by BARDSTOWN, Ky. – The sun shone brightly on My Old Kentucky Home today as the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame inducted six new members. Friends and family joined bourbon industry royalty on a beautiful pre-fall day at the outdoor rotunda for the first in-person ceremony in two years.
“Bourbon is a signature Kentucky industry that employs thousands of our people to produce a product known and loved around the world. The Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame ceremony is a great chance to celebrate both the pioneers and the innovators whose vision and craftsmanship keeps pushing bourbon to new heights,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said. Beshear is the first Kentucky governor to attend the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame event.
This year’s inductees, in alphabetical order, as described by the Kentucky Distillers’ Association:
- Retiring Rep. D. Chad McCoy, R-Bardstown, Majority Whip, Kentucky House of Representatives, two-time recipient of the KDA’s “100 Proof” award for public service and champion of several landmark pieces of legislation.
- The late Stephen Francis Thompson, Founder and President, Kentucky Artisan Distillery (Lifetime Achievement Award), former president of Brown-Forman Distilleries, and a pioneering resource for craft distilleries across the country.
- Julian P. Van Winkle, III, President, Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, heralded grandson of Bourbon legend Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle, creator of the ultra-aged premium Pappy Van Winkle brand and the very first James Beard winner from Kentucky, as well as numerous other accolades.
- Andrea Marie Wilson, distinguished industry veteran, Chief Operating Officer, and Master of Maturation at Michter’s Distillery and, in 2009, the first woman to chair the KDA Board of Directors.
- Retiring U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville, Co-Founder of the Congressional Bourbon Caucus and Chair of the House Budget Committee, who helped lead a permanent reduction on the federal excise tax on distillers among other key measures.
- Kaveh Zamanian, Founder, Whiskey Maker and CEO, Rabbit Hole Distillery, left Iran in 1979 during the revolution and founded Rabbit Hole in 2012. He blends the immigrant whiskey maker tradition with time-honored methods, diverse perspectives and modernist aesthetics.
Read full bios, provided by each inductee, here:
The Kentucky Distillers’ Association, which founded the KBHOF in 2001, hosted the ceremony.
The event was the unofficial start of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, which runs Friday through Sunday (Sept. 16-18) in Bardstown.
Before the ceremony began, Governor Beshear accepted a $1.4 million check from the Kentucky Bourbon Benefit group to assist Eastern Kentucky flood victims. The Kentucky Distillers’ Association teamed with the Bourbon Crusaders charitable organization, bourbon curator Fred Minnick, and Louisville’s Westport Whiskey & Wine to hold an auction to raise the money.
