The Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame’s 2024 class consists of the primary Black chemist at Brown-Forman, a veteran customer heart supervisor who elevated Bourbon tourism, two distinctive distillery founders and a trailblazing retailer who later created his personal craft distillery.
That retail guru is Ken Lewis, retired Founder and CEO of New Riff Distilling, and this yr’s recipient of the Parker Beam Lifetime Achievement Award. As a retailer, Lewis created The Get together Supply megastore and drove authorized and legislative adjustments to permit Sunday and bank card gross sales of alcohol.
A fearless entrepreneur, in 2014 Lewis launched New Riff Distilling in Northern Kentucky, with the purpose of making one of many world’s nice small distilleries primarily based on innovation and collaboration to “riff” on the outdated methods and redefine new benchmarks of whiskey making.
Eric Gregory, longtime president of the Kentucky Distillers’ Affiliation that created and operates the Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame®, lauded this yr’s visionary class and mentioned, “Our signature Bourbon business wouldn’t be what it’s in the present day with out these distinguished honorees.
“Every put the business earlier than self, serving to Kentucky cement its place in historical past because the worldwide and undisputed dwelling of Bourbon. And now we’re honored to honor them. On behalf of our signature business, we provide congratulations – and a heartfelt thanks – to those Bourbon heroes.”
This yr’s class, in alphabetic order, will formally be inducted into the Corridor of Fame in September:
- Elmer Lucille Allen, 93, Louisville. A pioneering activist, Allen broke boundaries within the Bourbon business as the primary Black chemist at Brown-Forman – and presumably your entire American whiskey business. Her work to deliver alternative to all Louisvillians didn’t cease when she left the corporate. Amongst her many accomplishments, she fashioned the Chickasaw Little League and led efforts to deliver African American artwork and artists to the mainstream.
- Dee Ford, 59, Louisville. A global beacon of Bourbon hospitality. Ford’s imaginative and prescient, expertise and management have catapulted Angel’s Envy and the Kentucky Bourbon Path® into a global, bucket-list tourism attraction. Since 2014, she’s served as Chair of the KDA’s Kentucky Bourbon Path® Committee, incomes the respect of her friends and sharing finest practices which have leveraged hospitality to raise Kentucky Bourbon on the worldwide stage.
- Ken Lewis, 71, Cincinnati. A spirits knowledgeable and groundbreaking coverage chief, Lewis graduated school as a skilled English instructor, however left shortly into his younger profession for the world of spirits retail. He championed efforts for Sunday gross sales and initiated litigation that allowed retailers to make use of bank cards for gross sales, ultimately constructing The Get together Supply megastore, the primary of its variety within the nation. Studying the business from the underside up, Lewis introduced innovation and entrepreneurship because the founding father of New Riff Distilling in Northern Kentucky, paving the best way for the craft Bourbon increase that now counts dozens of Kentucky distilleries. (Try Bourbon & Banter’s interview with Ken Lewis.)
- The late Peter T. Loftin, 61, Miami. A preeminent innovator, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Loftin based the Bardstown Bourbon Firm that reworked the panorama of customized whiskey manufacturing in 2014. He was among the many first to make the most of modernized Bourbon tourism legal guidelines in Kentucky, making a world-class restaurant and bar that graciously options each distillery’s model on the Kentucky Bourbon Path® tour in addition to an enviable classic spirits lounge. Together with the state-of-the-art distillery, this high-value Napa Valley-style expertise significantly raised the bar for Bourbon tourism and collaborative distilling. He died peacefully at his dwelling in 2019.
- R.M. Corky Taylor, 75, Henderson, Ky. A revered businessman all through the nation, Taylor retired from an achieved profession in monetary providers and targeted on a lifelong dream – to resurrect his great-grandfather’s whiskey firm. Taylor and his son spent numerous hours poring over household historical past to deliver again the Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co., initially owned by Henry Kraver in Henderson. He constructed again the household legacy in Louisville alongside historic Whiskey Row, gaining nationwide recognition – and nationwide awards – by patiently ready for his whiskey to age, dwelling as much as the unique high quality Bourbon requirements his ancestor first set in 1889.
The KDA created the Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame® in 2001 to acknowledge people and organizations which have made a major and transformational affect on Bourbon’s stature, progress and consciousness. It’s the highest honor given by the signature business.
Candidates are nominated every year by the KDA and its member distilleries. A blue-ribbon committee – together with all dwelling recipients of the Parker Beam Lifetime Achievement Award – painstakingly evaluations and selects as much as 5 candidates a yr for induction.
The invitation-only ceremony will probably be held Tuesday, Sept. 10, at The Legacy at Log Nonetheless in Nelson County, Ky. The intimate occasion, recognized for attracting the business’s most revered legends and champions, is held yearly along with the Kentucky Bourbon Pageant in Bardstown.
The 2024 Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame® ceremony and luncheon is sponsored by Brindiamo Group, Blue & Co., LLC, Bardstown Tourism, Buzick Development, Inc., Stedman Machine Firm and Vendome Copper & Brass Works Corp.
