The Soul of Star Hill Farm: Amanda Humphrey on Bourbon's Living Legacy & Makers Mark

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Amanda Humphrey takes us behind the scenes at Star Hill Farm, home of Maker's Mark, where tradition meets innovation across 1,100 acres of working farmland. We explore how this iconic bourbon brand is pioneering sustainable practices while maintaining their founder's vision through innovative wood-finishing techniques and an uncompromising commitment to flavor.

• Amanda's journey from London bartender to Maker's Mark advocacy and experience leader
• The importance of terroir in bourbon and how 86% of ingredients come from the local area
• Using 55 beehives, Wagyu cattle, and a truffle-hunting dog to create a self-sustaining farm
• How the Heritage Collection and wood-finishing series evolved from Maker's classic profile
• The significance of the Maker's Mark stamp and its connection to pewter craftsmanship
• Creating the world's first genetically sequenced oak tree to preserve American white oak
• Seven unique Star Hill Farm experiences beyond the traditional distillery tour
• Women's growing leadership presence throughout the bourbon industry

Visit makermark.com to explore the immersive experiences at Star Hill Farm and discover their latest wood-finishing releases.

Step onto the hallowed grounds of Star Hill Farm with us as Amanda Humphrey reveals the magic behind Maker's Mark's 1,100-acre whiskey wonderland. From the moment we sit at the founders' original kitchen table—where the iconic bourbon was first conceived through bread recipes—we're immersed in a world where tradition and innovation dance together in perfect harmony.

Amanda's journey from London bartender to Maker's Mark advocate embodies the global appeal of this distinctly Kentucky brand. Her passion for the distillery's sustainable practices illuminates how Maker's Mark has evolved from a single expression to a portfolio that honors its wheated bourbon DNA while exploring new dimensions of flavor through wood science.

What sets Star Hill Farm apart isn't just what goes into the bottle—it's the holistic ecosystem they've created. With 55 bee boxes producing honey for cocktails, Katahdin sheep maintaining the soil, a Wagyu cattle program finished on spent grain, and even a truffle-hunting Lagotto dog named Star, this is bourbon production reimagined as regenerative agriculture. "Bourbon is an agricultural product, it's nature distilled," Amanda explains, revealing how 86% of ingredients consumed on-site come from the immediate area.

Perhaps most remarkable is Maker's Mark's 200-year vision for environmental stewardship. They've established the world's largest white oak research forest and created the first genetically sequenced American white oak tree in history—a living library of 540 million pairs of DNA that will inform conservation efforts for generations to come.

We taste through their latest innovations, including the just-about-to-be-released Keeper's Release from their wood-finishing series, which showcases the expertise of their warehouse team with notes of honey, butterscotch, and cinnamon French toast. Yet even as they innovate, that distinctive Maker's Mark profile remains the north star.

Whether you're a bourbon aficionado or simply curious about sustainable spirits production, this episode offers a fascinating glimpse into how one of America's most beloved bourbon brands is creating flavors rooted in place while saf

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Make it and he's like , oh okay.

Speaker 3 (00:02):
The Midwest spirit was founded in 2008, focusing on
elevating the distinct flavorsof the Ohio River Valley.

Speaker 4 (00:09):
Their spirits, honor their roots and reflect their
originality as makers, theirintegrity as a producer and
their passion for craftiness andtheir strength and their
discernment reflects their story.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
From the start with unique and dry purpose.
And also Ryan, the Michelonbrand, is easy to sip.

Speaker 5 (00:34):
It might be a grain to glass experience but I like
to think of it as uncut andunfiltered from their family to
yours, the place that I go, Notthat I couldn't make it at home,
but you know We'll be rightback.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
All right, welcome back to another podcast of the
Scotchy Bourbon Boys.
This is a special podcast.
I'm excited about this.
We are here with AmandaHumphries.
Nice to have you here.

Speaker 4 (02:08):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
And you describe what you do.

Speaker 4 (02:13):
Oh, that's always tricky, I suppose in a nutshell.
So I look after the advocacyand experiences for Star Hill
Farm, home of Maker's Mark, hillFarm home of Maker's Mark.
So I'm looking at how we takeStar Hill Farm out into market
globally and then guestexperiences down here at the
distillery in a nutshell, that'sawesome and it's great to be

(02:35):
here.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
This is a dream podcast for us.
I mean honestly, from the start, when you just start getting
into bourbon and you come toMakers Mark, I swear to God,
that's what makes people fall inlove with bourbon.
I mean one.
It's a weeded bourbon, which isfantastic, and there's so much
caramel involved, so but but thewhole experience that you guys

(02:59):
have here of all the differenttours and all the different
things and the dipping and allthat kind of thing, of all the
different tours and all thedifferent things and the dipping
and all that kind of thing.
And then you know to do apodcast right from here, right
from this room.

Speaker 4 (03:09):
You're in the heritage room at the moment, so
actually this table that we'resat on was our founder's table
in their kitchen at home, wherethey concepted the idea at the
beginning of.
Maker's Mark so this is thetable.
They were making loads of breadat different percentages of
cereals and grains.
They chose that bread recipewith the flavor of mouthfeel

(03:31):
that they translated into theirwhiskey recipe, saving
themselves a lot of money and alot of time.
So yeah, we are in the room ofhistory and heritage at the
moment.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yeah, and it's amazing, just all the stuff on
the walls and everything behindus, a great backdrop that we
have.
And we also have Roxy today andwe have CT and we got Walker
not walking today, that's forsure.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
He's dumb, but he's come on, I'm a hobble today
Hobble.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
So you know I always like to ask some questions like
how did you come to the job?
You know, how did?

Speaker 4 (04:13):
you fall in love with Maker's Mark.
Great question, becauseeverybody's got their Maker's
Mark story on how they wereintroduced to the brand.
Mine started off in London.
You can probably tell that I'mnot originally from around these
parts, so I moved over herefour years ago.
But I was the Maker's Markdiplomat in London, launched a
private select program overthere their trade engagement
programs and then helped themlaunch private select in

(04:36):
Singapore and some otherinternational markets.
But before that I was a WorldWhiskey Portfolio Ambassador, so
looking after Scots, american,japanese and Irish whiskeys.
And Jane Bowie, who was our oldhead of innovation, she was in
London doing a training sessionfor my bar team at Paramount and

(04:56):
I was like who is this fiercewoman?
Like the history and heritageof the brand just got me really
excited and from that moment Ijust knew that I wanted to not
only work in the spiritsindustry the other side of the
bar but specifically on Maker'sMark.
And now I'm here working at thedistillery.
So yeah, managing bars andrestaurants in London private

(05:17):
members clubs for a number ofyears before I moved moved to
this side well, that is someskill, yes, so you know.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
And how often do you have to um draw upon what you
learned about managing barsaround that side?
I mean, I I can only imagineit's just a such a useful skill
that you picked up doing that.

Speaker 4 (05:37):
It's that hospitality touch that we've transferred
down here to the distillery umdrinksinks.
So I mean I set up the drinksprogram and education program
down here before I moved on toStar Hill Farm.
So yeah, my background inspirits and like cocktails has
really done me well down here.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
So you were responsible for that
old-fashioned.
They were serving up there withthe aging, with the rate.

Speaker 4 (06:00):
So actually I can't take credit for that.
That was our senior drinker.

Speaker 6 (06:03):
You had the chance.

Speaker 4 (06:08):
That was amazing.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
Hopefully you don't take responsibility for any made
with radishes or celery.

Speaker 4 (06:15):
No, that's not on my area.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
That would be good with bourbon.
You've got to add cheese tothat.

Speaker 4 (06:22):
What I love about the bars at the distillery and the
drinks program is we're as madas a box of frogs down here, but
it pushes flavor boundaries.
86% of what you eat and drinkdown here is going to be of the
place.
So we've got innovationproduction gardens on site that
we're growing produce for thecocktails.
We've got Wagyu cows on site,450 Katahdin sheep for livestock

(06:48):
grazing and soil health, butthey taste delicious at the
restaurant farm to table as well.
Did you all see the bee boxesas you came?

Speaker 3 (06:55):
in.

Speaker 6 (06:56):
Yes, I was like look at those bees.

Speaker 4 (06:57):
We've got about 55 bee boxes in Canton, so near
enough to turn into a smallcommercial honey producer at
this point, and you're probablythinking why have you got so
many bee boxes on site for abourbon?

Speaker 3 (07:07):
brand.
Why not the easiest way todescribe it?

Speaker 4 (07:10):
is.
Bourbon is an agriculturalproduct, it's nature distilled.
So if we're not good stewardsof our land, maintaining these
health and well-being, systemswe're not going to be down there
in 200 years' time.
And then, rather than shippingsugars in from all other parts
of the world, what can we growon site?
And, if we need to, we canmimic flavors of other sugars,
so not having to unnecessarilyship in sugars from the

(07:31):
Caribbean and maple from Canadawe can actually use our honey
for cocktails.
We can put finishing staves intothe honey and it mimics brown
sugar, that texture, thegrittiness it gives you.
So yeah, 86% is a really randomnumber.
You're probably thinking why86%?
86% of the grains going intoyour whiskey recipe are from
this local radius.

(07:52):
So where we're sitting now, redwinter wheat for the whiskey
recipe comes within a 30-mileradius.
And then you've got the corncomes within a 60-mile radius of
where we're standing and wewant the same for what you're
eating and drinking down here.

Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah, radius of where we're standing and we want the
same for what you're eating anddrinking down here.
Yeah, when you drive around youcan you see the grain silos and
the fields and everything, andit's just it.
You know it is kentucky andyou're used, but still you can
see them.
You've got such a it's amassive operation, put it that
way and you know, and it's toget, get here is quite the feat,
you know, it's just you don'tknow what road's going to be
closed on what day, but you guysare in the middle.

(08:33):
You definitely are in themiddle of, you know, the
heartland of Kentucky.

Speaker 4 (08:38):
Yeah, it's quite a drive to get here.
As you say, we take the backroad, which is a mountain, which
is even gnarlier.
But yeah it opens out into thisbeautiful 1,100 acre working
farm distillery and, yes, youhave to drive into the middle of
nowhere, but it means that wecan grow out the property, be as
self-sufficient as possible andreally control the pursuit and

(08:58):
sources of flavor down here atthe farm.

Speaker 6 (09:00):
Yeah, so the experience is not just suburban
and makers mark grounds, it'sthe whole kentucky experience
too the landscape, the flavors,the everything here, the air,
the soil, the water, allcontributes to the flavors of
all of the products.

Speaker 4 (09:16):
Funny fact when bill and margie, our founders,
purchased this property.
They purchased for the bargainprice of 35 000.
That was back in 1953 and wesit in just over 1100 acres and
counting now because we've beensecretly not so secretly growing
300 acres of our own stategrains to the back of the
distillery for the last seven oreight years, selfishly we were

(09:39):
going.
Uh, exploration of flavor.
So does terroir matter inwhiskey, raw material, mother
Nature being a flavor maker?
So we started to dive intosources and flavor that we can
get from our grains, stumbledupon regenerative agriculture as
we went along this sort offlavor journey.
But we're no till across the1100 acres using cover crops for

(10:03):
soil armor and soil nutrientsand then putting our Katahdin
sheep onto those grain00 acres,using cover crops for soil armor
and soil nutrients, and thenputting our qatardan sheep onto
those grain fields after ourcover crops to hold them.
So how are we looking atfarming practices down here,
both with whiskey and then allthe produce?
How you treat your soils isgoing to directly correlate into
flavor and nutrients coming outof your product well, and then
also I mean the you know thescience of what you're doing.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
You're sharing, I know, because that's what people
, what all the distilleriesyou're sharing that knowledge
throughout so that other peopleyou're sharing what you learn,
right.

Speaker 4 (10:36):
Exactly Rising tides.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
Let's take the whole industry.
We're not perfect.

Speaker 4 (10:40):
We're just trying to be a little bit better on what
we're doing day on day.
But yeah, we've got an opendoor policy.
Other industries, competitorbrands want to come down here,
or sort of work to become likebourbon that betters the world.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
Then yeah, we're all for that.
Yeah, yeah, for sure With.

Speaker 6 (11:01):
oh, I had a question and it was gone.

Speaker 2 (11:03):
You'll come back, you'll come back, you'll come
back.
So what's an average day foryou like?
There's no average day.

Speaker 4 (11:12):
I'd say Things like podcasts, but no day to day, I'm
taking our sort of PR pressVIPs onto the farm to talk about
sources of flavor and ourhigher purpose initiatives.

Speaker 3 (11:27):
I'm currently building out a boring corporate
deck at the moment, actuallyjust to sort of train the
trainer and all of our internaltour teams, so it varies.

Speaker 4 (11:36):
I'm also managing and looking after our truffle dog,
star, so he's owned by Maker'sMark works Monday through Friday
till 5, but he I'm his nannyand his truffle trainer, so he
comes home with me at night andat weekends.
His KPIs are be a good boy,find truffles and he's nailing
both of those things what kindof dog?
He's a Lagoto, so one of theoldest dog breeds in the world.

(11:58):
Portuguese water retrieverswere bred from them.
They started to phase out thetruffle pigs in Italy, because
the pig would eat half thetruffles before the truffle
hunter would get rid of them.

Speaker 6 (12:07):
They would eat them on their way to feed them.

Speaker 4 (12:09):
Yeah, exactly they started to phase in this water
retriever, Legoto.
So yeah, he's from Italiandescent and he can find native
wild truffles across the 1,100acre campus Wow.
Including the Appalachiantruffle and then one, wow,

(12:40):
salted butter in a pan.
Grate in all those nativetruffles, fat wash, truffle
butter, bourbon forBoulevardia's old fashions on
site during the season.

Speaker 3 (12:49):
Are you kidding me.

Speaker 5 (12:52):
After all that, you think she was kidding you.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
I'm here to think I'm just working on bacon fat wash
old fashions.

Speaker 6 (12:57):
Right, truffle butter .
Now you just.
It's a whole different level.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
My dog's only going to go get Birds, birds.
I got to find I got to make himgo after some truffles.

Speaker 4 (13:09):
We'll have to go hunting.
Bring him down.
Here.
You can find chihuahuas thattruffle hunt which like.
So what breed of dog have yougot?

Speaker 1 (13:16):
He is a.
Oh jeez, why is my brain nowBlue tycoon hound?
Yeah, we can run in truffles inno time.
He'll run a lot.
I don't know that truffles willbe the thing, but he'll be
everywhere.

Speaker 4 (13:29):
Some of the other stuff we're working on.

Speaker 2 (13:31):
I think he's one of the biggest Blue Tycoon Hunts
I've ever seen in my life.
He's crazy.

Speaker 4 (13:36):
I can't wait to meet him, bring him down, let's watch
the podcast he's on.
Yeah, he'll come, come on.

Speaker 2 (13:40):
Leave me alone and he is a howler man, it's just.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
We started and he had saw something out the window
and he just started to, justwhen the theme song was playing.

Speaker 4 (13:54):
Yeah something like he was singing all along.

Speaker 2 (13:56):
It was perfect.
It was perfect timing.

Speaker 4 (13:57):
We're going to have to go back and watch that one.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
No, I lose my mind.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
So you're doing all the unique things for the farm,
and then you have the restaurantand you didn't.
And also you have all thedifferent tastings and you're
like you just described what youdo with the truffles and
everything.
But when I first started this,like you know, maker's mark was
just maker's mark and, and everyin one of the things was people
had been tasting stuff that hadaged longer, but maker's mark

(14:23):
was always putting out justMaker's Mark.
But since 2017, 18, when thatwas the case, you guys have
evolved into so much more.
There's a lot, although therecipe's the same across, but
you guys have done so much.

Speaker 4 (14:39):
Talk about that, yeah , so with classic Maker's Mark
in our core range.
It's really about us protectingthat DNA of the founder's
vision.
So anything that's going toaffect that DNA profile of
makers at heart, then we'restill going to stick to those
real traditional methods thatwe've been using since the
beginning.
So remember that 70% corn, 16%red winter wheat and 14% barley

(15:01):
is the only mash bill coming outof this distillery.
14% barley is the only mashbill coming out of this
distillery.
So all the nuances that you seein innovation coming out of
makers the first thing is proofis an avenue for flavor, as you
guys all know.
So depending on the proof ofwhat you're drinking, makers
mark wise you're going to havenuances in flavor and mouthfeel
coming through.
But really we went fromcreating that one product to

(15:21):
fast forward down the road, likeyou talked about.
And really innovation comingout of makers mark moving
forward is our cellar and ourwood finishing series.
So oak, how you cook it, howlong you cook it for and the
temperature you're cooking it at, you're going to start to
release different flavorcompounds at different points.
So that's the sort of journeythat we've been on, and

(15:42):
innovation really started with46 and we've seen that, like
with uh.

Speaker 1 (15:46):
Seller we were talking about it before you know
.

Speaker 4 (15:47):
Seller 23 to 24 you would think, okay, they're gonna
, it's gonna be the same and itcame out and everybody was wow,
they're very different, you knowthey, they do not just hit the
same exact notes yeah, slightlydifferent age statements, yeah,
slightly different proof, and itjust gives you a whole new
aspect on it well, there's yeahand everything that I was
hearing before seller age.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
And that's one thing, though, I felt, when you guys
released seller age, that was sospecial because you, you got
the age on it and it was in andthen you had it was like a
secondary thing into the sellerand it was just, uh, something
that everybody had been talkingabout, that had maybe tasted it
with Bill or had been in withRob or whatever.

(16:30):
And then they, when theyreleased it, it's like nobody
was lying.

Speaker 4 (16:37):
And then here we were , like 15 years ago, we're never
going to release an H-State onbourbon.
And yeah, there we were in 2023releasing an H.

Speaker 1 (16:44):
We were, and 2023, I think, the bourbon world was
hoping you would yeah, therewere so many people that were
like oh my gosh, please bringout some old stuff, especially
fred minnow, but he was the oneyou know every year like you're
doing it and so one of the firstpeople we rang when we decided
to release that product andwe're like we're doing it, we're

(17:04):
really excited about that.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
Yes, yes, he definitely did credit Well.

Speaker 6 (17:08):
Minkage was one of my favorite bourbons early on.
Well, I love weeded bourbon,but I always thought, god, I
wonder what this would tastelike if it was 12 years old.

Speaker 4 (17:17):
And do you remember how you were introduced to
Minkage Like your Minkage Markstory?

Speaker 6 (17:25):
Do you remember the first time that you drank it?
Well, it's the first time wecame down here for our tours.
I just was.
I was like the most beautifuldistillery is Maker's Mark.
Everybody should go to Maker'sMark and just the hospitality
and watching the ladies put thelabels on and all those, and the
art I mean you don't even talkabout the art, that's here.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
Yeah, Rob Summers likes to call it the
nappification of Brazil.

Speaker 4 (17:42):
So it's not just creating delicious whiskey, but
culinary arts, education, nature, and many people don't know, or
maybe you do, that Jeff is avery accomplished artist and our
house is wall to wall with art,so maybe we'll have to
commission.

Speaker 6 (17:54):
I'm on board for that he's commissioned a piece for
the beans, so maybe same companyyou know exactly.

Speaker 4 (18:03):
So yeah, let's create some magic together, wow.

Speaker 2 (18:06):
I would definitely that would be that would be fun.

Speaker 4 (18:08):
I mean, we just loved the art installations that you
have here, and it's actuallyMargie Samuels, our founder, who
you have to thank for a lot ofwhat you see down here today,
because she didn't want thisplace to look like an industrial
distillery.
She wanted to base it on an oldVictorian village.
You can see the picture.
She really nailed the greenbone novel.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
And then fast forward to the Christmas celebration.
You know what I mean.
It is a village, you havecarolers and you sit there
walking through and then how thedistillery grows.
But it's growing within, withnot so much outside.
So, like when we first camedown here, where the stills were

(18:49):
, there was only a certainamount of stills, and now
there's exact same amounts, notnot the exact the exact same
stills, but more of them yeah,you've got three sets of them
now, so we're going to thestudio it's almost like you're
looking into a mirror, becausewe're so, you know, protective
over that founder's vision.

Speaker 4 (19:05):
You know, as we grow we don't build bigger stills,
bigger fermenters, but replicatewhat we've already got just to
sort of protect that ethos andthat flavor so I have to confess
, um, I did a blind um maker'smark.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
Uh, a while back we did it and there was um private
select, there was 46, there wascast rank maker's mark and blind
, uh, and it's.
It's funny because when you,when you take away all
preconceived notions, the onethat I picked that tasted above
all, above all, was maker's mark.

(19:42):
It was caramel and rich, andthe other ones kind of had some
little bit of this and that hecouldn't believe it.
One of them was bread pudding.
You know the private selectbread pudding, and I could tell
that's what it was, but theMaker's Mark still, and I
thought I was picking castrateor something and nope, it was
Maker's Mark.
So that kind of tells you howgood of a product that you guys

(20:04):
are working with.

Speaker 4 (20:04):
Exactly, yeah, not an H-statement bourbon, but we're
aging those liquids going intoClassic Maker's Mark.
You know no less than six aboutsix to eight-year-old whiskeys
that are going into a Maker'sMark Classic.
So it's all about quality, evenon the entry-level Maker's Mark
.

Speaker 2 (20:18):
Yeah, and then you have the Ambassador Program.
We do.

Speaker 4 (20:22):
Are you all ambassadors?
Oh, of course, the ambassadorprogram.
Are you all ambassadors Of?

Speaker 2 (20:24):
course, our barrel is eight.
It could be this year.
It's going from six to sevenand I'm going five to six, right
Because?

Speaker 6 (20:31):
I'm a year behind you , Roxy.

Speaker 4 (20:34):
we're doing the ambassador tour at the moment as
well.
So we're refreshing theambassador tour, so watch this
space, ambassadors.

Speaker 2 (20:40):
So by the time it comes in I'll be able to go on.
Maybe we'll give you a littlesort of yeah, and I'm buying
every bottle that I possibly canof that barrel.

Speaker 6 (20:48):
Our ambassadors will be as many as you let us.

Speaker 4 (20:51):
It wouldn't be this brand without our ambassadors.
Our ambassadors named our lakesactually.
So Heritage Lake is where we'repulling for your bourbon
production.
We're pulling from ourspring-fed water source, on site
put out a vote to ambassadorsto name the lakes, and that one
was named Heritage Lakes.
So thank you for your service.
That's a great name.

Speaker 6 (21:08):
That's great.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
Which is the Heritage Collection.

Speaker 4 (21:14):
Heritage Lakes.
We purchased a second lake anumber of years ago.
If we're thinking aboutcontaminations, droughts,
anything in the future, we stillwant to be pulling from our own
water source on site here.
So most sane businesses have a25-year-old business plan where
we've got a 200-year-old visiondown here.

Speaker 3 (21:30):
So we're talking about the what-ifs?

Speaker 4 (21:33):
making sure that we can be down here for future
generations to come.
Purchased a second lake andafter we got that second lake,
which we'll probably name themnow because we just called that
that main lake, the lake theynamed uh, the second lake,
samuel's lake, and then our mainlake where we're pulling for
all your bourbon to productionheritage lake so you're?

Speaker 2 (21:49):
you're like, when you're headed to there, you're
going, I'm going over theheritage, right?

Speaker 4 (21:52):
so you used to say I'm going to the main lake going
to the main lake, um, and yeah,we're pulling water samples
every morning, putting themthrough quality control testing
before we go into that day'sworth of production.
That lake's about 11 and a halfacre footprint, one of the
cleanest water sources inkentucky because we own the
whole 75 acre watershed aroundthat lake sure, so controlling
the quality of water nolivestock runoff, no soil

(22:15):
erosion.
Bring about native, warm grasses, in turn keeping as pristine as
possible.
And if you want to quit yourjobs and come and work for
makers, you can actually fishthe lake if you've got a makers
mark badge on.

Speaker 3 (22:25):
So we can go and fish for bass, carp, bluegill,
paddle fishing.

Speaker 4 (22:30):
You see some of us fishing up there.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
I didn't even know it was a bring your own pole tour
yeah.
That's the next level, rightthere.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
Did you bring your?
Oh, I forget.
Okay, your application, yeah,your application.

Speaker 3 (22:45):
No, it's online.

Speaker 2 (22:46):
Resume.

Speaker 4 (22:47):
That's what I was looking for.
Did you bring your?

Speaker 2 (22:48):
resume.

Speaker 4 (22:49):
Yeah, I'll be looking for it later.
It's in here.

Speaker 1 (22:53):
But I like the idea of a bring-your-own-pull tour
and then you have samples thatyou taste and you fish while
you're getting the views, oh,you're giving me ideas for new
experiences right now.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
Yeah, you could catch the fish and then get it cooked
.

Speaker 4 (23:07):
Yeah, a teepee by the side of the lake where you're
just grilling out, sipping onwhiskey as you're fishing.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, you just have the.
Yeah, you could just have thechef with the yeah, that's an
all-day experience.

Speaker 4 (23:18):
You don't even leave, you just stay.

Speaker 2 (23:20):
Well, if you see me post that next fish maker's mark
does go well with fish.

Speaker 4 (23:28):
Perfectly.

Speaker 1 (23:30):
So I'm interested in the Wagyu.
I'm interested Idea of cookingsome Wagyu and making a marinade
of some sort with some makers.
I think that would be.

Speaker 4 (23:40):
Yes Sounds good.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
A little marinade, maybe that honey.

Speaker 1 (23:44):
A little marinade.
Get that honey, use that in themarinade.

Speaker 4 (23:48):
We're actually growing our own sorghum on site
as well, so maybe glazingsorghum before it gets roasted.
Yeah, that would just be Reallysmall herd of Wagyu, about 8 to
16, on the pasture at any onetime just to facilitate
rotational grazing and farm totable down here.
But they are 78% Wagyu and therest of them as a mixed breed,
as Angus, purely on flavour andhow well they do in this climate

(24:09):
.
What's really funny is they'vegot a guardian and he's a donkey
called Gus Gus.

Speaker 3 (24:14):
So he actually protects our Wagyu on site.

Speaker 4 (24:17):
He's fast becoming the star of Star Hill Farm.

Speaker 6 (24:20):
But he is so protective.

Speaker 4 (24:21):
He will not let any coyotes or neighbouring farm
dogs that get loose near thatherd and actually we finish our
wagging cows off on theby-product of fermentation, the
stillage.
Unfortunately for them, there'sno alcohol in it at that point.
It's really high in protein.
They love the flavour of it.

Speaker 2 (24:36):
Yeah, I was going to say so.
You guys probably, yeah, youprobably get it all out Now do
you do?

Speaker 4 (24:43):
is the stillage wet or dry?
Ours is wet, and then we givethat to local farmers within a
30 mile radius and they can comeand pick that up to feed their
cows.
And then we'll take it to thenext level as well, which is wet
capes, and that can bedistributed a little bit further
than that 30 mile radius.

Speaker 2 (24:57):
That was at a distillery that would give out
there and it was a smallerdistillery in Lexington, and his
stillage was based off of himslapping a shovel through a
screen.
So when the cow saw thestillage the blue barrels that
he was giving and they saw itthe cows would surround the
truck and then they would do itand they would actually

(25:20):
sometimes just fall over so theyknew they were coming to the
bar.
It's funny how animals alsoparticipate in spirits.
You know berries off of ourtree we have a flowering crab
apple tree and then in November,after they've all fermented, we
get these starlings come andthey'll just sit there and eat

(25:40):
them.
And they'll be eating them andall of a sudden you'll watch one
just go boop.
That's hilarious.

Speaker 4 (25:50):
I love that.
And then you need to actuallytake your apples and turn them
into apple butter, because applebutter old-fashioned is one of
Rob Samuel's favorite cocktails.
It works incredible.
We've got our own orchard hereas well, so we make our own on
site.

Speaker 2 (25:59):
That sounds delicious .

Speaker 1 (26:02):
So many options.
So the other thing that and I'mnot very informed on this
program, but I saw it and haveseen it- but I guess it's only
four states the bottle dropprogram, so that's something
that's, is it?
Something that's new is it acouple years old?

Speaker 4 (26:21):
what, yeah, we've been running that for a number
of years now, so it it's calledthe Whiskey Drop so you can sign
up depending on what stateyou're in.
Just for legalities we drop offquarterly sort of special
releases of Maker's Mark so youget two in a pack that's just
rotational every quarter.
So people get the first dibs onsort of new releases, pairing

(26:44):
them next to existing releases.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
Are you in that?

Speaker 5 (26:47):
I'm not yet Okay.
So I'm moving to Arizona laterthis year so I may be able to
sign a policy.
Go back and check the shippingpolicies.

Speaker 1 (26:54):
Yeah, because right now I think there's four or five
states and I know.

Speaker 4 (26:57):
Kentucky and Washington DC are two of those
four.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
But, great program I mean, you know people that are
trying to get the specialreleases, the seller-aged and
again to be able to have firstchance to get stuff like that.
It's a really cool program.

Speaker 4 (27:12):
And what's really cool if you sign up for it is
our head of innovation andblending, beth Buckner.
She will do live virtualtastings where you can actually
follow along with your bottle athome and get to know that sort
of product a little bit better.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
That's innovative.

Speaker 1 (27:26):
I need a Kentucky PO box.
Yeah, you do I'll set you onedown here, get the PO box and
just put it in my PO box.
I'll be down there Friday.

Speaker 2 (27:36):
So, now that you've talked about all the different
innovations that we have here,well, what is your?
We want to taste one.
What's your favorite?

Speaker 4 (27:46):
I don't have favorites.
It depends what mood I'm in,what time of day it is.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
Okay, it's 12.24.

Speaker 4 (27:53):
Okay, so we're talking lunch bourbon now.

Speaker 2 (27:55):
Are we in a good mood ?
Yes, we're having a fantasticday there.
We go.

Speaker 4 (27:59):
No, I actually brought four of my favorites
along.
So, like children, it's reallyhard to tell my favorite or to
pick a favorite, but we're gonnarun through.
Um, the heart release, whichwas last year's wood finishing
release it was the first of aseries of five that we're going
to be releasing over the nextfive years.
Um, the old wood finishingrelease was an ode to certain

(28:22):
parts of production, whereasthis one we're really heroing
and championing the people thatmake the bourbon and that work
at the distillery so the heartrelease actually was the
distillery team.
We got them all into a room andasked them what the hell, oh,
which one is that?

Speaker 2 (28:39):
this one, that's the heart, perfect.
So that's the heart release.

Speaker 4 (28:41):
That's the heart release so this one, you know
yummy caramel.
You've got coming throughchocolate maple notes coming
through on this one.
And this was the distilleryteam that created this bourbon,
with our head of innovation,Beth.

Speaker 2 (28:55):
Wow, those are really nice glasses.

Speaker 4 (28:57):
So this one's 112 proof.
I love that noise Glug, glug,glug yeah we're picking it up.
Just pouring this all over thetable as well.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
I'm used to that.

Speaker 4 (29:10):
You know what they say made with care.
Well, we say that Made withcare, sipped with care.
So let it open out a little bitas well, because it is class.

Speaker 2 (29:17):
I have to tell you because I have to do this?
Because we have another guestor podcaster that was supposed
to be here.

Speaker 6 (29:28):
Oh, you're going to out.

Speaker 2 (29:28):
Martin.

Speaker 3 (29:29):
Oh, I'm outing him.
You're outing him on my podcast.

Speaker 2 (29:30):
So he's called Super Nash because initially early on,
whenever we needed something,he sent it up to us.
He could get us anything forthe podcast, and so eventually
he became part of the podcast.
Well, he came up yesterday withhis three brothers, so the four
of them came up, and last nightin Bardstown there happened to

(29:51):
be a brawl between him and hisbrother.

Speaker 6 (29:53):
You're not going to say a brawl, a fracas, a fracas.

Speaker 2 (29:55):
They basically cracked each other's ribs.
Now, today, they're totallyfine.
But he said, I'm kind of not inthe condition, because my eye's
black and my face is scratched.
So we're going to do a toast toSuper.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
Nash, to the Nash's, cheers to doctors and ribs and
bandages, all right.

Speaker 4 (30:24):
So yeah, this was really our distillery team.
We asked them what theirfavourite aromas were, favourite
flavours, you know, day to day,that were coming out of the
still house and we thought theywere going to be the usual
suspects that they were callingout, like your vanillas, your
baking spices.
But actually the three profilesthat kept coming up Over and
over again from our distilleryteam Was the chocolate, the

(30:47):
maple, and then the which onechocolate, maple and caramel
coming through.
I just had a brain freezer it'sactually you can.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
The nose actually picks up a little bit of the
grain, the wheat agreed, youcould get that.

Speaker 4 (31:00):
Just you get the chocolate you know, but that
weed is there exactly and thenyou leave it to open out as it
oxidizes, you start to get moreof those yummy wood sugars
coming through.
So remember, this is six toeight-year-old maker's mark, and
then we're going to insertthose finishing staves into the
barrel and then leave it in ourtemperature-controlled bourbon
cellar.
So yeah, the first is a note tothe folks that work in the

(31:22):
distillery making your bourbonevery day.
What did you think of this?

Speaker 2 (31:28):
one when you tasted it.

Speaker 3 (31:30):
I loved it.

Speaker 1 (31:31):
I haven't had this, since we drank it here during
the bus tour.

Speaker 6 (31:37):
I think we bought it, yeah, but I haven't had it
since then because you know, butit's great.

Speaker 1 (31:45):
I mean it hits on all my sweet note palates.

Speaker 4 (31:48):
Just yum, yum yum.

Speaker 1 (31:49):
Yeah, it's, I love Mouthfuls viscous.
When you get the wood sugarsgoing and you pick up the maple
and everything that's, andchocolate especially so, going
back to the lakes, the water.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
So, people, a lot of times water is used two
different ways.
Right, it's used in thedistilling process, where pretty
much it's evaporated off andand and and all impurities of of
it.
I mean, I've been with peoplewho moonshine and we pull from a
stream where you would think,you know, are we really pulling
from this natural stream whichhas got rotting, whatever?

(32:21):
But?
But the process eliminates it.
But then you also have yourproofing down water, right, and
that's where you're keeping thelake and all the balance and
everything and watching that.

Speaker 4 (32:34):
So we'll use the Heritage Lake water for cooking,
fermenting distilling.

Speaker 3 (32:40):
You'll be pleased to know that everything after that
is no longer lake water but ROwater.

Speaker 4 (32:44):
So reverse osmosis, completely neutralized water
that we're going into one turnat barrel proof and then that
we're cutting bourbon down withsome of the lower proof makers.
Mark like the 90 proof yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
Okay, so that's, that's, that's the period, but
that's.
But that people don'tunderstand what kind of skill
that is to get you know youcan't just just like take the
water and add it in.
It's not just a pour-in thing.
There are so many differentways to do it and I'm sure you
guys have your way.

Speaker 4 (33:11):
Exactly, and remember , as you said, we're pouring
from the stream with themoonshiners.
When that water gets pumpeddown to the distillery, we're
taking it up to a boiling pointbefore we add it to our cooker.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
So, yeah, we're pretty passionate about water
down here, Well, yeah, and theneventually it all just gets done
and put through the beer andthen the whole process.
So I understand that part ofthe process with water.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
Do you?

Speaker 4 (33:34):
say you're passionate about water.

Speaker 1 (33:35):
Absolutely, because you know some people Do you see
the water that?

Speaker 4 (33:39):
we're drinking.

Speaker 2 (33:40):
I mean, yeah, I have to admit, this is fantastic
everybody, you'll be pleased toknow this is also not late water
.

Speaker 4 (33:45):
Yeah, I think I.
This is the nicest water bottlewe've ever had.
You'll be pleased to know thisis also not late water, yeah
thanks, I thought I got a littlebass, a little bass.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
Some minnows in there .
There's some minnows.

Speaker 4 (33:54):
These are actually pretty cool because this is part
of our zero landfill initiative, so there's nothing going into
landfill across the 1,100 acres,including the production
facility.

Speaker 1 (34:02):
Well, mine's not going in the trash?
No, you have no idea.

Speaker 2 (34:06):
Yeah, mine's not even getting recycled.
It's going to be.

Speaker 1 (34:09):
Speaking of recycled, this is my favorite glass ever,
I think so.

Speaker 4 (34:14):
This thing, yeah, I love it Well, cheers.
So you're actually you're goinghome with these after the
podcast.

Speaker 2 (34:19):
Oh my God, Really You're just showering us with
treats.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (34:27):
And it's got the logo in the bottom.
Oh my god, so these are handblown by a glass artist in
Louisville called Casey Highland.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
Yeah, there's his signature just there Casey
signature as small as could beit's just a handcrafted element,
but good luck deciphering itit's a lot harder than CT he
definitely got the stamp in soas you're drinking it.

Speaker 4 (34:48):
That's why it's forefront.

Speaker 2 (34:50):
And people I mean talk about how the stamp came
about.
I mean, that's something that'spart of everything and people
sometimes don't realize howimportant that is.

Speaker 4 (35:03):
Yeah, so the Summers family had a previous distillery
before we set up Maker's Mark,and that was the TW Samuels
distillery.
So you know Bill Senior, ourfounder had a real aversion to
the family whiskey back in theday.

Speaker 3 (35:20):
It was kind of like blow your ears off, put hairs on
your chest, kind ofpedestrianized whiskey.

Speaker 4 (35:24):
So he made the bold move of deciding to sell off the
old family whiskey recipe, thedistillery and a few other
brands at the time and walkedaway from whiskey completely for
a few years, did not see afuture in it, tried to set up a
cattle farm, set up a bank.
His wife and his friends werelike you're just not very good
at anything else.
And this is when he starts tocome back to whiskey and think

(35:46):
about that sort of concept andflavor vision from maker's mark.
Because he didn't want hisbourbon to be bitter, mid to
front, palate flavor, that wheatsweet.
So he created maker's mark withyou know, his profile in mind.
It just so happens the rest ofus love it too.
When they sold off their oldfamily whiskey recipe, they sold
off the rights to putting theirname on the bottle again, so we

(36:07):
have to think of something elseto call our bourbon.
So margie samuels was a likeour founder was an avid
collector of pewter.
Pewter smiths, to tell pieces ofwork apart and as a sign of
quality and craft, would put themaker's mark stamp on every
piece, their mark of a maker.
So margie just had thisepiphany moment when they were
trying to name this new product.
We're so proud of it.

(36:29):
It's a sign of quality thatthey put their Samuels family
maker's mark stamp on everysingle bottle and that's where
the emblem came from.
So the S stands for the Samuelsfamily.
Now in their eighth generation,we've robbed Samuels at the
helm.
Today You've got the IV standsfor four, right.
So there were four generationsof whiskey makers before we set

(36:50):
up makers mark.
Uh, there's a couple of sort ofmyths out there that did a
little bit of family researchfurther on down the line and
realized there were actually sixgenerations of whiskey makers
so in roman numerals you justhave to flip it right or look at
it in the mirror.
Yes, the true story is thatthere were four legal whiskey
makers before we set up MakersMart.
There are some who are sort offudging it a little bit and then

(37:13):
you've got.
the Star stands for Star HillDistillery, where we're based in
Loretta, kentucky.
Fun fact about that Samuel'sfamily had a farm in Bardstown
called Star Hill Farm.
When they sold that farm andmoved over here, they moved the
name over with them, but thereis still a Star Hill Farm in
Bardstown that's not owned by usanymore.
And then, yeah, the circle justto sort of shape it all.

(37:36):
Another myth is that if you seeall these little breaks in that
circle, the myth on that one iswhich I love is because Bill Jr
always says why let the truthget in the way of a good story?
Right?
Three breaks in silentdistillation in Samuel's family
history.
So Civil War Prohibition, andthen we ripped up the recipe and
started again.

Speaker 3 (37:57):
I like that story.
Let's just stick with that.

Speaker 6 (37:58):
I like that too, really, it's probably just like
a misprint.
Everyone's like oh my bottle'snot printed anymore.

Speaker 2 (38:05):
I mean, it's not like that's new to the bourbon
industry.
But at the same time, when youcome here, the family mark is
all over everything.

Speaker 4 (38:17):
It's iconic for us.
It really is.

Speaker 2 (38:19):
And you know we've met Bill and Rob.
What steakhouse was it that wewere at?

Speaker 4 (38:26):
Was it Pat's Steakhouse?
Yeah, what an experience.
Yes, what steakhouse was itthat we were at?
Was it Pat's?

Speaker 2 (38:29):
Steakhouse.
Yes, and they were upstairs andwe were downstairs with Stephen
Fonte and all of a sudden,super Nash and him are sneaking
off and they're going and all ofa sudden, before you know it,
bill and Rob are downstairstalking with us giving a slit.
So it's just the family.

Speaker 4 (38:45):
It's still real right , it really is and like the beep
is real down here, so you knowyou come down here and it's just
magical.
You know Bill and Rob, realsort of progressives in the
industry, early adopters on alot of stuff with innovation,
and they're just incredible towork for.
Bill Jr is one of my favorites.

(39:07):
Like he is one of the mostunretired retired people in the
world apart from Jimmy Russellfrom Wild Turkey.
But those two last sort of youknow set, of those real true old
school, you know familydistillers that are left with us
today.
Yeah, Bill's down here a coupleof days a week.
He's just had the most fruitfullife.
So he was the first officialemployee of KFC, Wasn't old

(39:30):
enough to work at the distillery, Just passed his driving test.
So he actually drove theColonel around Kentucky for the
first year he was in operation.
The boy sold his spices hiscooking and his dreams to all
these restaurants in Kentucky.
And if you look at the picturejust up on the wall, you'll see
the Colonel up there for thatreason.
Then he went on to work on thePolaris missile for NASA
specifically on the tip of it asa rocket scientist and then he

(39:50):
took over the reins of thedistillery, but yeah, his sort
of legacy.
Liquid before he left wasMaker's Mark 46.
All the innovation coming outof the distillery was really
born from Bill creating thatproduct.

Speaker 2 (40:01):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (40:02):
Because he wanted more oomph coming out of his
bourbon right.
He likes to call it Maker'sMark on steroids.

Speaker 3 (40:07):
It's got that DNA taste profile of Maker's, but
now it's like hepped up sippingput into cocktails with sugar
water spirit bitters and itreally stands out with it.

Speaker 2 (40:17):
I mean the testing that you did with that program
and then the private select andeverything that you've done with
those different flavors thatwere.
I think you know even when youlisten.
I've heard the story but no, Idon't think anybody realized how
many flavors would come out ofjust what.
What that was and it's itchanged the industry.

(40:39):
I mean people are doing finish,stay finished and stuff all
over the.
You know what I mean.
But that, but how you do it isso unique, you know, and putting
it back and then putting it inthe cellar and letting in all
that kind of that's just anamazing program that was a great
segue.

Speaker 4 (40:55):
Should we try the Stonehill Farm private select?
Yes, let's try that also, justwith my arm let's do.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
It know that, talk about now that you've pretty
much all the bottles are now thesame right.
You've, you've.

Speaker 6 (41:10):
Yeah, sir, we've been working on the.

Speaker 3 (41:12):
Is that it?

Speaker 2 (41:13):
Yeah this one here, yeah.
So it's like it's kind of coolthat you had the private select
used to be different and thenthe bottle and then you know
that kind of thing and havingthe bottles and the labels, all
I really think that brought thewhole brand.

Speaker 4 (41:30):
And the labels, all.
I really think that brought thewhole brand.
Our concept behind that was westarted to look at the cars.
All the bottles of Maker's Markwere great, like that old car
strength bottle, that sort ofyou know the sort of smaller one
that's squattier.
But what we noticed is you look?
at all the Maker's Mark bottlesand the family on the back bar,
and they're all sort ofdifferent sizes and different

(41:51):
designs so the idea was just toalign them all so they're all
part of the sort of same familyright, so you still got the
classic makers, uh, the 101, thecar strength, that core range
in that classic makers markbottle and then all the wood
finishing coming out celeraged,as in this new design that we've
got in front of us just here.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
Which is kind of just like an extended where the
other one before was rounded andcomplete.

Speaker 4 (42:14):
But that is in the.
It's just like an elongateddesign of the classic photo.

Speaker 3 (42:18):
Oh, you're pouring for us this time.

Speaker 4 (42:20):
No, I was going to.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
You poured perfectly before.

Speaker 1 (42:23):
No, I didn't so spill all over the table.
No, no, I'm talking aboutamounts.
Have you seen me?

Speaker 4 (42:27):
Right.
Well, you're getting a quarterounce right now.
My pours are heavy.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
Yeah, you've got to watch out my pours end up like
yeah.

Speaker 4 (42:41):
So, as you said, we've got 1,001 flavor
combinations that you can createand put your own flavor vision
on a barrel of Maker's Markthrough the Private Select
Program.

Speaker 1 (42:47):
This has got a super sweet marshmallow in it.

Speaker 4 (42:50):
This one's pretty cool, actually, because I've got
off-farm partners.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
It's those Mindyans.
How do you say that stateMindyans Mondion?

Speaker 4 (42:58):
Mondion.
The Mondion state must be whatit is we're from being from.

Speaker 2 (43:04):
Ohio.
Ohio has done amazing thingswith Maker's Mark as far as the
Private select and the barrelselect, and it's funny because
initially the names were youknow, bread pudding, you know
chai tea latte, and people thatdidn't know were somewhat

(43:25):
misunderstanding, but it soldreally well.
So then they came out well,we're not, we shouldn't do that
maybe.
Maybe let's just call it youknow, so people won't think that
, oh it completely, this doesn'ttaste like apple pie or
whatever.
But then they named it that andthen whatever, and now the last
round again was back to namingthem the flavors.
Because you know, that justhelped, that just helps, and I

(43:45):
really thought it was kind ofcool.

Speaker 4 (43:46):
Yeah, what I think it helps with is because there are
so many flavor combinationsthat you can create.
So how do you sort of tell therecipes apart?
So it's a nice little way ofletting you know that it's
evocative of those types offlavors Not that you're just
going to be drinking a graincracker, a graham cracker or a
triple chocolate, but isn't that?

Speaker 2 (44:05):
all tasting notes with bourbon pretty much.
I mean, I think, caramel.
Every once in a while you'lltaste a bourbon and it'll taste
like liquid caramel, like you'redrinking caramel sauce, but
that's not always the case, butmost of the time when you're
pulling those tasting notes,it's hints of that, along with
the pepper or the oak willdetermine a lot of time how much

(44:32):
, because if there's a lack ofthat pepper and oak you really
can taste it.
But you know you're makingbourbon for everybody, so you
know there's a whole big classthat loves the pepper and the
oak.

Speaker 4 (44:42):
Exactly so.
You know, you might preferheavy Cuvée stable, you might
prefer heavy Mondion in yourrecipe selection.
But you bet your bottom dollarthat we had to make sure that
all the 1001 of those flavorcombinations worked, so I put
them all through gaschromatographers to pick up
parts per billion to make surethat all of those 1001 flavors
truly did work, depending onwhat your jam is.

Speaker 3 (45:04):
So when we're trying in front of us, I actually
tossed our farm partners and ourfarm team that look after the
farm at Star Hill.

Speaker 4 (45:11):
Farm.
I tossed them to bring to lifeStar Hill Farm in liquid form,
and this is what they createdfor you.
This is only available forpeople on farm experiences to
taste and then to unlock in thegift shop after You're drinking
a 111.6 proof of this one, folks.
So no cut down bourbon for youtoday.

Speaker 2 (45:28):
All right, real quick , talk about the different
experiences.
That's what you're talkingabout.
What is here and how?
I mean it's just, I mean you'vegot to, people can rent the
house.
You know the state.
I mean, there's so manydifferent experiences.

Speaker 4 (45:41):
We don't have accommodation on site, but maybe
in the future.
But what we're really working?

Speaker 2 (45:45):
on, but was it the Bill Samuel?
The Samuel's house istechnically not a building.

Speaker 4 (45:50):
It's not a building, oh it's separate.

Speaker 1 (45:53):
But it exists.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
It exists, okay, so it's not part of the experience.
Okay, go ahead.

Speaker 4 (45:57):
So that's now literally their old Samuel's
house.
That was in the family for avery long time.
There was a short period whereit wasn't owned by the Samuels
family and then they decided topurchase, bring it back to its
historic element and now they'redoing it as a little sort of
bed and breakfast area.
Yeah, but here but here Not yet.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
We're building out.
You're thinking about that.

Speaker 4 (46:22):
Maybe in the future, who knows?
On site here today we've gotseven different Star Hill Farm
experiences going out away fromthat classic tour path.
So agritourism is reallygaining momentum across America.
Something completely differenton the Bourbon Trail If you've
been on your classic toursacross the Bourbon.
Trail and you're looking forsomething a little bit unique or

(46:43):
something different to do thenext time you visit.
Check out some of the Star HillFarm experiences we've got.
We've got a daily Star HillFarm tour that goes out where
you get to see the fields,forest production areas.
You get an arrival cocktail andthree wood finishing pours on
the farm tour.
That's a mixture of walking andthen we jump into either UTVs
or SUVs to go see those 1,100acres.

Speaker 1 (47:06):
So how new is that it's been?

Speaker 4 (47:07):
running for about a year now to go see those 1100
acres.
So how new is that?

Speaker 1 (47:08):
It's been running for about a year now.

Speaker 4 (47:11):
We've got a wax dips honey drips.
That is only available when thebees are not in hibernation,
but you get to spend time withour beekeeper.
Cody Gibbons dissecting hiveslooking at pollination areas,
visiting the bee boxes, and thenwe do a bourbon and honey
connoisseurs tasting as part ofthat, so that's going down
really well.
The sir's tasting as part ofthat, so that's going down

(47:31):
really well.
They've got a daily whiskeycreek walking tour that goes out
.
You meander and follow whiskeycreek as it moves through nature
into the distillery and we'retalking about history and
heritage, production and thensome of our higher purpose.
Um, we've also got an oakexperience that goes out.
So if you really want to geekout on oak the flavors it gives
our whiskey from seed to sipthen you get to plant your own
four-year-old oak tree on siteto leave your mark.

(47:53):
You can visit it over the yearswith a little numbered key
chain.

Speaker 6 (48:00):
So we have it on a grid system so you can go and
keep an eye on your tree overthe years.
Right, so that's a really coolexperience we have going on.
I guess we're coming down herelike six more times.

Speaker 4 (48:07):
Yes, we've got the biggest white oak research
forest in the world down here,so we're, for the first time in
history, looking at theprotection of American white oak
genetics, so you get to visitour genome tree on that, and
then our white oak researchforest that's so incredibly
important, not only for thebourbon industry but also for
the United States.

Speaker 5 (48:24):
I mean, we look at some of the tragedies that have
happened with forest fires andthings like that.
So both you know, actuallyplanting, replanting as well as
forest management, is anincredibly important thing,
because we really are stewardsand I think you hit on that
several times that we havestewardship of the land.
And if you take that seriously,then you manage forests.
You don't manage them as a well.

(48:44):
Every tree must stand for alltime, because they won't,
they'll burn Manage them as awell.
Every tree must stand for alltime, because they won't.
They'll burn.
But if you take it from aresponsible management
standpoint and you plant new andyou take, you know older, and
then you make sure the forest isclean and effective and
efficient, if you make sure thatit works together, it's really
great Bingo and it's not justabout forestry management for us
.

Speaker 4 (49:04):
It's about, for the first time in history, looking
at genetics of american whiteoaks.
If you want to protect aspecies, the first thing you
have to do is geneticallysequence it stake in the ground
for future learnings.
So we've got our mother tree onsite.
She's the first geneticallysequenced oak tree in american
history and she's here at starhill farm.
So got a bb gun shot down budsfrom the top of her, broke down

(49:24):
those tissue samples into over540 million pairs of DNA that we
can sequence and take learningsfrom.
So that's a collaborationbetween Independent Stave
Company, who we partner on thebarrels with the University of
Kentucky and ourselves, andthese are never going to make
barrel trees, this is just forgenetic learners.
So we went across the growingregion of American white oak

(49:45):
assessed the finest mother treeswe could find, waited for them
to drop acorns, took them backto the university, kentucky, and
grew them into one-year-olds toplant in our research forest.
So this is going to be for ourchildren's children.
This is going to far outliveall of us in this room of
educational learnings.
But if there are huge climateswings in the future, can we
tweak their genetics to allowthem to stand a fighting chance?
Diversity of species has beenbred out over the last 50 to 60

(50:08):
years.
So imparting diversity ofspecies back into North American
forestry management, and thenwe're looking at a few other
things with that as well.
So, yeah, we've got about 80 to130 year old loadings coming
out of that.
Cheers to that that's amazing.

Speaker 2 (50:21):
Cheers, cheers to that.

Speaker 5 (50:22):
There's not much forested land in the United
States that's covered in pine,so it's incredibly important to
advocate for the white oak.
Exactly, and it's a keystone ofany forest.

Speaker 4 (50:30):
If you take bourbon barrels out of it, you take
white oak out of a forest.
The rest of it's just crumbling.
So it's really key for futureplants.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
Alright, anything else.

Speaker 4 (50:41):
Should we try something else?

Speaker 2 (50:43):
Okay, we can try.
We got a little bit more time.

Speaker 4 (50:45):
You know talking about barrels can you do the
keepers?
Yeah let's do the new keepersrelease.
So this is hot off the pressfor this one.

Speaker 2 (50:52):
Which one is it?

Speaker 4 (50:52):
It's this one right here.

Speaker 1 (50:54):
So when does the experience come where you get to
stay the night on site and youhave your own bungalows?

Speaker 4 (51:01):
One day I'm waiting for that one too.

Speaker 1 (51:04):
I want to do all the experiences and then stay in the
bungalow overnight.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
Because you have to stay in the bungalow, because
you did all the experiences, soI've got a hack on that.

Speaker 4 (51:17):
We don't have any accommodation on site, but this
is really cool Wagon WheelBondominium.
That's literally a stone'sthrow away from Makers.
You can just book that.
It suits up to 10 people.

Speaker 1 (51:26):
Until we get accommodation on site one day,
then that's a second option yeah, I'm thinking tiny houses, you
know like why not?

Speaker 4 (51:33):
See, I was thinking like it'd be really cool to do
some, like you know, bougieyurts, you know sort of glamping
style.

Speaker 5 (51:39):
Oh, yeah, yeah yeah, oh, definitely Well tiny nose is
part of my evil plan.
I'm going to make a a cabinsomewhere and try and build a
cellar and say hey, do you needsome extra?

Speaker 3 (51:47):
capacity.
There you go, love that.

Speaker 5 (51:50):
Work with a geologist and find the biggest limestone
top hill I can find.

Speaker 4 (51:55):
Right.

Speaker 2 (51:55):
So it's fun doing a podcast at lunchtime, right.

Speaker 4 (52:00):
Oh, that's great.

Speaker 2 (52:02):
So how much as far as tasting through and helping
taste, do you work in that area?
I?

Speaker 4 (52:08):
kind of work in all areas.
So, yeah like working withliquid, with innovation, working
with the coloring cocktail team, the farm team, which is, you
know, our farm partners and ourcore farm team down here, and
then the hospitality experienceteam as well.
So, yeah, I kind of touch everysort of element and area.

Speaker 2 (52:26):
So what's the coolest thing you've learned since
you've been here?
Like you brought a wholearsenal to them, but what have
you learned since you've beenhere in Kentucky as far as
working here?
How?

Speaker 4 (52:37):
strong.
The culture is around here.
I think, that's one thing thatI've been visiting Kentucky when
I lived in London for a numberof years with, like you know,
barrel picks and my customers,but really being in it and
immersing in it.
It's just the culture is sostrong around here, that
heritage around here, the peopleare what make the place down

(52:58):
here at maker's mark.
Um, so yeah, I'd say that.
And then I'm really gettingweedy about regenerative
agriculture, soil health, soilbiology, um, and just you know
that holistic, like working withmother nature when it comes to
raw materials.
So I'm like geeking out aboutthat big time.

Speaker 6 (53:14):
It's all about the microbes, all the microbes.
It's all about the microbes.
You're talking to, the scienceAll right, we need to get off.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
Yeah, we'll talk later.

Speaker 3 (53:24):
Okay you just went.

Speaker 2 (53:25):
That went to yeah, that went to another level.

Speaker 5 (53:28):
That's whole level.

Speaker 2 (53:29):
That's delicious, it's very, very.

Speaker 1 (53:31):
There's a lot of honey on the nose, wouldn't you
say it's very like get that,yeah, like it's like it's not
just honey, it's like a likesoaked in honey.

Speaker 2 (53:37):
But of the three now, what's the proof on that one?
Like a sugar.
So yeah, the easiness of thisone compared to the other two.
The other two had a decentamount of whatever, but this is
just a sipper where it's justlike you don't have to do

(53:58):
anything but taste it and relax.

Speaker 4 (54:00):
It's beautiful, so our folks in the warehouse are
going to be really happy aboutyou saying that because this is
the second release out of thefive in the new wood finishing
series, and actually you aresome of the first folks to try
this.

Speaker 6 (54:11):
This is going to be released in the next couple of
weeks.
It's outstanding.
Wow, yeah it really is so.

Speaker 4 (54:16):
this is the wood finish in 2025, and this is
called the Keeper's Release.
So you know the hot release,our distillery team had a hand
in like creating the vision forthat, whereas this is our folks
in the warehouses that arefilling barrels, emptying
barrels, hand-rotating barrels.

Speaker 3 (54:35):
So this is our warehouse team that came up with
the flavor profile of this oneCheers, cheers.

Speaker 4 (54:40):
Cheers.
Thanks for having me.
This has been awesome.
I could sit here and chat withyou all day.

Speaker 5 (54:44):
Thanks for inviting us into your office at home.

Speaker 1 (54:47):
Yes, and sharing, sharing some amazing stuff.
Where are you going to?

Speaker 4 (54:51):
get out of this.
It's like bold oak, it's like atoasted sweetness coming
through, because they took allour elements.
So top of the rick house withflavours and aromas, you get up
there, bottom of the rick house,charred wood like new wood
going in.
So we pulled flavours from allof those different elements of
maturation and aging.

Speaker 2 (55:08):
There's a cinnamon French toast flavor to there,
that's in there.

Speaker 4 (55:16):
That's a good taste.
I'll put that in my pocket andI enjoy things that have that
hint of oak in it.

Speaker 2 (55:21):
I said French toast, but it's not overpowering.

Speaker 6 (55:23):
So it's not like.

Speaker 2 (55:24):
I could say Amarano, but I'm not going to say that.
Don't say that.
You say that and you're gettingbooted.

Speaker 1 (55:30):
Yeah he doesn't like.

Speaker 5 (55:31):
Amarano.
This is really funny because Ihave a Star Hill Farm French
toast and I think you have oneover there on the shelf too.

Speaker 6 (55:36):
And yet it finishes with the classic Maker's Mark
profile.
That is why I love it so much.
Yes, it does Right.
So what's left?
Is that perfect?

Speaker 4 (55:44):
Always, always, that DNA profile of me Make it work.
Yeah, it's just you know,accentuating some flavors and
diving some down, exactly.

Speaker 2 (55:52):
The mouthfeel on.
That is fantastic.
It really is.

Speaker 6 (55:55):
The body is fantastic .
It's really good.

Speaker 5 (55:57):
The nose just really is approachable, really sweet.

Speaker 2 (56:01):
Yeah, everybody look forward to this one.

Speaker 6 (56:04):
This release is going to be my nose right into a
beehive.

Speaker 4 (56:06):
Yeah, the yummy sort of honey, honey, butterscotch.

Speaker 2 (56:12):
Yeah, that's delicious.
All right, that's amazing.
Thank you so much for your time.

Speaker 4 (56:18):
It's such a pleasure I've had so much fun with you.

Speaker 2 (56:21):
Yes, and we've had a great time.
So anybody else have a finalquestion?

Speaker 6 (56:27):
Yeah, I wanted to say something about this beautiful
gifted bottle to me with my nameon it.
It says Roxy, right there, andthis is part of a spirited
women's initiative with WhiteVoices and they are highlighting
women entrepreneurs andbusiness women and I don't know
if you noticed.

(56:48):
Maybe go back and listen again.
You heard a lot of she, she,she, she, she in this podcast.

Speaker 4 (56:52):
Oh yes, entrepreneurs and businesswomen, and I don't
know if you noticed maybe goback and listen again you heard
a lot of she, she, she, she, shein this podcast.
Oh yeah, it's not just.
You know, back in the day it'slike today.

Speaker 6 (56:58):
No, today, vp of the brand, she's blowing the glasses
.
Head of innovation Female Headof innovation Director of higher
purpose Female.

Speaker 4 (57:05):
Well, it should.
That's the way it should be.

Speaker 2 (57:08):
It's not just because you guys that they're women.
But it's the talent.

Speaker 4 (57:12):
Yeah, I mean yes, no, it's, it's.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
And when it comes to the, the whiskey industry, I've
always felt one.
We know that women have betterfactories.
Now there are men who aresupertasters, but there's more
women in the percentage to besupertasters.
So it just makes sense thatwomen would be part of this
industry, and I think it's oneof the most unique things
getting into this how they'vealways been a part of it.

(57:50):
It, but how?

Speaker 4 (57:50):
now, in this day and age, it's time to be a platform
for us now, right, but there'san equality in it and an
acceptance to it right.

Speaker 2 (57:58):
I think it's important to the industry as
well, because not only is ittalking about your abilities,
your knowledge and your skills?

Speaker 5 (58:05):
it's talking about a different form of advocacy,
which is this is not just aman's game.
This, this, is a spirit thatcan be enjoyed by everyone, and
particularly by people who havekeener senses, and when you're
appealing to that, you can findsomeone.
Just like we talk about inWhiskey is Whiskey Friends.
You may not like this whiskey,but this is one you might like
because we've talked about it,and then you can hone in on that

(58:27):
very quickly with someone whohas a very active palate, with
someone who has a very activeolfactory, and that's just a
wonderful form of advocacy.

Speaker 2 (58:36):
And one of my favorite things to do in
tastings is to do tastings atsomebody's house and I always
invite the couples.
It's a couples thing and when Iarrive, all the women usually
are drinking wine and they'reall kind of together and the
guys are like what do you got?
What are we tasting?

Speaker 4 (58:59):
So you're like with the guys we're tasting that
stuff, yeah, but what is it?

Speaker 2 (59:03):
But then all of a sudden you do the tasting with
the women and by the end of thenight the guys are over there
talking about whatever to themand all the women are asking me
the question, because they justdrank 121 proof and they can't
believe it was not spicy or itwasn't all the.
So it's just kind of a funthing to do when you do tastings

(59:25):
and whatnot.
Of a fun thing to do, you know,when you, it's just when you do
tastings and whatnot, and then,and then if you have some like
yourself doing, a tasting, thenthey're like you said.

Speaker 4 (59:37):
they're just part of the group Yep, exactly.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
So, all right, Thank you everybody.
We'll wrap this up.
The way that this will end isI'll do my little end and we'll
listen to a final song and we'llbe done.
All right, I'll do my littleend and we'll listen to a final
song and we'll be done.
All right, all right.
Www Dot Scotchie bourbon boysdot com for all things Scotchie
bourbon boys.
Make sure you check it out forT-shirts and Glencairns, but

(01:00:04):
also make sure you check out theMakers Mark website, because
the experiences are alwayschanging.
I mean, there are some that arehere all the time, but you guys
are always coming up withdifferent types of experiences
for everybody.
We had a great time at theHoliday Sip and Stroll.
I mean, that was amazing.
And Frank got to give a shoutout to Frank because he
basically took an extra personin because there was only two

(01:00:25):
tickets left and we had threeand we just had such a good time
.
And just, everybody know thepre-drinking of the drinks up at
the, the main house, where thedrinks are fake, the old
fashions were fantastic.
It was just a great experience.
And then also, um, remember, uh, we're on all facebook,
instagram, youtube and x, alongwith Apple iHeart and Spotify,

(01:00:49):
no matter how you listen orwatch, make sure that you like,
listen, comment and subscribe.
Leave good feedback andeverybody knows good bourbon
equals good friends and goodtimes.
Make sure you drink responsibly.
Don't drink and drive and liveyour life uncut and unfiltered,

(01:01:12):
and little steve-o will take usout.
Let's see if I can.
Oh well, I cut that one off.
He took us out for a minute.
There he's back.

Speaker 3 (01:01:33):
Show me the way to the next whiskey bar.
Oh, don't ask why.
Oh, don't ask why.

(01:01:54):
For if we don't find the nextwhiskey bar, I tell you we must
die.
I tell you we must die.
I tell you, I tell you, I tellyou we must die.
I tell you, I tell you, I tellyou we must die.