richie Michaels live from B&B Raleigh Nextiva https://www.nextiva.com All Nations https://allnationswhiskey.com

We had a great guest lined up for this week but unfortunately due to unavoidable circumstances we weren't able to record with him. In the meantime we wanted to revisit one of our favorite Episodes with Sean Josephs, Co-Founder and Master Taster of Pinhook Bourbon. In this Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast, Matt and Mark spend some time with Sean Josephs, Co-Founder and Master Taster of Pinhook Bourbon. The guys talk with Sean about his time in the restaurant industry in New York, his experience as a certified wine sommelier and how that has helped shape his journey in the Bourbon world, and all of the great things that are going on with Pinhook. They also share some amazing pours of Pinhook Bourbon and Rye with Sean, including Pinhook's first proprietary mashbill Bourbon distilled by Castle & Key, Bohemian Bourbon, Pinhook's first proprietary mashbill Rye distilled by Castle & Key, Rye'd On, and the 1st release in their 9-year Rye Vertical Series, the 4-Year Old Tiz Rye Time.  This Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast is sponsored by The Stave Restaurant in Millville, KY and Three Chord Bourbon. Check them out online at www.thestavekentucky.com and www.threechordbourbon.com.

On the latest episode of The Fred Minnick Show, Jackie Zykan, Master Taster at Old Forester, joins Fred to sip and talk whiskey. During their 43-minute session, they talk about their shared love of music and how it is both different and similar to whiskey. In addition, at one point they disagree about the finish of a certain Old Forester bourbon they taste. Finally, Jackie's dog Ingo joins the party to liven things up a bit. Whiskeys tasted: Old Forester "L-House Roulette No. 1" (20:02) Barrell Jamaican Rum (29:18) EPISODE SUMMARY Fred and Jackie hit on several topics, like: Since Ingo is in the house, Fred offers a shout-out to his beloved dog Remo, who he's had for 14 years. And almost immediately, they forsake whiskey talk to discuss cheeseburgers. Jackie professes her love of Smashburger and Five Guys. Fred does love Five Guys, despite all the peanuts sitting around. Fred also shouts out WW Cousins, with its tubs full of condiments. Fred suggests making a fermented ketchup spirit and asks Jackie what it would be called. Her response? "Gross." This parlays into a discussion of contraband mustard. Getting around to discussing music about 10 minutes in, Jackie says that rather than having a favorite genre, she knows what she specifically doesn't like: pop country. But she was influenced by her father's vinyl collection, which included albums by bands like Led Zeppelin. Her first ever cassette was a greatest hits collection by Canadian band The Guess Who. Teen-age dating is a topic that rarely makes it into an episode of The Fred Minnick Show, but it makes this one. Comparing music to whiskey, they agree tastes can often be affected by moods. Also, there is some music that is churned out for mass consumption while some music is more carefully crafted and is typically destined for a smaller audience. At around the 20-minute mark, they pop open an untasted Old Forester expression that was sort of a warehouse straggler. Fred immediately is hit with banana notes on the nose. Jackie calls it "angry." Fred likens the whiskey to Metallica playing acoustic. But they definitely disagree on the finish - luckily, it doesn't lead to fisticuffs. (If you want to find out for yourself, Jackie said bottles will be for sale in the distillery's gift shop.) Fred notes he is in the middle of tasting through his new spirits awards. Look for more on that coming later this spring. Fred offers up a taste of one of his many bourbons, and Jackie declines, saying she's already tasted way too many bourbons that day. Instead, she requests a "weirdo, funky little rum." So, Fred breaks out the Barrell Bourbon Jamaican Rum finished in Isla Scotch barrels. The rum prompts a discussion of the spirits industry crossing over with barrel finishes, and Jackie hints that there are some crossover projects happening at Old Forester. To bring the loose music-meets-spirits theme full circle, they come to the conclusion that if the Barrell Rum were music, it would be "Vaseline" by Flaming Lips. QUOTABLES Jackie expressed some disbelief that Fred didn't like the finish on the proprietary Old Forester she brought to the interview: "I don't know how you think that finish is flat. It's very warm, and it is definitely there. It sinks way back into the throat. It is not a front-loaded finish by any means, palate-wise - it sits way in the back. Backseat driver." RESOURCES https://www.oldforester.com/ https://twitter.com/oldforester See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jackie Zykan, the Master Taster at Old Forester, tells us about Old Forester's new 117 Series (the first with her signature on the side), the High Angel's Share, and plans for the future...

Jackie Zykan, the Master Taster at Old Forester, tells us about Old Forester's new 117 Series (the first with her signature on the side), the High Angel's Share, and plans for the future...

We speak with Bryan Schaaf, Chef Liaison and "unofficial" Master Taster at Certified Angus Beef® for more than 10 years. Bryan is also the co-host of the Meat Speak podcast with Meat Scientist Diana Clark and Chef Tony Biggs, Certified Angus Beef ® brand director of culinary arts, and the trio have "carnivorous conversations, food trends, cooking advice from influential chefs, a bit of science, and a few facts about your favorite cuts of beef." Pre-COVID, Bryan traveled the world eating at renowned restaurants, attending food and drink festivals (including the prestigious James Beard awards), and pretty much living the meat dream. Bryan and Shawndra also were also buddies during their years at Ashland University in northern Ohio, where Bryan played college soccer and Shawndra played college volleyball.  One of our longest episodes yet, we cover all things meat and dive into the effects of COVID on his industry all the way back to the farms where it all begins. A lively, funny conversation.  Bryan also shares how we all can support our favorite restaurants with the help of Certified Angus Beef ®: "Restaurants need our help now more than ever. Join the #RestaurantChallenge and dine in or carry out to support your favorite restaurants. Post about your meal and tag the restaurant, and you can win cash to dine out AND have your favorite restaurants selected to receive cash for their staff each week. Learn more at Challenge.CertifiedAngusBeef.com Certified Angus Beef ® brand."    Have someone we need to talk to? Have a great topic idea? Want to support us and other great organizations? Visit our website: thegreatresetmovement.com

We had a great guest lined up for the show this week but unfortunately due to the weather and power outages we weren't able to record with him. But we've rescheduled for a couple of weeks out and we can't wait for this one to air. In the meantime we wanted to revisit one of our all-time favorite Episodes with Jackie Zykan, Master Taster with Old Forester. We know you'll enjoy this one. In this Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast, Matt and Mark get to hang out with Jackie Zykan, Master Taster, of Old Forester. The guys talk with Jackie about her 15-year history in the spirits industry and her rise through the ranks to become the Master Taster of one of the most iconic brands in whiskey, the incredible 150 year history of Old Forester, and the amazing Single Barrel program that she has helped to redefine at Old Forester. And they also get to taste and review 5 different expressions from Old Forester with Jackie, including the 1910 Bourbon, three different batches of the soon to be released 150th Anniversary Bourbon, and a Barrel Strength Single Barrel Bourbon. This Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast is sponsored by The Stave Restaurant in Millville, KY and Three Chord Bourbon. Check them out online at www.thestavekentucky.com and www.threechordbourbon.com.

This week's guest on Spirits of Whisk(e)y is Sean Josephs, Founder & Master Taster at Pinhook Whiskey, a brand that blends select straight bourbon and straight rye whiskeys produced by the Castle & Key Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, naming each distinctive result in honor of a promising young thoroughbred racehorse. After a special at-the-races edition of "Whiskey Chronicles," featuring Brooklyn Spirits author Peter Fornatale, listen and learn how Sean, a certified sommelier and cocktail expert, went from owning and operating award-winning restaurants in New York and New Orleans to marrying two of his passions—whiskey and horseracing—to the delicious benefit of bourbon and rye drinkers everywhere. Then hear Chef Louise Leonard's suggestions for pairing Pinhook's Tiz Rye Time with pumpernickel tea sandwiches, filled with lox, cream cheese, and dill. Please visit spiritsofwhiskey.com for show notes, past episodes, and coming attractions! Whiskey: A Chef's Journey ad music provided by HillbillyBed Creative Commons. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com.mp3. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/spirits-of-whiskey/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/spirits-of-whiskey/support

In this episode, Christian Oggenfuss sits down with Giammario Villa an Italian native, Master Taster, sommelier, author, and ambassador for the Consorzio Franciacorta. We discuss Gammario's journey and explore the origins of Italy's premier sparkling wine region. This is their story.

Josh and Scott sit down with Tyler Mirt and discuss 12 different Old Forester expressions. Day ten is the Old Forester MTS 1st Hundo. 

http://www.whisky.de/p.php?id=HORST1000 Nosing 05:25 Wir verkosten den Whisky.de Malt von Horst Lüning 10 Jahre. Horst Lüning, Master Taster von Whisky.de, erfüllte sich nach 25 Jahren den Traum eines eigenen schottischen Malt Whiskys. Komplex, bezahlbar und authentisch sollte er sein. Dazu wurden Malt Whiskys ausgewählter Brennereien aus Bourbon- und Sherryfässern miteinander vermählt. Entstanden ist ein frisch fruchtiger Blended Malt, der durch Zusatz von Sherryfass-Whisky eine komplex-würzige Note mit etwas Eiche im Abgang erhielt. Weggelassene Kühlfilterung, der Verzicht auf Nachfärbung und die von Experten geschätzte Alkoholstärke von 46% machen diesen Blended Malt zu etwas Außergewöhnlichem. Jetzt auch als Podcast: https://www.whisky.de/shop/newsletter/#podcast Geschmacksbeschreibungen und Informationen finden Sie in unserem Shop auf Whisky.de Abonnieren http://www.youtube.com/user/thewhiskystore?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whisky.de/

Jackie Zykan, the Master Taster at Old Forester, throws some love at bartenders on Bartender Appreciation Day and encourages you to keep getting takeout (even for drinks) during the pandemic...

Jackie Zykan, the Master Taster at Old Forester, throws some love at bartenders on Bartender Appreciation Day and encourages you to keep getting takeout (even for drinks) during the pandemic...

Not many people can boast that they're the Master Taster for a globally known bourbon, but Jackie Zycan can. Listen to Jackie share her journey from being married with a chemistry degree, to navigating her way through being a single mom while building her career into the Master Taster for Old Forester!

We are joined by Jackie Zykan, Master Taster for Louisville's Bourbon Brand, Old Forester. Jake and Michael sat down to discuss the brand's growth and her rise through the ranks.  We sipped Old Forester Rye Whiskey during this episode, which is another staple to add to any bar.  We also discuss the growth of the lineup from the Whisky Row series, Statesman, and bringing back President's Choice.  You'll learn how Jackie’s background in the bartending industry helped her transition to this beloved brand.  With an endless supply of Old Forester, do you want to take a guess at Jackie’s go-to Old Forester pour.  With a lot of new releases hitting shelves, Jackie even teases about more to come in the next few months.  We appreciate everyone who has taken the time to give us feedback on our podcast.  If you enjoy our content, consider giving us a 5 star rating on your podcast app, leave us a review, or tell a fellow bourbon lover about our show. Follow us @BourbonLens on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please email us at TheBourbonLens@Gmail.com. Visit our website BourbonLens.com to check out our blog posts and see what we are up to. Cheers, Scott, Michael & JakeThe Bourbon Lens   Links: OldForester.com Wall Street Journal Featuring Jackie Zykan LouisvilleFuture.com - 7 Questions with Jackie Zykan, Old Forester's Master Taster WHAS11.com - Feature on Jackie Zykan Observer.com - This Whisky Expert’s Secret to Refining Your Palate: Go to…Target? WhiskyAdvocate.com - Bourbon as Escapism

Join us for our Bourbon Heritage Series Finale as we talk with Old Forester's Master Taster, Jackie Zykan. This is one of our most informative and entertaining podcasts to date. If you're looking to learn, laugh, and be inspired, this is a MUST listen!

In this Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast, Matt and Mark get to hang out with Jackie Zykan, Master Taster, of Old Forester. The guys talk with Jackie about her 15-year history in the spirits industry and her rise through the ranks to become the Master Taster of one of the most iconic brands in whiskey, the incredible 150 year history of Old Forester, and the amazing Single Barrel program that she has helped to redefine at Old Forester. And they also get to taste and review 5 different expressions from Old Forester with Jackie, including the 1910 Bourbon, three different batches of the soon to be released 150th Anniversary Bourbon, and a Barrel Strength Single Barrel Bourbon. This Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast is sponsored by The Stave Restaurant in Millville, KY and Pinhook Bourbon. Check them out online at www.thestavekentucky.com and www.pinhookbourbon.com.

Old Forester is really starting to win over bourbon lovers. We are joined by our returning guest, Master Taster at Old Forester, Jackie Zykan, to chat about the 2020 Birthday Bourbon, the new barrel proof offering on the single barrel program, the story behind President's Choice, and much more. Have you tried an Old Forester 1915? Well, if you've never heard of it, get ready to start blending. Show Partners: The University of Louisville has an online Distilled Spirits Business Certificate that focuses on the business side of the spirits industry. Learn more at uofl.me/bourbonpursuit. Penelope Bourbon is a new award-winning four grain bourbon from a unique blend of three bourbon mash bills. Available in select markets and online at PenelopeBourbon.com. Track your tasting notes and connect with other bourbon drinkers. Search for Oak Bottle App on the Apple App Store. You can now buy Barrell Craft Spirits products online and have them shipped right to your door. Visit BarrellBourbon.com and click Buy Now. The Thousand Oaks Barrel Co. has personalized oak barrels and at-home whiskey making kits. Get 10% off everything with code "BP2020" at 1000oaksbarrel.com. Receive $25 off your first order at RackHouse Whiskey Club with code "Pursuit". Visit RackhouseWhiskeyClub.com. Show Notes: This week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about labor strikes. If you had a time machine would you go back in time or to the future? Let's talk about 1915. Tell us about working with Chris Morris and Birthday Bourbon. How hard was it to get the single barrel program to be barrel proof? What age barrels are going into the Whiskey Row Series? How do the barrel picks work? Tell us about President's Choice. Support this Podcast on Patreon

In this Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast, Matt and Mark spend the evening talking with America's first female Master Taster, Peggy Noe Stevens, and enjoying some great Bourbon and Rye with her. The guys talk with Peggy about her many contributions to the Bourbon industry over the last 30 years, the work that she has done in helping so many distilleries create amazing destination experiences for their visitors, her recently released book “Which Fork Do I Use with My Bourbon?”, and the creation of the nationwide group, Bourbon Women (which she founded), and their upcoming online SIPosium Conference. And they also drink and review Jim Beam's new release Old Tub, Elijah Craig's new limited release Rye, and a Liquor Barn Store Pick Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection with her. This Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast is sponsored by The Stave Restaurant in Millville, KY and Premium Bar Products. Check them out online at www.thestavekentucky.com and www.premiumbarproducts.com. 

For anyone that doesn’t know Peggy from listening to our past episodes, you will get to hear from the first ever woman Master Taster. She has been a remarkable inspiration for anyone in the bourbon industry and her crowning achievement was being inducted into the 2019 Bourbon Hall of Fame. This podcast was recorded at the Kentucky Derby Museum’s Legends Series so make sure you are following their social media handles @derbymuseum to catch the next season. Learn more about Peggy by listening to episodes 204 and 198, which is her session from the 2018 Kentucky Bourbon Affair called “The Stave is the Rave”. Show Partners: You can now buy Barrell Craft Spirits products online and have them shipped right to your door. Visit BarrellBourbon.com and click Buy Now. Receive $25 off your first order at RackHouse Whiskey Club with code "Pursuit". Visit RackhouseWhiskeyClub.com. Show Notes: DISCUS Petition: https://p2a.co/yrfbbV7 Podcast Awards Voting:  https://www.podcastawards.com/ This week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about Wild Turkey and small barrels. Tell us about being a Noe. What were you like when you were young? What was your dad like? Tell us about your time at the University of Kentucky. What were you drinking back then? Why did you chose these whiskies to taste? What was your first job out of college? How long were you in the hotel business? When did you work at Brown-Forman? What was the coolest event you coordinated? What was the next step? Tell us a good Lincoln story. What challenges have you faced? Do you feel like you always have to prove yourself? Talk about what you've done for women in bourbon. Tell us about Peerless. How many distilleries have you worked on? Tell us about Bakers. Bourbon Women: https://bourbonwomen.org/ Support this Podcast on Patreon

In this Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast, Matt and Mark spend some time with Marianne Eaves, of Eaves, LLC and Kentucky's very first female Master Distiller. The guys talk with Marianne about her time with Brown-Forman and her role as Master Taster there, her role as Kentucky's very first female Master Distiller at Castle & Key, and her current and upcoming projects in the world of Bourbon and beyond.  They also sample and review some great Bourbons with Marianne, including Legent Bourbon, Bardstown Bourbon Company's Phifer Pavitt Reserve, and Woodford Reserve's Double Double Oaked.  This Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast is sponsored by The Stave Restaurant in Millville, KY and Premium Bar Products. Check them out online at www.thestavekentucky.com and www.premiumbarproducts.com. 

In this Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast, Matt and Mark spend some time with Sean Josephs, Co-Founder and Master Taster of Pinhook Bourbon. The guys talk with Sean about his time in the restaurant industry in New York, his experience as a certified wine sommelier and how that has helped shape his journey in the Bourbon world, and all of the great things that are going on with Pinhook. They also share some amazing pours of Pinhook Bourbon and Rye with Sean, including Pinhook's first proprietary mashbill Bourbon distilled by Castle & Key, Bohemian Bourbon, Pinhook's first proprietary mashbill Rye distilled by Castle & Key, Rye'd On, and the 1st release in their 9-year Rye Vertical Series, the 4-Year Old Tiz Rye Time.  This Episode of The Bourbon Life Podcast is sponsored by The Stave Restaurant in Millville, Kentucky. You can check them out online at www.thestavekentucky.com. We are also sponsored by Premium Bar Products, offering the best quality glassware and bar tools direct to the consumer. You can check them out online at www.premiumbarproducts.com. 

In this very special episode, Matt talks to master taster at Old Forester, Jackie Zykan. Jackie has been with Old Forester for five years. As master taster, she's tasked with making sure the bourbon stays true to its taste and travels around the world to explain what makes that taste so special. Join us to find out which barrel is Matt's favorite and hear all about their new 'Barrel Strength' barrel program.  If you want to try any of the spirits Matt tasted on the show you can ORDER ONLINE or from the BIG RED LIQUORS APP for Curbside Pickup Service. It's as easy as 1,2,3! Start Your Order -  bigredliquors.com Simply select your store, browse and search for Old Forester products and start a CURBSIDE order. Your store will notify you when it is ready for pickup. Best of all, our NO TOUCH curbside will leave you with peace of mind and the great products you want ASAP. Current daily hours of operation are 12pm - 8pm.

Scott and the Guys do a phone interview with Marianne Eaves, the Former Master Distiller at Castle and Key and Master Taster at Brown Forman. They discuss her entire career, from being an intern at Brown Forman to helping bring life back to the original EH Taylor distillery (currently Castle and Key).

Steve & Jeremy interview Jackie Zykan about the redesigned single barrel program at Old Forester and much more. The Bourbon Show music (Whiskey on the Mississippi) is by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Important Links: ABV Network Shop: https://shop.abvnetwork.com/ Our Club: https://www.abvnetwork.com/club Challenge Coin Challenges: https://www.abvnetwork.com/coin Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theabvnetwork Check us out at: abvnetwork.com. Join the revolution by adding #ABVNetworkCrew to your profile on social media.

Team Tales talk tales with Author of "Estranged Behaviour: The Underbelly of Society" Tanita Ross-Cady. Tune in to hear her experiences with the strange from behind the bar and the infamous "Puppy Tongue." We meet with Will a master cocktail taster. He graces his pallet upon us and analyses Adhel's cocktail of the show. Boom Our Mixtress Cocktail Of the Show 1 oz brandy 1 oz tequila .5Lemon Olio saacrum .5clarified passion fruit juice Rinse of apple infused absinthe Combine ingredients, stir, serve over ice. Rinse glass with absinthe. Grab yourselves something to sip on and let's go on a magical journey in the world of bartending. TalkTales is intended for an audience 21 years and older. We promote responsible drinking and absolutely no drinking and driving.

Jackie Zykan is the Master Taster for Old Forester in Lousville, Kentucky. Originally from St. Louis, Jackie's background is full of unique experiences (science, business, and bartending) that led her to this one-of-a-kind role. She sits down to talk to us about the winding road that led her to Old Forester, what a day of tasting 30-90 barrels of bourbon looks like, and how being a super-taster affects her palate and food choices.HRN Happy Hour is powered by Simplecast.  

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau now caught in blackface, the libs continue their push to eliminate meat from your diet by raising taxes, KLM eliminating some flights as flight shaming begins, AOC says Miami will be underwater soon and yet President Obama spends $15 million on waterfront property, and we celebrate Bourbon Heritage Month with Jackie Zykan, Master Taster for Old Forester and we sample 4 different bourbons from Old Forester.

On this episode, Katie interviews Jackie Zykan, Master Taster for Old Forester about their second release of OldFo 1910 from the Whiskey Row Series. Your Bettys are: Renée Howe of The Bourbon Show/Daily, Barbara Hirsch of the New Orleans Bourbon Festival (nobourbonfest.com) & Katie Garrett of the Old Hickory Whiskey Bar (oldhickorywhiskeybar.com). Important Links:  ABV Network Shop: https://shop.abvnetwork.com/  Our Club: https://www.abvnetwork.com/club Challenge Coin Challenges: https://www.abvnetwork.com/coin Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theabvnetwork Check us out at: abvnetwork.com. Join the revolution by adding #ABVNetworkCrew to your profile on social media.

Sean Josephs the mastermind and Master Taster behind Pinhook returns to the show to fill us in on everything Pinhook has been up lately. We even got to try a 2 year sample of what they have been cooking up with Castle and Key which will eventually become their standard product. Sean has been hard at work and we couldn't wait to check in with him and talk about it. Cheers! Intro/Outro: Springtide "Fall Asleep Under the Millions of Stars"

Peggy Noe Stevens is an encyclopedia of great information about many bourbon brands. You may not know it, but she's one of the biggest influencers behind many of the great distillery experiences while on the bourbon trail and outside of the state too. Peggy is a pioneer in driving diversity with her leadership behind the Bourbon Women organization and involvement with women-led panels. Peggy is an incredibly talented person that has shaped the industry from being in front of people leading them at bourbon tastings and crafting one of kind experiences behind the scenes. Show Partners: At Barrell Craft Spirits, every release is intentionally unique, and can’t be duplicated. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Find out more at BarrellBourbon.com. Receive $25 off your first order with code "Pursuit" at RackhouseWhiskeyClub.com. Use code "BOB2019" for discounted tickets to Bourbon on the Banks in Frankfort, KY on August 24th. Visit BourbonontheBanks.org. (Offer good through 6/30.) Show Notes: This week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about Wikipedia. What is an experiential expert? Who have you consulted for these experiences? What value do you bring to these experiences? What was it like working at Woodford Reserve? How do you elevate the experience? How do balance the history with modern day innovation? Explain the difference between someone coming up the ranks in the bourbon industry vs. someone just taking it. What was it like when you were named the first female master taster? Do you feel like the media is better today that back then? What about diversity in the whiskey industry? Was Lincoln Henderson your Mr. Miyagi? What are you doing today with this master taster role? Let's discuss Bourbon Women. What was your inspiration for Bourbon Women? Tell us about the growth of Bourbon Women. How do you market the organization? What type of members do you have? What are visitors looking for in a distillery experience? How do you deal with a difficult person in the hospitality industry? How did you help pioneer the Bourbon Trail? 0:00 Did you actually consult him and say you should wear an ascot? 0:03 No, no, he he came. I want to make clear to all the audience that the Ascot was his idea. Are you suggesting I shouldn't 0:15 move forward with it? 0:27 This is Episode 204. of bourbon pursuit. I'm one of your hosts Kenny Coleman and per usual we have to go through a little bit of news on June 22. peerless distilling is releasing their four year bourbon. If you caught the Live podcast with Corky Taylor then you may have heard about it, if not no worries as it will be released at a later date. We are very excited for Corky Caleb and the entire peerless team for having the will to hold back sales until this product reached four years old. When we get a chance to try it. We're going to let you know what we think to Buffalo Trace to Hillary is now releasing their next installment in the old charter oak series called French oak. The old charter oak collection is designed to explore honor and celebrate the role of oak in making great whiskey. The oak tree is used in this brand vary from country of origin species, US date and even age there's century barrels that are being used from Oak trees that are 100 203 hundred years old. For this newest release Buffalo Trace contained a small number of barrels from France in 2007 and filled them with Nashville number one. This is the same Nashville used for standard Buffalo Trace Eagle were amongst a few others. The old charter oak is now been bottled and will be available for retail in late June. Last week, we ventured out to Barton for another 1792 foolproof selection, that they started out a little bit different than most because it was raining and there were storms in the area. That meant we had to do our barrel selection inside at the tasting bar at the gift shop instead of the red house because they don't allow people there during the chances of lightning. We made the best of it. And we had six barrels to choose from we narrowed it down to three. And that's I guess fortunate that we ran out of samples there with inside the gift shop. But wouldn't you know the skies parted and we got the sample our barrels inside the house to come away with a winner. After selecting it, we found out that it was barreled on to 29 which of course was a leap year. We were also joined by Father Matt, a fellow Patreon supporter and Catholic priests from northern Ohio, who blessed our bourbon for us to mean how often Can you say something like that happens, it was truly a memorable experience. If you want to join us on barrel pics, go ahead and sign up and be a part of our Patreon community@patreon.com slash bourbon pursuit. If you follow us on social media, you would have seen Ryan and I at will at this past Saturday. We've got big news to share. So you're gonna have to wait to hear more about that one. Let's just say we through 11 barrels and came away with two. That's enough for the teasers for now. For today's show, we have to just talk about Peggy because we love Peggy Noe Stevens, she's an encyclopedia of great information about mini bourbon brands. She was featured back on episode 198 talking about would influence along with bourbon and food pairings with the state as the rave. But this time we get to hear her complete story. You may not know it, but she's one of the biggest influencers behind many of the great distillery experiences that you get to see on the bourbon trail as well as outside of the state to Peggy is a major player when it comes to diversity in the bourbon world. She's a pioneer because she played a big role behind the bourbon women organization that we've also featured on the show previously. Peggy is an incredibly talented person that has shaped the industry from being in front of people leading them bourbon tastings to crafting those one of a kind experiences behind the scenes. Now with that, let's hear from our good friend Joe over a barrel burger. And then you've got Fred Minnick with above the char. 4:04 Hi, this is Joe Beatrice from Bell craft spirits. Every release is intentionally unique and can't be duplicated. Once it's gone. It's gone. Find out more at barrel bourbon calm. 4:16 I'm Fred Minnick. And this is above the char. When I was a little boy. One day, a man came to our house. He wore a suit, nice leather shoes, had a suitcase. He took my father to the table and pulled out a suitcase and dropped five nice leather bound books. He flipped him open. The pages were silky smooth to the touch. And he pointed at me. And he said, Sir, your son can learn the world through Britannica encyclopedia is my father very interested in my education. But the encyclopedias I just sat there for pretty much my entire life. I don't think I ever really looked Adam. Well, I might have pulled him out for a report here and there. But the encyclopedia man always struck me as like one of the greatest salesman in the world. And today, the encyclopedia is gone. So where do we go for information these days? Well, obviously, it's the internet. But there's one source in particular that seems to drive the conversation with most people. And that's Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not a site that I'm actually particularly fond of, because it crowd sources information. And a lot of the information is wrong to include people winning awards, you see a lot of political efforts there to kind of try to change people's Wikipedia pages. I have a Wikipedia page and you know, people go in there and tinker with that all the time. That's great. That is what it is. So side note, I was the most important Ascot where once upon a time someone else took that spot. But the fact is, is Wikipedia is where we go for information today as a society. Now go on there and look for Jimmy Russell, Jim Rutledge, Elmer T. Lee, Jeff Barnett, you name them any kind of prominent person and the American whiskey scene, and you won't find him. I don't know if it's the brand's fault for not trying to make sure that their iconic people are on Wikipedia pages. Or if it's simply that American whiskey hasn't really crossed over into the pop culture of the internet yet. But I think we really should change that. So if you have the abilities, get on Wikipedia today and add a master distiller go add somebody who's important to American whiskey. Because for a lot of people, if you're not on Wikipedia, you don't exist. And that's this week's above the char, hey, this idea came to me from a follower on Twitter, if you have an idea for above the char hit me up on Twitter or Instagram. That's at Fred Minnick again. That's at Fred Minnick. Until next week, cheers. 7:05 Welcome back to the episode of bourbon pursuit, the official podcast of bourbon, Kinney and Fred recording on site at one of our guests place. So we're actually honored to be on site again together doing this. But today that I had the opportunity of meeting Peggy few times, probably probably probably a few years ago was the first time and then the last time which I don't know if that's going to go out and recording depending on how this release counter is going to go but had the opportunity to record her at the higher proof Expo doing some stuff with bourbon and food and chocolate pairings and tasting and stuff like that. And so that was kind of like my really first time really meeting her and kind of knowing some of the the depth of knowledge that that she really had to offer. But, Fred, you've got even a more personal connection to our guest today. 7:54 Yeah. So Peggy, and I go way back and if it wasn't for her, hi would never have written the book whiskey women. And we've become friends. I would say, you know, I don't have a sister. She's the closest thing to a sister I have. And she's the godmother to my son Julian. So, so we are very close. And you know, when we talk about when we talk about bourbon coming back, you know, this woman has done as much for bourbon as anybody. She basically was a founder of the Kentucky bourbon trail. I mean, it was essentially her idea. She It was her idea to create the launch pad of the Kentucky bourbon trail at the Frazier museum. And she founded a little organization called bourbon women. And oh, by the way, she was the first female master taster. worked with a lot of iconic brands and like Woodford Reserve so she's very influential in this world of bourbon. And to me personally, just one of my best friends. Well, I think 8:56 I think we put up on a pedestal and padded that ego enough, we should probably go go ahead and introduce her. So today on the show, we have Peggy know Stevens, Peggy is the master taster and also an experiential expert. So Peggy, welcome to the show. 9:09 Thank you. I was thrilled to be on this, especially with you two guests 9:13 are you know, you you made it? All right, we're 100 and whatever episodes and we finally got you, and you 9:17 waited this long for me know if that's a compliment. I don't know why. 9:22 There was all these rejections because you know, Kenny and Ryan were just, they weren't, they weren't ready for you know, right 9:28 away. Yeah, we had to me to build our build our confidence is kind 9:32 of how it works. Actually, it's very true. They're, they're very sensitive to our various 9:38 crush your ego pretty quickly, there you 9:40 go. They'll look at the text messages. And you'll know exactly like how bad we can, we can really like hate ourselves. But anyway, I want you to first talk about what is an experiential expert, I have something I'm just going to guess that it has to do something with these these tasting pairing things that you do as well as a little bit. 9:57 I mean, that's part of it. Experience ensure, and a lot of people don't understand that word fully. But it's about the experience, someone has been interactive, hands on, you know, engaging a consumer touching them emotionally. It's all of those things. So for years and years in the beverage industry and managed visitor centers, and distillery operations for the consumer. And so through all of that, I learned how to really engage the consumer, whether it be on a tour or teaching or educating or food pairing. And so when I started my company 11 years ago, I decided that that's where I would put a big part of my focus. So I work with kind of the big boy brands and I work with craft distilleries all over creating experiences for consumers on a tour path. 10:47 And so give us an idea of who you've you've actually consulted for so when somebody goes in here, they're going to be like, Oh, I know that Peggy's had something to do with this place. Right? 10:56 Well, recent, most recent, I guess is the Luxe row distillery in Bardstown if you visited there worked with the Luxe family. And the Gosh, I guess that project was almost a two year project very enjoyable. And then the American steel house for Jim Beam. That was my very first project actually, when I started my company, and then that led to the urban still house, which we helped design, and also their Global Innovation Center, which we helped design the interior and what a distributor or retail would experience, you know if they went on tour there, so that was one of them. peerless distillery comes to mind which I have a little peerless today for you. after this is over, or during whatever you want. 11:40 A quarter we'll see what happens 11:42 a little bit on the victors project. And then of course, I go beyond the borders of Kentucky. So a couple Tennessee distilleries like old forge distillery, Thunderbird distillery, and have one up and coming, then it's going to be announced, I think very shortly, 11:58 will awesome. So I guess, one of those things that if somebody is trying to open up a visitor experience, you know, it kind of seems that there's, there's almost like a formula nowadays, you know, you have a little bit of history, get a little bit of retail, but what do you kind of bring to this table that they couldn't just go and say, well, I'll just go visit four or five places write down what I can find, and then we'll go build it ourselves, we need you to justify your job. 12:26 Well, I mean, technically, it is a process because I think that you have to design a visitor center and distilleries in phases, you know, from what is your story? You know, that's where I try to keep people grounded. Where's your authenticity? What do you want the consumer to care about? I call that the takeaway. You know, if you've ever gone on vacation, and you've had a great time, and you get back in your car, your airplane and you're headed home, you say, Wow, that was just a great experience, because you always have a takeaway. And that's what I try to get all of the visitor centers that I work with, to put their anchor in the ground and say, This is what we stand for. This Is Our Story, whether it be history related, or innovation related, or family related, you know, it just has to be true to them. You know, from that, we start to what I call three dimensional eyes it how do you bring that story to life, whether it be through exhibits, whether it be through the production process, or the engagement of the tour guide. And then once we design the exhibits, we work with architects and construction companies to help fabricate it. And after that point, you know, usually we're writing the script. So we'll help with script writing the product profile how we deliver a tasting 13:40 now, when you say script writing, this is like what when you say exactly like your word as much as I can. 13:46 That's right. We we are pretty granular in our business that we even teach the tour guides, how to tell a story, how to train and customer service, how to deal with difficult people on a tour. So 13:58 how to deal with Kenny, you're saying, Yeah, he one 14:00 that actually we teach how to throw out loud now? Yeah, but it's really no more. It's really soup to nuts. And that's what makes a great experience when you thread all of the things together that I just mentioned, because that's when you can say I had a surround sound experience. And so that's what we try to capture with consumer 14:19 DNA. When you had said like, you know, anybody can just open like a visitor center. To me, that's a little bit like, I've had a lot of people come to me and say, Oh, I can write a book on write a book. You know, that sort of thing. A lot of people think they can write a book. But then when they get down to writing a book, you know, they realize they can't do it at visitor centers are actually very complicated AR and and the United Kingdom, go around to the scotch whiskey whiskey distilleries, and you'll see how, how far ahead American whiskey visitor centers are from from those facilities. And actually, you kind of cut your teeth on probably what is considered one of the hallmarks of the bourbon trail and Woodford Reserve What was I did, what were those days like? 15:03 Well, I'll tell you I look back at my Woodford days is probably one of the best times of my life. 15:09 We're talking mid 90s. 15:10 Yeah, mid 90s and 1994 to be exact, and it was a two year renovation, give or take a few months. It was the brainchild truly allows Lee Brown, who I think was probably one of the most intelligent men that I've ever worked for, and worked with. And it was when the bourbon industry was having its resurgence that you know, we were seeing a difference in how we market and the consumer going back to kind of some of the retro cocktails. So it was perfect timing to create this vision for the distillery and so the beauty of it is the team that I worked with people like Kevin Curtis, Dave Sherrick, you probably heard those names. They were right alongside with me on the production level. And we were almost like a small entrepreneurial spirit ticket that Woodford Reserve to where it is the first year we opened. We were so thrilled we had 9000 people and we thought tremendous. And now it's well over probably 150,000 16:10 like in probably two weeks now. 16:12 That's right. But I was really fortunate. Because brown Forman gave me a really great pedigree. I was able to travel around with Woodford Reserve and see other experiences you just meant mentioned the scotch whiskey trail. I went to Ireland, Mexico, one of my fondest memories and one of the best still today for me, as far as an experience goes as a visitor centers choir vo literally we literally went out in the field with a machete and they taught you how to hack with the machete the A gob a plant in your in the dirt and it's hot and sweaty and gritty. That's an experience. You know. So those are some of the the small things that we learned, you know, to try to create Woodford and then I went on eventually to manage the jack daniels visitor experience and all the brand destinations, 17:03 I got an idea for you. So tell me you can bring it to bourbon now. Now you can say okay, we got to go out to the cornfield, you got to go get six Huff's of corn and you got to come back and you've got to get all the kernels off, and I'm going to give you a pest immortal and you gotta get what happened. Yeah, you gotta chop all these up, we're going to make your bourbon in one day. And that's 17:19 experience. That's it. I mean, that's experiential. Because see, I think the consumer these days are so well educated. They want to be entertained, they're dying to be entertained. And so all they want to do is participate with you. And I think that when the industry realizes that and they allow them to play a little bit at the distillery, it's much more memorable, 17:41 too much free labor to its its tracks, 17:43 it will put all the consumers on the bottling line. 17:46 Oddly enough, they'd be like, I'd love to exactly. But another question that kind of goes, I do want to ask you one more while we're on this topic, because you had talked about scripts earlier? Do you still? Are you trying to find people that are like, let's get away from the whole? bourbon 51% corn? Like, is this the same thing? You kind of hear repetitive over and over again? Now? Do you come through and say like, it's just part of like what it is you have to cater to the everyday person that might not know this? Or do you say like, well, maybe we can create an elevated experience that we can slide that in there. But let's not focus on like the basics for a lot of these people? 18:19 Well, actually, it's a little of all of that, I believe in tears of tours. And in other words, there's something for everyone. There's kind of your bourbon one on one tour, where you do learn some of the production methods, but then give the tourists an opportunity to go to that next level, maybe more of an intermediate tour where they dig a little deeper in the production process and the history and heritage. And then for the advanced lover, and true bourbon enthusiasts, you might have private classes or cocktail classes or so I really believe in those tears. It's just a matter of convincing, you know, the distillery that one size doesn't fit all, you know, that you really have to offer because our consumers today, I think it's more demanding than ever, don't you, Fred? I 19:03 do. And they also like to call things out more so than ever, and I certainly more avenues for them to do that. And you got Yelp, you know, you've got Google reviews, and then you certainly have the podcasts and the bloggers and that's right. And one of the things that typically comes up from these, some of these smaller groups that come out, they kind of create, they create a story, and then they talk about it on on their tour. Let's take Boone County, for example. They They told 19:30 us one of my clients actually, 19:31 yeah, that's right. I knew that and they use that heritage. And you know, some people, they're just like, just talk about the whiskey, we don't care about the heritage, we don't feel like it's, you know, genuine to buy this brand or anything. So do you do you ever? How do you balance that, that effort to, you know, to bring out like a cool story. And, you know, staying with, you know, the contemporary desire to not create false back stories. 20:01 I agree. And and I think it's what we all do or try to do is we have to respect our history, because even though it might not have been history of the whiskey, it was history of their culture, and their surrounding area. And that's what Boone was, you know, they talk about their culture of their backyard. And then they tied in, you know, to the whiskey, and so, respecting the history, but then also have any appreciation for the modern day and innovation. You know, where are we going today? So I think it's what I call a balance, kind of a juxtaposition between between past and present. And that's what you have to bring together. 20:37 Okay, we see a lot of these brands that, you know, talk about, like my grand Pappy carried the yeast back on this toes from the Atlantic. And that's not balanced. You know, that's, that's, that's too far. And so like, if you're, if you're in the boardrooms, and you're saying, guys, you can't do that, then God bless you. That's right. You know, because we, we've gotten tired of that over the years, and we still see it, but it's not as prevalent as it was, I'd say 10 years ago. 21:04 And I think because of all the craft distilleries, you know that I work with and for, I try so hard to say it's okay, if you're sourcing whiskey, just say so, you know, tell them where you're getting it, why you chose the barrel stock that you did, how long it's going to be before your product comes out. Because I think authenticity is really important. And that's another reason why I think the tourists don't want to go to distillery after distillery and say, 51% corn, because everybody's going to say the same thing. And it's just dinner in a movie. 21:37 Let's jump on that authenticity thing for sure. Get some of that. Some just hit me, Kenny. You know, we're in this. We're in this day and age where anybody can come in and say they're an expert, a bourbon. You actually became a master taster at Brown Forman. Explain to us what the difference between someone coming up the ranks in the industry and earning that title and and then someone just taking it? 22:07 Sure. Well, I think that in our industry, what so many people don't understand is that we didn't have a formal definition of for example, if you wanted to be a CMO, yea, then you do all the credentials associated with that you take all the tests and you become a summer. Yeah. You know, in our industry, it's kind of truly up to each and every distillery to decide titles of vocabulary credentials, and master distiller is very different than master taster. Master taster is very different than master blender. But each distillery is going to set the guidelines and training, you know, to advance an employee to become in that position. So again, I think I was in the right place at the right time. Lincoln Henderson was the master distiller at Woodford at the time. And I believe it was about 2001, where the general manager of Woodford Lincoln, they thought I had a really good palate, I kind of have a bit of a culinary background. So I think in food terms, and I think that helps so much and identifying and descriptive whiskey. So I had written the tour understood production, I have a bit of a science mind. So they asked me if I would formally trained with him to become a master taster at the time and my naivete. I think I didn't realize that there were no women master tasters in the industry, if you can believe it. So of course I was eager, you know, to learn love doing tastings really respected Lincoln, in his knowledge and years of experience. So we would do you know, sensory training, we would you know, drill barrels and, you know, pulled from it, and he would teach me the different aspects of that, I had to do quite a quite a few things in the production area. And it's kind of like the whiskey, you know, you're not ready till the master distiller says you're ready. And after a certain period of time, that's when they gave me my certificate. You know, it was putting the newspaper and that's when I first found out when it hit the newspaper, it hit the AP. Oh, wow. And went across. And it is big news, that a woman has become a master taster. In a male predominant, you know, predominant world. And the that's when it hit me that this was really something more special than I ever dreamed than ever thought. And I'm happy to say now there's many master tasters, Master distillers master blenders that are female, I just happened to be, I think, in the right place at the right time that that happened. 24:37 Share with us the 24:40 when that news broke the DJ who called you? 24:45 Well, when I mentioned AP, right, hit the AP, so 120 newspapers it hit. And of course, there was so much interest from radio stations, TV stations. And it was something I wasn't, I don't think I was quite mentally ready for in the fact that there was a particular radio station kind of a shock jock that wanted me to come and do a series or not a series but an interview rather. And they were kind of getting a kick out of the whole piece of the newspaper article that said, she doesn't swallow. You know, she swirls and spits. And they kind of wanted to play on that a little bit. And I remember that, that's when it hit me that I was going to be different. I was not going to go along, just get go along to get along. And I said no to the interview. Because I didn't think that that was going to ever be my persona. And that's not what I wanted to be known for. I wasn't going to joke along with it. I wanted women to be taken seriously. And in a way like men would be, you know, and I don't think there'd be too many radio stations that would ask a man to do that. So I said no to the interview. And, you know, it wasn't very favorably received. But so Obama stood by my values on that. 26:06 Do you think we're better today than we were? From a media perspective? 26:12 I think not really, from a media perspective you ask? So I don't think so. But I guess I want to expand that not just to whiskey. I think on a media level, there are plenty of reality TV shows that, you know, try to get the worst of you the angle to make you not look great. I think there are plenty, you know, of Facebook video, you know, you see this all the time in social media that someone's captured at a certain moment, YouTube video, all of those things. And so No, I don't think media is better about it. But it goes beyond whiskey. 26:54 Yeah. What about the whiskey industry? Is it obviously we've seen growth of diversity. But you still, I still get the sense from from from women, that it's not where they want it to be. In terms of the diversity, 27:12 right, I think we are on a great trajectory right now, I think there's never been a better time for women to be in our industry. The amount of executives and vice presidents CMOS presidents of the different distillery or spirits companies, it's really enlightening, and I'm so glad to see it. So there I think putting women in better positions has certainly improved. Look at the production side of things, we have more master distillers that are women. All of that's wonderful. My question, I think, to the industry is really, once you're out in the field, and when I say out in the field, as far as sales representatives go that are female, you know, marketing representatives who do kind of the day to day job of beating the streets and going to bars and restaurants and it's more of how are they treated these days? You know, that's that's the question mark for me. But I know, you know, internally, it has definitely improved as far as positions go. 28:15 Yeah, I can kind of see that. I can kind of see what you're saying. Because you're still going in to even probably the more male dominated culture of liquor store owners and retailers and bars and stuff that yeah, these people have to go and they have to sell their product. I have to probably put up with some shit every once in a while to I'm sure that's probably not far from the case of what you're what you're what you're hinting at here. You know, one thing I kind of rewind a little bit about that you had talked about going up and becoming the master taster with inside of just Woodford or brown Forman in general what was 28:48 Woodford Reserve decision with Woodford Reserve specifically, 28:51 kind of talk about what those that individual process means are like how was how was Wes? Like, your your Miyagi, if you will? How does he mean like in Lincoln? You mean like it? Oh, sorry. Sorry. How was Lincoln? I'm sorry, I apologize. How was Lincoln kind of like your Miyagi here and your Daniel son, if you will. So the wax on wax off sort of scenario, 29:10 he got so caught up on that scenario, that Miyagi? I know, I forgot. 29:16 It was like, it's like from The Karate Kid, you know, you gotta have you know, and you're maybe maybe a Yoda, if you will. Yeah. 29:24 Well, again, Lincoln to me was was so refreshing every time he came to Woodford Reserve because he wanted to be as much a part of it as anybody who worked there. And he was the master distiller, of course, but you know, had to go back and forth to Louisville, he traveled around the world, you know, worked a lot in Japan, etc. And every time he came in, we would have great conversation, he was a foodie. So we always had that culinary tag that we appreciate a good food, good whiskey. And I have to say he was so well liked by the tour guides, and in the management, because he always had just as calm demeanor. And the reason why I tell you all that is because I think that really helped me when I was learning because he took the time to explain things, the very first time that we met formally to train, this was my first lesson, he had a box of toothpicks, and a glass of water. And then he had all these empty glasses, and I thought, oh, we're just going to taste a lot. And he, as he was talking, he was breaking up the toothpicks and putting them in water. And it's the most bizarre thing I'd ever seen. And I just didn't understand it. And he goes, he goes, I'm gonna let this sit for a minute, okay. And I said, Sure, you know, go ahead, no problem. And then he came back to it about, you know, 10 minutes later, and he goes, smell this playing glass of water. I noticed it. And then he goes, nose, nose, the one with the the toothpicks in it, and I noticed and he goes, do you see the difference would can make? And it was just this? Was he trying to mess with 30:51 me as he means? Well, 30:52 I mean, it was just, it was just his way of teaching and Little things like holding a Glencairn glass, you know, in the small disk that goes on top to keep the aroma, and he would teach me how to move it back and forth, so that I could look, you know, like an expert, you know, tasting it and turn it off. And then putting it back on very quickly 31:14 reminds me of like somebody at the poker table, they're just roll the chip in their in their hands or something. But 31:18 but exactly, that's exactly where the basic so I guess what I'm saying is, I really honored the fact that he brought me to the basics. And then little by little, you know, we advanced her way into the distillery where I was drilling barrels and pulling samples and tasting. And so it was it was really a progression, I guess, is the best way to answer that question. And, again, it wasn't ready till he said, she's ready to conduct the tastings and send around and do tastings. 31:46 What are you still doing today? In regards of a master taster role? Are you actually helping with other distilleries in this sort of thing like trying to dial it in of what they should be releasing or what their barrel should be at? 31:57 I absolutely do several different levels for some spirits judge for the American distilling Institute. So every year, I go and taste product, you know, from craft distillers and rate it and sometimes identify if it's, you know, has been in the barrel too long or still was dirty, or the grains were mold, you know, so we have to give a lot of feedback. And that's kind of tricky. 32:20 That is, that is tricky. I gotta say that that job is that particular competition and that style of competition. God bless you don't do that running. 32:32 But I also think before we get too far from there, I also want you to kind of explain when you just said, How can you tell if something if the if there's something moldy in the still like, how can you How can you get that from the distillate, or I think everybody knows that it hasn't been in the barrel long enough, 32:48 it's a taste. For example, if this still isn't clean, you know, really clean, I can taste kind of wet corn husk that tastes kind of moldy. To me, there's a rubbery taste, you know, and that's, that means something else. So it's all in what you have memorized in your sensory, you know, as a good or not so great taste. And that helps guide me, any anybody who is interested in knowing how to taste, I try to break it down and say it's really pretty easy. It's about food memory, if you know food flavors, you know, like what burnt tastes like? Or what real great savory, juicy steak tastes like, you know, you can equate food flavors to whiskey tasting. And so the American distilling Institute, which we have tons of fun, you know, we have about 70 judges, I think now that come. So that's one area and then for my clients, I do tasting profile. So if it's a new product, I will actually dissect the flavors and come up with the vocabulary to describe it. And then teach the tour guides, you know how to deliver tasting. So that's a job that I do. And then of course, doing food programs, food and bourbon programs, food and spirits programs. food pairings are kind of my specialty. And that's probably what I enjoy the most. When I'm doing tastings. 34:15 Well, there's one other thing that she applies for tastings. Joe went out, tell me she writes for bourbon plus, yeah, well, 34:21 how can I possibly get 34:23 she does tasting notes for the magazine? Yes, 34:26 I do tasting notes for the magazine and do ratings at times when I'm asked but I really have enjoyed that. Fred's taken a very different way of approaching descriptions of food pairings and bourbon pairings. And so I've, I have really latched on to that, because that's, that's my joy. That's what I really enjoy is describing flavors and whiskey. 34:49 So talk about a typical thing that when you are trying to do a food and a whiskey pairing, or food and bourbon pairing, I mean, is it like, okay, on your left, we've got shrimp and grits next goes well with bullet or we've got this and that, but kind of kind of just walk through what's around on a plate here and how you would share? 35:06 Well, the first thing that I tried to have people do is just dissect the whiskey flavors in general. Because if you don't know what you're dealing with, there's no way you could possibly decide on what food that it's going to go with. And then I created something a long time ago called balance, counterbalance, and explosion. And the balance side is simply when you take the whiskey and you taste a particular flavor of the whiskey that's, you know, pretty predominant. And then you match that flavor. Let's say it's Apple, you match that flavor to the food and so it let's say it's Apple, you know, so a slice of Apple, you taste apple in the bourbon. So it's a balance nothing's overshadowing anything. Then counterbalance is when you take a food flavor or descriptor from the whiskey and you try to do something completely opposite. Very similar to if you were drinking a Riesling wine and eating occasion pecan. You know the reasoning is so sugary sweet that it takes over the spice of the Cajun pecan kind of dousing it. You can do the same with bourbon, with really heavy caramel notes and vanilla notes. I could take an Asian dish and have my bourbon with Asian food because it's actually going to that caramels going to wrap around that spice and it's lovely. And then a explosion is when I want to really do surround sound tasting and I might take a great for example, you know I've got a bottle of peerless here I'm I take a great chocolate note out of peerless rye, and then I'll have a really chocolatey, you know, truffle or majestic to go with it because it's almost like too much of a good thing. You know, you're trying to create a flavor that you can't even believe it's taken over your mouth. And that's explosion. 36:54 Fred, did you know that you can pair bourbon with egg rolls? Because apparently you can. 36:59 The only thing I have now I've been able to successfully pair bourbon with has been like fishier styles of sushi. Like I compare bourbon really well with salmon but like, like, let's say a spicy tuna roll. I've not been successful and fine. I've been able to pair a scotch with that, but not a spicy 37:19 scotch is so easy with seafood because it 37:21 really is. Yeah, but there's not. When it when it comes to some of those more flashy or tunas. When you hear those spices, they're hard to pair to. 37:33 I mean, most of our listeners, they would say well of course you want to go at Jefferson's ocean and because apparently it's supposed to bring in this briny, salty taste to it what would what would be your response to that? 37:43 Me? Well, I or or Yeah, I think Jefferson's ocean is 37:50 sometimes it has brightness to it. Sometimes it doesn't. I don't always get it. 37:54 Well, I remember I was very skeptical. The first time I heard you know valve and putting it on the sea, all of this and I thought you know what, I'm going to taste this thing. And surprisingly, salt is not a descriptor that I use ever when I'm doing whiskey profiles. And I will tell you, I really do get a little bit of that sea salt taste 38:16 as I did in the later batches, I it's been inconsistent for me. 38:20 So what I try to do if I'm if I'm pairing with Jefferson's is not to overdo the salt. You know not to have a real savory dish to pair it with because I think it can overtake 38:34 so go ahead. I you know, we're I don't want to get too caught up in all the tasting side of things because we really want to talk about you know, bourbon women. 38:49 Do you love bourbon? How about festivals? Of course you do. So join bourbon pursuit in Frankfort, Kentucky on August 24. For bourbon on the banks. It's the country wells premier bourbon tasting and awards festival. You will get to taste from over 60 different bourbon spirits, wine and beer vendors plus 20 food vendors all happening with live music. Learn more about bourbon from the master distillers themselves that you've heard on the show and enjoy food from award winning chefs. The $65 ticket price covers everything. Don't wait and get yours at bourbon on the banks.org and through June 30. You can get your discounted ticket offer two tickets for the low price of $110. When using the code b o b 2019. during checkout at bourbon on the banks.org there are more craft distilleries popping up around the country now more than ever before. So how do you find out the best stories and the best flavors? Rock house whiskey club is a whiskey the Month Club and they're on a mission to uncover the best flavors and stories that craft distilleries across the US have to offer. Along with two bottles of hard to find whiskey rack houses boxes are full of cool merchandise that they ship out every two months to members in 40 states and rack houses June box they're featuring a distillery that claims to be the first distillery to stout a whiskey rack house whiskey club is shipping out two bottles from there, including its beer barrel bourbon and beer barrel rye, both of which were finished in barrels that were once used to mature America's number one selling bourbon barrel aged stout. And if you're a beer guy like me, you would know that's New Holland dragon milk, go to rock house whiskey club. com to check it out. And try a bottle of beer barrel bourbon and beer barrel rye use code pursuit for $25 off your first box. 40:42 I really want to talk about you know, bourbon women you you left. You left Woodford Reserve 90s or 2000. 40:52 I left I left the company 40:55 in 2008 and started my company in 2008. Okay. And, you know, your company was a consulting company you've you've been a you know, personal consultant. Yes. image consultant. By the way, She's the reason why I have a beard. 41:14 I told you I've been trying I've been trying with 41:16 Fred This is this when he was baby face when he had the goatee and you're like, you gotta you gotta grow it out some more. Or is it actually 41:21 it was it started with the goatee was the other It started with a goatee. And I said fill it in and fill it in. But yeah, that's one of I am an Image and Etiquette expert. And, and believe it or not, that's come in very handy because I work in the hospitality industry. And so it's about the look and feel of your employees and professionals. So Fred's 41:43 con wrote a book on it. 41:45 I wrote a book called professional presence. And I teach on that still, you know, too many organizations and corporations, but 41:53 when she's with bourbon groups, she just throws it all out the window. 41:56 Do I Do I dress down? No, I'm just so last thing is I 42:03 usually wear a coat and tie to see me today. 42:05 I did not Yeah, but I also usually wouldn't know which one of the nine spoons I'm supposed to use that are in front of me sometimes at a nice dinner as well. 42:12 Well, and you know, it's funny that you say that because that's where the bourbon industry is just been great because it's so approachable. And even though I'm an etiquette expert, and I had a woman at bourbon and beyond from California came up and she goes, Peggy, you're the Emily post of bourbon. And I kind of got a kick out of that, because I wasn't trying to take that she was no, you're really teaching us. You know how to do things and use things. But one thing lesson I've learned from all these master distillers who I really admire is to make it approachable, you know, teaching people what they can do and how to enjoy it, but not making it intimidating for them to enjoy it. Because we don't want to make it untouchable. 42:51 Scott's dictating 42:54 to listen, and he says his way or the highway. 42:57 So the inspiration for bourbon women? Yes. What was that? 43:01 Well, I think bourbon women, for me personally, my inspiration was when I was still working for Woodford, because I would travel around the world. And when I would conduct tastings, nine times out of 10 predominantly male, which was fine that there'd always be like a little trickle of women in the back. And they would only come up to me, after the tasting was over to ask questions, you know, or ask what I do for a living or, or expand a little bit more on my career. And I always found that very odd that they wouldn't raise their hand when a lot of the men would be flooding me with questions, you know, during the seminar. And then I attended a women's weekend and Kiawah Island. And again, this is back in the 90s, early 2000s. And it was a women's weekend not about whiskey. It was just a women's weekend where the hotel was doing different things, excursions etc, shopping, the normal thing, and they asked me to come in and do a bourbon tasting. And when I got there said how many women It was probably 100 women in this room. How many women enjoy bourbon? No one raised their hand. Nobody, no. Time is over. But then I said, Well, how many of you drink margaritas? They all raise their hand? Oh, yeah. Now we're talking Now we're talking. And I said, I'm going to teach you something now that I think you'll appreciate. You know, when you have a shot of tequila in front of you, you're probably less likely to drink that than you are to have a margarita. I said so we're going to start slow and I'm gonna teach you how to taste bourbon, and what cocktails you can put in bourbon. And then maybe you'll decide, you know, the Bourbons okay for you. And by the end of the night we were singing New York, New York and doing the cancan. Yeah. Yeah, it was it was wildly successful. The women had son, they loved it. And so I think that was part of my inspiration. Also, another event that I did, when I was at Woodford, I have a picture of it actually with Lincoln. We did a women's group, cigar and shopping night. And women came from all over Kentucky to attended Lincoln gave the tasting. We had a cigar aficionado there, you know, showing you how to smoke a cigar and then we shopped and it was wildly successful. So in marketing, because I was in marketing for so long, we'd be waving the flag saying there are all kinds of women out there that want to be part of our franchise, but marketing dollars or marketing dollars, and the demographic skewed always to the mail. And it was just really never took off. So when I started my own company, and there's a long way of explaining it, but when I started my own company, I said I'm gonna start my own damn thing. And so with bourbon women, I did focus groups across Kentucky, and I grabbed some really great friends and then in over Manhattan's, we said, you know, let's, let's test the market. Let's test these women. Let's see if they'd be enthusiastic about creating a platform a conversation. So we did the focus groups, I got all my research together, and I went to go see the one man in this industry who would tell me the truth. And that was Bill Samuels, and I sat down with Bill Samuels, and I said, Bill, I have an idea. And he was always great about listening to me, he truly was, even though I worked for Woodford for years, I was in my own company. He didn't have time, you know, to talk to people like me. But I sat and I showed him all the things that we did with focus groups, and he was like, You know what, I think you've got something here. He was the one I used the word earlier conversation. He was the one that said, Peggy, you're starting a conversation. That's what you gotta do, you're gonna start a conversation with these women. So that gave me all the power I needed to know that it must be something there. So we did an inaugural event at the governor's mansion. Fred was in attendance and you should tell that story actually. 46:53 Speech 46:53 Well, when when we gave the speech and in the catalysts for wisdom women. Okay, so 47:00 yeah. So when she, when she had came up with this, this idea to do bourbon women, she one of the things that she would talk about was like women were some of the early distillers and they were always a part of the industry. And kinda you know, how it is when, you know, kind of my calling card, especially at that time, was to find, you know, kind of call people out a little bit. And I was looking into that. It's like, when I saw that when she told me that all right, I'd saw it. I said, That's not true. You know that, you know, no one's ever written about this. There's never been any, any ads. Like I was like, surely if there's this is true, then brands would be all over you, we'd have all kinds of brands named after women. And I started looking at she was right. And not only was he right, I found women that the brands didn't even know about. And so I said, not only is this awesome, I have a book here. And so that was kind of the catalyst for what became whiskey women. And really at that book more than anything propelled my career to where I am now. But it all We joking, I 48:06 just want to say I haven't made a dime off that book. I don't have commission I don't have I don't have title. I don't have anything. movie rights. I don't have anything maybe 48:16 maybe Oscar Oh, like playing the NBA or something. 48:20 Oscars Fred son, by the way, it's my godmother. It's probably gonna be five, six. 48:24 Yeah. Likely, let's see can dribble Really? 48:26 Yeah. Well, the anomaly. 48:29 Beauty of that whole story, though, is that Fred was unlocking something that he couldn't believe no one had. And so I was unlocking something that I knew needed to be unlocked. Yeah. 48:40 And no, that was in that moment, that that's like, you know, you look back on life. And you know, there's probably a dozen moments where you're like, that will always stand out. And that was one of them. And to be honest with you, if you did not run with that, you know, I because now what Berber women was the first but now they're probably we 30 women centric whiskey groups. Sure. 49:03 National. Absolutely. 49:05 And it started with you. 49:07 Thank you. I appreciate that. We're really proud of the fact we were the first female consumer group to talk to the industry. And now we're in six cities formally. We have thousands of women across the United States that attend we've done over 200 events, if you can believe. And then we have our annual what we call sip podium, si p symposium 200. Women came in from 23 states this year to Kentucky to go on excursions, learn about whiskey, bourbon, the culture and heritage that surrounds our great state. And it's been I don't know how else to say it. It's more than networking. It's more than educating, which is what we stand about. But it's empowering. And these women come together from all over they've never met each other and the camaraderie and that's why I always say, bourbon brings us together. Yeah, it's a universal welcome. And bourbon women's not a demographic. We're a psychographic. You know, it's these women are love soft adventure. They're curious. They have bravado, confidence, a lot of them are really just professional women who want to have a little bit of an escape, you know, from the normal business life. It's been probably I would say one of the best things I've ever done in my career. 50:26 One of the things to Kenny that she's that they're doing is that they are getting data from their, from their members and what they released some data recently about where they like to go well, on the bourbon trail, right. And that was stunning to me. He was like, 50:43 Yeah, what do you think about that? I was 50:45 shocked. It was it will. So it was Maker's Mark and Buffalo Trace, they were kind of neck and neck. Those are the two that I always recommend. But then after that was like, who wasn't on there that shocked me like we didn't see us. That's a Weller. You know, we do didn't really see any of the craft brands. Woodford had a small pie, small piece of the pie. It was it was very stunning to me, like what was appealing to bourbon women. From a tourist perspective? Well, 51:12 I'm glad you brought that up. Because one of the things we do do is pride ourselves on some of our research. And what we're trying to do is kind of debunk the myth to the industry. This is part of our mission that you have to pink, a whiskey for a woman to like it. And so what we found universally, whenever we do tastings with the women, or whenever we're at an event, and we're doing surveys or blind tastings, they undoubtedly choose the spicier, more robust, and higher proof bourbon is a 51:45 memory serves. Booker's almost always wins these things. Yes, 51:49 yes. And also, heaven Hill did one more the Elijah Craig, barrel strength, oneness. So that's part that's really that's information that helps the industry because again, you don't have to dumb it down for women. They like it like you like it. 52:05 So as long as Jim Beam and Heaven, Hell are listening, you figured out a new target for these brands, you know, 52:09 our cohorts coming 52:11 along? We're seeing more, 52:14 or any our co host Ryan, you know, he like he's not here, but he he secretly likes flavored whiskey. So I don't think he would want the brands to listen to that part. 52:25 The other question I kind of wanted to roll with this as well is, you know, we've talked to groups about how they start. bourbon societies and stuff like that talk about what the the growth was here. And was it? Was it small growth at first, did you plateau? In the past six months? Have you seen a hockey stick? Kind of what did this look for 52:47 bourbon women? Yes, I would say we shot off like a rocket when we first began. And then just like when you're selling whiskey, it's easy to get into distribution. But then you need pull through or retention, you know, you need that second order. And because we were in Kentucky, I mean, it shot up. But until we went outside the borders of Kentucky we plateaued a little bit. And then once Indianapolis came on, you know, Tennessee, DC, Chicago, in these other cities wanted to be part of this. And that was the unexpected. I never designed bourbon women to be something that we make $1 off of. I never designed bourbon women to really be a national organization. It was it really wasn't there for me at that time. The women spoke to us, the women demanded it. And we listened. And we we stepped up and we said, okay, we're going beyond the borders of Kentucky. And that's when we really took off. 53:48 How are you marketing it nowadays? 53:51 Well, nowadays, of course, largely through the internet, largely through our website, invitations. We have branch ambassadors in each of those cities that I mentioned that are creating events for women and excursions that they can go on. So that's a big piece of it 54:06 are using like meetup com or something. 54:08 We we do event bright we do. You know, it might be what we call meet needs, which are just real simple meet at a bar and have some cocktails together just to enjoy camaraderie. Or it might be a really formal event. You know, 54:21 you said camaraderie, they're looking to make new friends in a new city. So So kind of what is that? What is that profile nationality is 54:28 the the freshest information I have is just us coming off a symposium in August. And it really took me back because the women I were meeting, they'd been to the last five symposiums and they keep coming back and coming back. But this time, for example, we had a woman that brought her five nieces, you know, all female nieces that were 21. And over. And they made an excursion of it. You know, there was an aunt, or I'm sorry, a mother, who brought her her mother and grandmother to this event. We have a mother that it brings the daughter who just turned 21 we have women's weekends, where a bunch of girlfriends are getting together, and they want to go away. And we're the tickets. So we're seeing all kinds single married, Grandma, you know, young 21, who just got her her, you know, driver's licenses says she can drink now. So all of those things, all of those things, it's a combination. 55:24 So it was there. Is there one that kind of fits more the bill than the other? Or is it just 55:29 say that, but we're all across the board. We are all across the board in age, we're all across the board. geographically. We're all across the board from mother, grandmother daughter. And, and I love it. I think that's that to me, said, this is how women come together. 55:48 Are you trying to do something that's that's unique as well just for just for an all female audience versus something that would just be for a general bourbon meetup? 55:56 Well, what's so interesting to me is more and more we're seeing and more men come to our events, because they think we do very buttoned up events and a very deep in the education, which is part of what we do, and we're proud of. So we're seeing more and more men, so men can come to it. But as far as the camaraderie of the women who are coming, it's the it's what they want it they get as much as they want, how they want it. 56:24 So I kind of want also rewind a little bit to some of the had some questions that were lined up from some of our listeners about distillery experiences and stuff like that some things that that they kind of wanted to know. Sure. And in one of them was kind of thinking about, what do you really feel that visitors are looking to get away from an experience there? Like you mentioned earlier, that they want to come away with some some vivid memory? Like, what, what else? Is there something that is? Maybe it's physical, maybe it is intangible? What else do you think is missing there? 56:57 Well, I you know, I've been in hospitality for 30 years. And when you really boil down hospitality, it all goes back to human needs. You know, everyone wants to be heard or listen to or feel appreciated or feel special. Those are human needs. And so to your question, you know, I think aside from saying I had a great experience, when they meet a tour guide that treated them a little bit differently. That's a great memory, 57:25 or they Eddie Johnson's the best ready 57:26 Johnson is magic. I mean, he's magic. That's what he does. So well, I don't care what level of person he meets, where they're from, what they look like Freddy Johnson's gonna make you feel like you're the only person in the world? 57:41 Do you think he could probably just go out and start consulting? 57:44 I don't think you can. I don't think he can teach what he has. 57:48 It's really an art. Yeah, it really is as much as we do customer service training at different distilleries, and it's an art. And I can almost tell the people who have it or don't after doing it this long, but to me, it's about human need, and making you feel like you're the only person in the room. And that's really what so many of our master distillers have done over there like Jim or Jimmy Russell, to me, I call him the gentleman distiller. He was always in Fred and I just did bourbon and beyond, you're on stage with us for the Jimmy Russell tribute. And that's what I quoted was, he had that magic about him, that there'd be 1000 people in the room. But he was only about you at that moment. So when you ask that question, what's the consumer looking for? What's the tourists looking for? They're looking for a special moment where they were recognized, or they had fun with you and being part of somebody's memory, their entire memory of all the vacations they've gone on? You know, that's a real honor. So that's my philosophy of hospitality is to never forget your part as you're part of a family's memory for the rest of their life. 58:55 I think that's accurate for probably 99.9% of them. But then there's the crowd the old bourbon geeks, 59:03 yeah, 59:04 there are. They're out there. What are you? How do you? How do you prepare your staffs for, for the guy who knows everything and won't hear it otherwise? 59:14 Well, the only way that you can deal with what I call a difficult person, and I see the sometimes in the tastings, I do, I'm sure you do. And you do. There's always one in the crowd. 59:26 There, they're always old ladies, for me, like I always have an old lady, lady bourbon has to be from Kentucky. 59:37 Well, first of all, my advice always to defuse the situation. Because usually when you have a difficult person, they love being in the spotlight. And they want to draw attention to themselves. So you have to kind of diffuse that person, like pull them aside and say, oh, let's have this conversation over here and get them away from the crowd. You know, or Oh, great question. Do you mind if when we're on break, you know, we we asked, we all answer that in just a little bit. Because when you defuse it and pull it away and kind of steal the thunder, it definitely helps. definitely helps. 1:00:09 One thing I don't think we did touch on that we need to before we wrap it up is about the the kind of how you pioneered the the bourbon trail as well. Oh, okay. Right. Yes, we definitely need to kind of talk about that be what the original process was the idea? Who did you say something to I heard it first, it was just a brochure like, 1:00:29 Oh, it was definitely just a brochure. But what's really a funny story, and it was more out of I think, trying to do our job, then it was great marketing, creative minds. There were two women in the industry. That one worked at Maker's Mark door, our, let's see, Don anally. And then Doris Calhoun worked at Jim Beam. And we were all visitors, center directors, I was at Woodford, and we were friends because and that's a great thing about our industry to even though we were competitors, we were also friends, we really enjoyed each other's company, we would travel to tourism shows, and we would drink each other's bourbon, you know, and taste each other's bourbon, and we just had fun together. But we were all in the same boat, we had to bring people to the visitor center. And so we start talking about it. And we said, you know, people are going to see you and they're going to see you and they're going to see me wonder if we did some kind of, you know, cross marketing, that these visitors could come to all of our facility and we mark it all together, you know, in a way that it's kind of a road trip. So that being said, So Daniel, who I don't know if you know that name or not Katie, he was the Eric Gregory of Katie a at the time. And we took it to him and said, Hey, why don't we bring all the distilleries together and put it in a brochure and market it so that, you know people have a choice to go everywhere. And maybe we'd save some money on marketing, and maybe we would get more traffic. And so over a million stops later, as reported, this past year, a million over a million stops on the on the bourbon trail. And I'm very, very proud of that. And Eric Gregory, in my opinion, when he came on board really brought the bourbon trail to life, and put it in a marketing, highlight and importance and priority. So that our infrastructure that all of our distilleries are investing in would pay off. And it's worked. And it's worked. So yeah, so I can't take credit, there was me that it was a small team of women. 1:02:33 How cool is that to say like, you were part of the team that spearheaded the bourbon trail, what is now probably the the most successful tourist 1:02:42 strategy in Kentucky. 1:02:44 Oh, easily. I mean, it's it goes hand in hand with with wine country. Yeah. 1:02:49 And again, I will say, I have not gotten a commission, or anything. we debated back to something's happening here. We'll get you a plaque. Oh, no, thanks, Kevin. I'm 1:03:00 getting something out of these visitor experiences. 1:03:04 People should have taken a penny from every transaction at every distillery and then you would be retired forever. It was, you know, 1:03:09 really, at the end of the day, when I think of the industry and how great it's been to me and the legacy that I want to leave. You know, these are the types of stories that I hope people will say, you know, and I hope I'm not finished. I think there's more to come. I got more 1:03:25 in me where we're starting to see the next wave of Peggy know, Stevens, and that's the writer. She's she wrote me some time ago and said, I'm going to be your best rider before it's all over. And competitive. I said, I said, All right. And her stories have been fantastic. Well, fantastic. 1:03:47 I appreciate that. I do have one more question about this bourbon trail map. How many were there on there when the first one was released? I believe seven. 1:03:54 And what do we have now? 23. Plus, 1:03:57 was Buffalo Trace on 1:03:59 he was called ancient age. Also agent at Buffalo Trace was on there. They were called ancient age 1:

Whiskey making, when done right, is all about the process of capturing time in a barrel, then a bottle. But that doesn’t mean there’s not room to play around with that process from time to time. In this episode of Around the Barrel, Assistant Master Distiller Chris Fletcher sheds some light on how Jack Daniel’s continues to innovate at 153 years, the ongoing work of the brand’s Master Taster panel, and the line of whiskeys resulting from that work – the Tennessee Tasters series.

Steve and Jeremy interview Jackie Zykan, Master Taster of Old Forester to talk about Old Forester’s new rye whiskey offering. Today’s show was sponsored by the ABV Network’s Patreon Campaign (patreon.com/theabvnetwork), Stovepipe Soaps (etsy.com/shop/stovepipesoaps) and the 2019 New Orleans Bourbon Festival. Get your tickets at: neworleansbourbonfestival.com. The Bourbon Daily intro music (Welcome to the Show) and outro music (That’s A Wrap) are both by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Check us out at: abvnetwork.com. Join the ABV Network Revolution by adding #ABVNetworkCrew to your profile on social media.

The Whiskey Row series of Old Forester represent pivotal dates in history for the brand. Deciding how to make them coincide with flavor profiles takes a Master Taster. Jackie Zykan returns to the show as we discuss sensory training and how to sniff out binders at our local stores before diving into the Whiskey Row series and trying 1910 Old Fine Whiskey. We wrap up the show talking about President's Choice and if dusties inspire or not. Show Partners: If you love Eagle Rare Bourbon, go support the causes they stand for at Eagle Rare Life to vote for the 2019 nominees that most inspire you. Voting ends December 5 Barrell Craft Spirits blends cask strength, high quality spirits to explore the effects of different distillation methods, barrels and aging environments. The Duo glass is the most versatile whiskey and cocktail glass around. Use code ‘pursuit’ to get 15% off your order and free shipping at agedandore.com Show Notes: Do you have a new title now? Talk about the sensory training What’s different about going through this process versus just drinking bourbon everyday? What tips can you give to someone about learning to nose? How do you know when a barrel ready to be pulled? How much time are you spending at the distillery vs bottling vs anywhere else for tasting? Talk about why you dilute so low for tasting? So you have this really cool story about Old Forester 86 and 100 history Talk about the Whiskey Row series The dates all mean something What was the idea to make permanent line extensions instead of doing the money grab on limited releases? So in a time when people say there is a bourbon shortage, what's your response to that? Talk about 1910 and what happened that year Do you pay attention to the Facebook and bourbon forums out there? Why not have a 2014 series to commemorate the new distillery? Talk about President's Choice and your integral part in it What’s your ideal bourbon profile? What’s the oldest Brown-Forman product you’ve tried?

In honor of the Kentucky Derby tomorrow, I spoke with ELIZABETH MCCALL, the newly named ASSISTANT MASTER DISTILLER at the "Official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby" - WOODFORD RESERVE. We spoke about her trajectory from psychology student to sensory scientist and Master Taster, to one of the youngest female distillers in the country. This week's cocktail is, of course, the Mint Julep, made with Woodford Reserve Bourbon.  Mint Julep2 oz Woodford Reserve Bourbon ½ oz Simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water)3 Fresh mint leaves Crushed Ice Rub the fresh mint inside the glass to express the oils. In the same glass, add simple syrup, bourbon, and half a glass of crushed ice. Stir well. Add more ice and garnish with the rest of the mint. links:  Woodford Reserve Elizabeth McCall's Instagram   Woodford Reserve's Social Links: Instagram Facebook Twitter   Bit by a Fox: blog: http://bitbyafox.com instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitbyafox/ facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BitByAFox/ twitter: https://twitter.com/bitbyafox   music: https://www.humanworldwide.com

Starting this month, once-a-month, the Bettys will feature a woman in bourbon… this month the spotlight is on Jackie Zykan, Master Taster for Old Forester – As always, there is news, education and drinking on the show! Your Bettys are: Renée Howe of The Bourbon Daily, Barbara Hirsch of the New Orleans Bourbon Festival (nobourbonfestival.com) & Katie Garrett of the Old Hickory Whiskey Bar (oldhickorywhiskeybar.com). Today's show was sponsored by Steve Akley's book, Mules and More (https://goo.gl/EN3wEj) and by Flaviar, the online whiskey club for the explorer at heart (https://flaviar.com). Check us out at: abvnetwork.com. Join the ABV Network Revolution by adding #ABVNetworkCrew to your profile on social media.

Today on the show, Steve and Jeremy interview one of their best friends in the bourbon business, St. Louis’-own, Jackie Zykan. Be sure to listen to the bonus content at the end of the show with Evan Haskill reading a back label from a featured bottle of bourbon. Today’s show was sponsored by Steve Akley’s book, Mules and More (https://goo.gl/EN3wEj). The Bourbon Show music (Whiskey on the Mississippi) is by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Check us out at: abvnetwork.com. Join the ABV Network Revolution by adding #ABVNetworkCrew to your profile in social media.

Elizabeth McCall is a whiskey master taster, sensory scientist and Kentucky native. This week she sits down with Gourmet Traveller’s Pat Nourse and a few bottles of Woodford Reserve.

Steve, Bourbon Girl and Jeremy Schell (filling in for Evan) talk to Jackie Zykan of Old Forester on the day she was promoted to the new position of Master Taster. Jackie discusses how she went to work for Old Forester, all the great innovations the company has going on as well as the future direction for the brand. The Bourbon Daily intro music (Welcome to the Show) and outro music (That’s A Wrap) are both by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).

Elizabeth McCall, Sensory Scientist and Master Taster at Brown-Forman, joins the show to share what happens behind the white curtain and how people with a psychologist degree are recruited into bourbon. Talk about your past, growing up and your education What got you into brown spirits Did you have family influences or connections to the spirits industry? So I have to be honest, we have done the rounds with Master Distillers and they always give credit to people like you, but lets get an idea of your day to day responsibilities What else happens in the lab? we need to give our listeners an idea of what’s happening behind the curtain so-to-speak So why psychologists for being sensory scientists? go deeper there What’s the most important sense when it comes to making a product consistent? What does catching a cold have on the influence of the bourbon your doing that day? or do you have an addiction to Afrin nasal decongestant? What sort of training goes into becoming a master taster? From Matt Fisher on Facebook: Super nerdy and specific. With most bourbon drinkers using Glencairn glasses at home, why does the distillery use Copita Nosing glasses vs the Glencairn? Looking for an expert opinion of why they use the Copita. I watched part of your presentation of change and you gave a good explanation of why people mix their bourbon with coke, explain that Talk about your other passion of horses