Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame® | Class of 2022 Inductees
Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame® To Induct
Six New Members In September
FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame® will induct six people into its elite ranks subsequent month, together with two distillery founders, influential lawmakers on either side of the aisle, a groundbreaking business veteran and the acclaimed grandson of a Bourbon baron.
The Parker Beam Lifetime Achievement Award shall be bestowed on the late Stephen Francis Thompson, founder and president of Kentucky Artisan Distillery, who unexpectedly died in 2021 after an accident. He was 79 years previous.
“Since we misplaced the previous two years to COVID-19, that is formally the twentieth anniversary of the Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame, whiskey’s most spirited honor,” stated Eric Gregory, president of the Kentucky Distillers’ Affiliation, which based the Corridor of Fame in 2001.
“Congratulations to this yr’s esteemed class which celebrates the visionaries, artisans and companions which have made Kentucky Bourbon – and our beloved Commonwealth – the gold commonplace of American whiskey. And, on behalf of our business, a heartfelt thanks.”
This yr’s inductees are, in alphabetical order (full bios, as offered by every inductee, are hooked up by way of the beneath hyperlink:
· Retiring Rep. D. Chad McCoy, R-Bardstown, Majority Whip, Kentucky Home of Representatives, two-time recipient of the KDA’s “100 Proof” award for public service and champion of a number of landmark items of laws.
· The late Stephen Francis Thompson, Founder and President, Kentucky Artisan Distillery (Lifetime Achievement Award), former president of Brown-Forman Distilleries and a pioneering useful resource for craft distilleries throughout the nation.
· Julian P. Van Winkle, III, President, Previous Rip Van Winkle Distillery, heralded grandson of Bourbon legend Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle, creator of the ultra-aged premium Pappy Van Winkle model and the very first James Beard winner from Kentucky, in addition to quite a few different accolades.
· Andrea Marie Wilson, distinguished business veteran, Government Vice President, Common Supervisor and Grasp of Maturation at Michter’s Distillery, and in 2009, the primary lady to chair the KDA Board of Administrators.
· Retiring U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville, Co-Founding father of the Congressional Bourbon Caucus and Chair of the Home Funds Committee who helped lead a everlasting discount on the federal excise tax on distillers amongst different key measures.
· Kaveh Zamanian, Founder, Whiskey Maker and CEO, Rabbit Gap Distillery, left Iran in 1979 in the course of the revolution and based Rabbit Gap in 2012. He blends the immigrant whiskey maker custom with time-honored strategies, numerous views and modernist aesthetics.
The Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame® acknowledges people and organizations which have made a big and transformational impression on Bourbon’s stature, development and consciousness. It’s the highest honor given by the signature business.
The invitation-only ceremony shall be held Sept. 13 at My Previous Kentucky Dwelling state park in Bardstown, Ky., one of many state’s most revered historic websites. It’s held yearly along side the Kentucky Bourbon Competition, which runs Sept. 16-18 in Bardstown.
Following the induction ceremony, there shall be an unique reception sponsored by Unbiased Stave Firm, a KDA “Champion” degree business member. ISC President & CEO Brad Boswell and his father, John, are each Corridor of Fame members.
The 2-year break as a result of pandemic allowed the KDA to judge its Corridor of Fame processes and protocols, Gregory stated. The celebrated occasion is thought for its intimate celebration of the business’s most revered champions and attracts dignitaries from around the globe.
This yr, for the primary time ever, a blue-ribbon committee of famend Corridor of Fame members reviewed and chosen inductees. Candidates are nominated annually by the KDA and its member distilleries in three classes: Trade, Roll of Honor and Lifetime Achievement.
The choice committee consists of all residing recipients of the Parker Beam Lifetime Achievement Award: Jimmy Russell, Grasp Distiller of Wild Turkey; Invoice Samuels, Jr., Chairman Emeritus of Maker’s Mark; Max Shapira, Government Chairman of Heaven Hill Manufacturers and Even Kulsveen, Government Director of Willett Distillery.
Additionally serving have been Kevin Smith, Chairman of the KDA Board of Administrators and Vice President of Kentucky Bourbon Affairs for Beam Suntory; Chris Morris, Governor of the Order of the Writ – Spirit of Kentucky Bourbon Society and Vice President and Grasp Distiller at Brown-Forman Corp.; and famous writer Dixie Hibbs of Bardstown, who was appointed by the KDA President.
The KDA additionally commissioned glassblowing artist Brook Forrest White, Jr., of Flame Run in Louisville to craft distinctive and modern awards that incorporate Bourbon-inspired motifs akin to amber colours, oak, copper and water.
A pupil of the late famed glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell at Centre Faculty in Danville, Ky., White’s work has been acknowledged nationally, together with on the Kennedy Middle in Washington, D.C., and at a number of distilleries in Kentucky.
Bourbon is one in all Kentucky’s most treasured industries, a booming $9 billion financial and tourism engine sustaining greater than 22,500 jobs with an annual payroll topping $1.23 billion annually, over $285 million in native and state taxes and $1.8 billion in federal alcohol taxes.
A key export, the long-lasting business is at the moment in the midst of a $5.2 billion constructing growth, from modern new tourism experiences to expanded manufacturing amenities, bottling facilities and getting older warehouses, all to fulfill the rising world thirst for Kentucky Bourbon.
Bourbon manufacturing has skyrocketed greater than 435% for the reason that flip of the century.
Kentucky now boasts greater than 10.3 million barrels of Bourbon getting older in warehouses throughout the Bluegrass, essentially the most in its revered distilling historical past. Distillers stuffed greater than 2.4 million barrels in 2020 alone, the third yr in a row that manufacturing topped the 2 million mark.
“We look ahead to seeing all our residing legends subsequent month and celebrating the perfect of the perfect of our historic business and toasting our success,” Gregory stated. “Because of our companions at Unbiased Stave Firm and our distinguished members.”
For extra data or to schedule an interview, please contact KDA President Eric Gregory at eric@kybourbon.com.
Bios, as offered by every inductee, are beneath in alphabetical order:
Rep. D. Chad McCoy~ Late Stephen Francis Thompson + Purple ~ Julian P. Van Winkle, III~ Andrea Marie Wilson ~ U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth ~ Kaveh Zamanian
Based in 1880, the Kentucky Distillers’ Affiliation is the historic voice for Kentucky’s signature Bourbon and distilled spirits business. Its numerous and rising membership produces 90 % of the world’s Bourbon, from legendary, world manufacturers to rising micro distilleries which might be fostering the subsequent era of the Commonwealth’s timeless craft and treasured financial engine. Member advantages embrace media relations, worldwide commerce growth, non-public sampling occasions, technical help, financial growth help, networking, authorized protection, advertising and marketing methods, governmental and regulatory advocacy and modern tourism experiences by way of the KDA’s world-famous Kentucky Bourbon Path® and Kentucky Bourbon Path Craft Tour® adventures. The KDA maintains an open membership coverage, champions a robust dedication to the accountable and average consumption of spirits, and fights to curb underage ingesting and drunk driving. Study extra at www.kybourbon.com and www.kybourbontrail.com.
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