100th Episode Celebration with Michter’s Master Distiller Dan McKee

WEBVTT

00:01.978 –> 00:25.257
[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back everybody for another fun edition of the Rolex whiskey passion project episode one hundred holy shit I can’t even believe one hundred episodes of talking to nothing but amazing people who are passionate about whiskey and of course for the hundred edition I had to have someone extra special someone dear to me a brand dear to me

00:26.298 –> 00:28.661
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh man, damn the man from victors.

00:28.861 –> 00:29.602
[SPEAKER_00]: Damn the key.

00:29.642 –> 00:30.783
[SPEAKER_00]: How are you sir?

00:31.363 –> 00:32.104
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m doing well.

00:32.184 –> 00:33.205
[SPEAKER_00]: Congratulations.

00:33.545 –> 00:37.349
[SPEAKER_00]: And obviously, thank you for having us, but I’m not that much though.

00:37.389 –> 00:37.990
[SPEAKER_00]: That’s amazing.

00:38.701 –> 00:39.941
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s been pretty wild man.

00:39.981 –> 00:45.963
[SPEAKER_01]: Just talking to people from all around the globe who just share that common passion for whiskey.

00:46.423 –> 00:47.564
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s really been wild.

00:47.804 –> 00:50.245
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s been pretty wild.

00:50.305 –> 00:57.347
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m kind of in shock because you know, a hundred episodes is nothing to not too shabby and it’s been pretty seamless and fun.

00:58.127 –> 01:01.829
[SPEAKER_01]: So I know everybody who listens, you know how much I love Mector’s.

01:02.129 –> 01:03.830
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s just very special to me.

01:03.910 –> 01:04.970
[SPEAKER_01]: Dan is very special.

01:05.010 –> 01:06.451
[SPEAKER_01]: The whole team is very special.

01:06.931 –> 01:17.676
[SPEAKER_01]: So to have Dan on, I kind of wanted to like introduce yourself because Dan’s a unique individual and the first I met Dan when he first came on board and Fort Nelson was like really just opening up.

01:18.396 –> 01:20.958
[SPEAKER_01]: And Dan and I first met over a chivaly.

01:20.999 –> 01:23.080
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the next day I was at Fort Nelson.

01:23.621 –> 01:26.584
[SPEAKER_01]: And we were in the back of those new, not new.

01:27.865 –> 01:29.206
[SPEAKER_01]: The wash backs were set up.

01:29.666 –> 01:33.169
[SPEAKER_01]: And Dan sat there with me and he goes, this is just my happy place.

01:33.830 –> 01:35.692
[SPEAKER_01]: So Dan, welcome to the show.

01:36.112 –> 01:37.513
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for coming on the show.

01:38.414 –> 01:41.016
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m going to start with an interesting question.

01:41.036 –> 01:44.760
[SPEAKER_01]: Like where did whiskey first come into your life?

01:46.370 –> 02:10.611
[SPEAKER_00]: you know quote unquote going to the bar for that very first time but uh you know just enjoying it with your friends you know at that moment it was it was to have have a great time and nowhere would I have ever envisioned where I would be now really thirty years later thinking about those first steps of of of whiskey and then what it has led to it’s been

02:12.152 –> 02:15.773
[SPEAKER_00]: just like your hundredth episode, my career in the industry.

02:15.893 –> 02:23.475
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s been amazing from where I started and where I’m currently at and hopefully where it’s going to continue to grow.

02:23.595 –> 02:28.736
[SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, you mentioned, you’ve always been such a great supporter of the brand.

02:28.796 –> 02:31.177
[SPEAKER_00]: And with that, we all thank you.

02:31.197 –> 02:33.717
[SPEAKER_00]: The friendship has been amazing.

02:33.777 –> 02:35.558
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you said, we met many years ago.

02:36.398 –> 02:40.139
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you’ve gotten to know, you know, William and Pam, which

02:40.879 –> 02:41.819
[SPEAKER_00]: which is really cool.

02:41.839 –> 02:44.961
[SPEAKER_00]: Pam Hollman, Nick, there’s a second master distiller.

02:45.081 –> 02:55.686
[SPEAKER_00]: I was just on the phone this morning with her and amazing still to have that friendship and so forth and working, of course, with our master maturation Andrea Wilson’s amazing.

02:55.726 –> 03:01.688
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, knowing you for quite some time now, you know, thank you very much.

03:02.088 –> 03:03.249
[SPEAKER_00]: Congratulations again.

03:03.689 –> 03:05.670
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s, yeah, thank you, thank you, thank you.

03:05.730 –> 03:07.331
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it’s really, it’s been,

03:08.524 –> 03:20.358
[SPEAKER_01]: To me it’s still never gets old as I’m sure for you watching someone who believe it or not there’s very few left in the world who haven’t tried makers and then they try it and they’re like whoa

03:21.777 –> 03:25.720
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s like, like, I’ll tell you what was the craziest, one of the craziest things.

03:26.000 –> 03:28.422
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to get into your story as well, for sure.

03:28.442 –> 03:46.635
[SPEAKER_01]: The craziest thing was last year, whiskey live Paris, and I go over to Golden Promise, and you know, they have the two thousand and nineteen celebration, and I get a poor, and I’m at Golden Promise, like with all this amazing vintage whiskey.

03:47.255 –> 04:03.219
[SPEAKER_01]: and all of these serious, serious whiskey lovers, because anybody who’s ever been in that room, you know, it’s not that that menu is pretty much, would you like caviar and more caviar and more caviar when it comes to whiskeys?

04:03.559 –> 04:05.200
[SPEAKER_01]: There’s nothing basic in that room.

04:05.820 –> 04:10.163
[SPEAKER_01]: And these people are drinking, and that celebration comes out, and Salvador brings it out.

04:10.583 –> 04:15.166
[SPEAKER_01]: And the whole room is just watching this bottle walk around, because they bring the whole bottle see it.

04:15.626 –> 04:17.567
[SPEAKER_01]: And the whole room is just like, what’s he drinking?

04:17.767 –> 04:19.808
[SPEAKER_01]: Holy shit, that’s the victim’s celebration.

04:19.828 –> 04:23.450
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, I said to Ted, he was with me, I’m like, it just never gets old.

04:24.671 –> 04:28.293
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, and of course, you know, even I’ve shared that poor more than what?

04:28.353 –> 04:32.776
[SPEAKER_00]: Honestly, I’m not traveling the world like you.

04:32.796 –> 04:34.257
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m doing something wrong.

04:36.082 –> 04:38.143
[SPEAKER_01]: seen the pictures on Australia Dubai.

04:38.203 –> 04:47.525
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I was with Matt and he was telling me like how you guys went to Dubai and like the only like thunderstorm flood they’ve ever had was like when you guys were there.

04:47.545 –> 04:50.486
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it was quite the adventure.

04:50.546 –> 04:54.508
[SPEAKER_00]: We literally were drying during some of the worst of it.

04:55.148 –> 04:58.489
[SPEAKER_00]: It was it was definitely quite the experience, but you know,

04:59.797 –> 05:07.599
[SPEAKER_00]: That just, like I mentioned, you know, over nineteen years of doing this now and and it’s been great.

05:07.779 –> 05:14.520
[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, I love the the stilling, the industry, but you know, it’s just been amazing.

05:14.620 –> 05:22.542
[SPEAKER_00]: And the people along the way that I’ve been able to meet, especially in the role of master distiller since twenty nineteen, I mean meeting people

05:23.742 –> 05:24.863
[SPEAKER_00]: from all over the world.

05:24.883 –> 05:26.504
[SPEAKER_00]: It truly is special.

05:26.624 –> 05:33.049
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s very rewarding to see our product, you know, where we’re in over eighty export markets.

05:33.209 –> 05:36.071
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, all the, you know, the entire U.S.

05:36.211 –> 05:37.712
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s been pretty amazing.

05:39.013 –> 05:39.453
[SPEAKER_01]: But okay.

05:39.473 –> 05:41.594
[SPEAKER_01]: So I’m going to go back thirty years ago.

05:41.655 –> 05:42.615
[SPEAKER_01]: You’re sitting in bars.

05:42.655 –> 05:43.596
[SPEAKER_01]: You’re drinking whiskey.

05:43.656 –> 05:44.577
[SPEAKER_01]: Having a good time.

05:45.077 –> 05:45.557
[SPEAKER_01]: What was it?

05:45.617 –> 05:47.739
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, like, obviously,

05:48.725 –> 05:52.671
[SPEAKER_01]: We joke that who would have thought, you know, thirty years later, this is where you would be.

05:53.232 –> 05:56.476
[SPEAKER_01]: But going back thirty years ago, what was, where was your path?

05:56.597 –> 05:59.841
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, how did you, you weren’t originally getting into whiskey, right?

06:00.222 –> 06:02.846
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I, I lost and I, you know, it’s,

06:03.867 –> 06:20.199
[SPEAKER_00]: little fuzzy going that far back, but no, I was in college and also, you know, I was doing construction during the summertime, which then eventually led to, I joined the Union apprenticeship program for what I was doing.

06:20.259 –> 06:27.223
[SPEAKER_00]: And then that led to full time, you know, job as a form and doing commercial.

06:28.084 –> 06:49.047
[SPEAKER_00]: you know roofing and I’ve been a part of very some very large scale projects and for that thirteen years that I did that and you know the last seven of them I traveled running large crews and you know yeah that wasn’t a thought it wasn’t until so how did that happen like this transition there like how did whiskey come in

06:50.953 –> 07:00.768
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, of course, enjoying it through the years, but the start to the industry was I had a really good friend that moved down to Louisville, the, you know, finished going to school.

07:00.968 –> 07:03.232
[SPEAKER_00]: He ended up getting married and so forth.

07:03.953 –> 07:06.196
[SPEAKER_00]: And at that time, he worked at Jim Beam and

07:06.897 –> 07:09.340
[SPEAKER_00]: Just, you know, I would talk to him periodically.

07:09.400 –> 07:21.674
[SPEAKER_00]: We always stayed in contact in one day when he had called the opportunity, you know, he had mentioned that they were hiring for different positions, bottling technicians, distillery, and so forth.

07:22.675 –> 07:23.796
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I was intrigued.

07:24.096 –> 07:25.437
[SPEAKER_00]: I was at that time.

07:25.457 –> 07:28.239
[SPEAKER_00]: I had been traveling a lot for work.

07:28.339 –> 07:31.762
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, maybe it is time to do something different.

07:31.922 –> 07:35.084
[SPEAKER_00]: And so yeah, I went through the whole process applied.

07:35.205 –> 07:40.629
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was offered a distillery operator position at the Jim Beam Claremont distillery.

07:41.629 –> 07:46.373
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, I moved six hours south from where I lived and came to Kentucky.

07:46.393 –> 07:48.695
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, Kentucky’s home now after all these years.

07:50.539 –> 08:03.899
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, what it was Kentucky like back in those days and I’m talking about like that comment makes makes me sound like I’m talking about the old days, but I mean it literally was seventeen years ago like what was Kentucky like back then?

08:05.654 –> 08:13.039
[SPEAKER_00]: I do live down by the Bart Stone area, which has been fantastic, and it’s just a, it’s been a great place.

08:13.159 –> 08:22.845
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, the industry and tourism tourism wasn’t like it was barred to withdraw, you know, like, I mean, it literally blew up in a good way.

08:23.585 –> 08:25.647
[SPEAKER_00]: It has blown up in a great way, but, you know,

08:26.407 –> 08:35.055
[SPEAKER_00]: I think what’s really great about the whole thing is that more people are getting to speed the great state of Kentucky and what it has to offer it.

08:35.375 –> 08:46.264
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it’s not just low will, it’s not just Lexington, but there’s so many small little cities and towns to explore and obviously the bourbon industry has been a big part of that and to really showcase

08:46.945 –> 08:54.712
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, a lot of great food and art and entertainment and just, you know, the great people living here in Kentucky.

08:54.852 –> 09:01.857
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that’s what’s great about it because it has brought people from all over the world to come enjoy Kentucky.

09:02.598 –> 09:04.199
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it really has.

09:04.299 –> 09:06.660
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s mind blowing when I’m traveling globally.

09:06.980 –> 09:09.141
[SPEAKER_01]: And people like, yeah, I’m going to be in Kentucky next month.

09:09.181 –> 09:11.722
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m like, you’re coming from Hong Kong to Kentucky.

09:11.962 –> 09:16.464
[SPEAKER_01]: You’re coming from Paris to Kentucky, like, oh, yeah, it’s like, we can’t wait.

09:16.784 –> 09:19.726
[SPEAKER_01]: And then they’ll say to me, like, Dan, they’ll be like, what should we do?

09:19.806 –> 09:22.467
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m like, wait, you’re flying all the way out there and you don’t have a plan?

09:22.487 –> 09:23.067
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

09:25.348 –> 09:35.412
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, I tell people now, wherever I’m at, when they’re talking about visiting, I’m like, make sure you go online and make sure you make reservations.

09:36.132 –> 09:39.494
[SPEAKER_00]: No matter where you’re going, there’s obviously other great distilleries.

09:39.614 –> 09:45.716
[SPEAKER_00]: And I’m like, last thing we want you to do is travel this far and then not get to do what you are hoping to do.

09:45.816 –> 09:52.219
[SPEAKER_00]: So I always recommend make sure you make the reservations, whether it’s for your distillery visits or

09:52.819 –> 09:56.263
[SPEAKER_00]: for the restaurants that you want to visit or any of the events.

09:56.343 –> 10:09.877
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s that definitely has changed since I. For for sure hands down, but like I said, what’s really great about it is really been able to showcase the state of Kentucky and the many things that it offers.

10:10.915 –> 10:12.796
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it’s really my happy place.

10:12.876 –> 10:13.557
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s so beautiful.

10:13.577 –> 10:16.599
[SPEAKER_01]: I tell people like Scotland and Kentucky.

10:17.179 –> 10:25.164
[SPEAKER_01]: Those are my two happy places because you can go within thirty minutes and literally find what I call like lost paradise.

10:25.564 –> 10:27.266
[SPEAKER_01]: It doesn’t have to be the name jam.

10:27.606 –> 10:35.091
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s just like some little watering hole or some little restaurant or some space that’s existed forever, but not everybody knows about it.

10:35.411 –> 10:38.453
[SPEAKER_01]: But it’s literally thirty minutes away from all the big action.

10:38.975 –> 11:03.518
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and you can go out west or you can go to east and, you know, like you said, you’ll find these little towns with the little diners and, you know, the stories with, you know, with the people living there, the locals, and of course, you know, the state’s peppered with a lot of historical markers and, you know, we have several lakes that people enjoy as well, except it really has showcased the state.

11:04.375 –> 11:05.916
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I hundred percent.

11:05.936 –> 11:12.678
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so now, so you’re at Jim being, you start your role and you immediately, I mean, what’s that like?

11:12.718 –> 11:15.119
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, obviously, it’s a change from doing roofing and stuff.

11:15.159 –> 11:18.080
[SPEAKER_01]: So now you’re like, oh, yeah, yeah.

11:18.640 –> 11:29.904
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, going from being on, you know, high rises and, you know, things like that to all of a sudden working midnight to eight in the morning, that was a big shock as well.

11:30.564 –> 11:37.988
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, getting to sit down and operate some of the largest stills that’s making bourbon for the largest bourbon company.

11:38.108 –> 11:39.769
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was awesome.

11:39.829 –> 11:53.637
[SPEAKER_00]: It was, you know, I always say awesome, Andrea thesis because I say awesome all the time, but it really has been, I mean, to be there and receiving the grain and milling it and learning how to mash and ferment and distill.

11:55.157 –> 11:58.719
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, who wouldn’t want that job to say, hey, I make Jim Beam.

11:58.739 –> 12:01.980
[SPEAKER_00]: It was an amazing time of my life.

12:02.180 –> 12:16.205
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, after two years of being a distillery operator, I had the fortune of promoting to distillery supervisor and then working at the Booker Notestillery, which, you know, at that time was the largest bourbon distillery.

12:17.085 –> 12:22.111
[SPEAKER_00]: which so I really got to see it at an even larger scale, which was amazing.

12:22.151 –> 12:24.613
[SPEAKER_00]: And I worked from twelve to eight, twelve a.m.

12:24.633 –> 12:25.454
[SPEAKER_00]: to eight a.m.

12:25.835 –> 12:29.378
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, for another seven years, a total of nine years, while as that beam.

12:29.438 –> 12:31.581
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, and I always say this.

12:33.022 –> 12:47.342
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m very fortunate and lucky to have had that nine years there because I worked with a lot of great people that had ten, twenty, thirty, forty, plus years of experience and it’s what really allowed me to join the Mixers team.

12:48.183 –> 12:51.005
[SPEAKER_00]: and to continue, you know, my path forward.

12:51.586 –> 13:04.216
[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, you also, I was at an interesting stage because once again, not sounding like we’re talking about when the dinosaurs roam the earth, but you’re also at the beginning of technology coming into the distilleries.

13:05.703 –> 13:33.089
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, I always say when I started the big wheels of the industry, we’re turning again, and which was an exciting time, because just if you look on the production schedule of the distilleries at that time, they had longer summer shutdowns, and then as we were progressing through the years, they kept shrinking and shrinking, because thankfully our forecast calls for more whiskey to be producing.

13:33.509 –> 13:51.705
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, it was being at being there, obviously it was a lot of automation, which was a great way to learn, you’re out on the floor as well, learning how all the ends and outs, and then learning from the other distillery managers and supervisors and fellow operators.

13:52.045 –> 13:54.908
[SPEAKER_00]: That’s where I really gained so much knowledge at that point.

13:55.408 –> 14:01.753
[SPEAKER_00]: and then coming to mixtures, obviously, being smaller, we actually don’t have a lot of automation.

14:01.793 –> 14:16.204
[SPEAKER_00]: We have automation in certain key areas of the process, but we still do a lot of manual things manually, but it also keeps the distillery operator very focused in a part of the process.

14:16.224 –> 14:22.569
[SPEAKER_00]: So there’s, you know, you can always say there’s pros and cons of things, but I do love the way we operate here as well.

14:23.470 –> 14:26.531
[SPEAKER_00]: keeping us all involved in the process.

14:26.991 –> 14:32.932
[SPEAKER_00]: You’re knowing what’s happening at any given moment, and not necessarily just relying on the automation.

14:32.952 –> 14:41.054
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I think that’s the beauty of what the whiskey that comes out.

14:41.374 –> 14:44.615
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s almost craft whiskey because it’s so hand crafted.

14:44.635 –> 14:47.396
[SPEAKER_01]: There’s so many hands actually involved.

14:48.087 –> 14:51.610
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I mean, that’s that’s the beauty in what makes Mector special.

14:52.150 –> 15:05.680
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, as we are smaller, we’re family owned right privately held and we always talk about our six signature production techniques and and it’s not that some distilleries do a few of the techniques, but nobody’s doing all of them.

15:06.201 –> 15:15.868
[SPEAKER_00]: We are a very quality focused company and that’s what we’ve built the brand on and the relationships we’ve built and people have known they can trust our whiskeys and

15:16.668 –> 15:17.569
[SPEAKER_00]: and come to love them.

15:18.109 –> 15:25.313
[SPEAKER_00]: And that’s what’s really built the brand is the quality of the whiskeys, but the relationships that we’ve been able to build along the way.

15:25.333 –> 15:35.158
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I would think, I mean, the relationships are just insane and just, and they’re true and they’re passionate and they’re, you know, the authenticity is just like next level.

15:35.378 –> 15:47.975
[SPEAKER_01]: which is not you know not saying like that’s the thing by like the warmth of mixtures is really second to none because I and I see what it does and I see the people and I see the the gent like

15:48.998 –> 15:56.104
[SPEAKER_01]: You guys will go, I mean, when I was in Paris, there was a situation where it was, it was the last night of the whiskey live show.

15:56.624 –> 15:58.585
[SPEAKER_01]: I went off for dinner with John in the boys.

15:58.786 –> 16:03.229
[SPEAKER_01]: It was pretty funny because we went to a restaurant and it was Paris Fashion Week.

16:03.930 –> 16:05.631
[SPEAKER_01]: And we walk in six guys.

16:05.951 –> 16:11.535
[SPEAKER_01]: And their first comment says, oh, you guys here for Fashion Week.

16:11.555 –> 16:13.157
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn’t know that.

16:13.217 –> 16:14.578
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m going to have to tease John.

16:16.528 –> 16:20.433
[SPEAKER_01]: We’re at this fancy like Afghan Mediterranean restaurant.

16:20.553 –> 16:23.336
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, you guys here from Fashion Week and I always like sell them in floor.

16:23.777 –> 16:26.880
[SPEAKER_01]: So then so we have a beautiful dinner afterwards.

16:26.920 –> 16:35.510
[SPEAKER_01]: We’ve got a Harry’s bar, you know, we’re having a couple of cocktails and it’s late and unlike so for of the six of us like we’re like, hey, I think it’s time to go to bed.

16:36.531 –> 16:40.452
[SPEAKER_01]: And John looks and he’s like, oh, I just got a message from a customer.

16:40.492 –> 16:41.252
[SPEAKER_01]: He’s coming to meet us.

16:41.452 –> 16:42.212
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m going to stay.

16:42.652 –> 16:44.953
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was just like, wow, that is mickers.

16:45.353 –> 16:45.893
[SPEAKER_01]: Here it is.

16:45.973 –> 16:47.573
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, it’s been a long day.

16:47.834 –> 16:48.914
[SPEAKER_01]: Everyone’s tired.

16:49.194 –> 16:50.294
[SPEAKER_01]: But it’s not even like a thing.

16:50.334 –> 16:51.754
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s like, hey, there’s a customer coming.

16:51.894 –> 16:52.455
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m going to stay.

16:52.475 –> 16:53.335
[SPEAKER_01]: You guys head home.

16:53.635 –> 16:54.555
[SPEAKER_01]: I’ll see you in the morning.

16:54.595 –> 16:57.596
[SPEAKER_01]: And I’m like, wow, this is what makes this brand.

16:57.716 –> 16:59.216
[SPEAKER_01]: The people, the whiskey.

16:59.276 –> 17:01.477
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s just, just nothing like it.

17:01.777 –> 17:02.717
[SPEAKER_01]: Just isn’t it?

17:03.717 –> 17:04.178
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it?

17:05.319 –> 17:11.965
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s the way we have been taught from the beginning of building those relationships.

17:12.525 –> 17:16.869
[SPEAKER_00]: We don’t have that multi-million dollar marketing company and it’s

17:19.131 –> 17:40.405
[SPEAKER_00]: it’s we’ve got a great marketing team but it’s a much smaller and you know that that’s how we have to get out there we have to we have to go out there and build those relationships what what I you know I’m a you know me now I’m a people person I love the talk but I truly did not know I would enjoy this aspect of the job as much as I do and

17:41.986 –> 17:44.167
[SPEAKER_00]: I take every opportunity no matter where I’m at.

17:44.287 –> 17:46.828
[SPEAKER_00]: If we’re at an account, I will always go up.

17:47.528 –> 17:58.991
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m doing it for work or if I’m just enjoying it for a personal time, I still go up to whether it’s bar tenders and say thank you or if the managers there go up and say thank you.

17:59.352 –> 18:00.152
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it’s gotten me.

18:00.572 –> 18:09.495
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s not that it got me in trouble, but I’ve had some special occasions when I’ve, like my wife’s birthday were then I spent a half hour away from the table.

18:10.535 –> 18:30.660
[SPEAKER_00]: you kind of come back to the table and she understands, it’s not that, it’s just like really, you know, but it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s

18:32.920 –> 18:50.357
[SPEAKER_01]: and we’re upstairs in the board room and then has, I mean, I don’t know if you’d been there for maybe two weeks in Andrea and we haven’t front of us to make just two thousand and fourteen rye and we have the celebration, I want to say it’s the two thousand and sixteen celebration.

18:51.398 –> 18:59.424
[SPEAKER_01]: And they say, all right, Dan, you’re going to do a video telling Gavin, this Rolex whiskey dude sitting across from you about these whiskey’s.

18:59.704 –> 19:01.025
[SPEAKER_01]: So I look at envisioning.

19:01.265 –> 19:04.367
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we do that celebration and we do the ride.

19:05.188 –> 19:14.854
[SPEAKER_01]: At that point, did you ever, I mean, I’m sure maybe in your mind, but I mean, you’ve done two of your two celebrations or three celebrations now under you.

19:15.375 –> 19:16.656
[SPEAKER_01]: I’ve done two.

19:17.429 –> 19:26.556
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, like you’re sitting there and we’re going through this and did you say, man, I wonder if I know in your head, I wonder if I’m ever going to release one of these bad boys.

19:26.576 –> 19:28.197
[SPEAKER_01]: This is pretty spectacular liquid.

19:29.318 –> 19:35.602
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it’s like I said, yeah, to have a bottle with your name on it in gold, it’s

19:36.687 –> 19:45.651
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s truly, truly special and to, again, to have victors believe in you.

19:45.771 –> 19:54.115
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, again, we all know it’s more than just the master of distiller here at victors, you know, Andrea Wilson, RCO and master of maturation.

19:54.895 –> 19:57.516
[SPEAKER_00]: We have such a great team that we work with.

19:58.837 –> 20:02.738
[SPEAKER_00]: And I know it’s easy to say that, but Andrea was employee number seven.

20:02.838 –> 20:07.440
[SPEAKER_00]: I was employee number eight and between our three locations were just under a hundred.

20:08.161 –> 20:12.843
[SPEAKER_00]: And so everyone else is, you know, just as big a part of this.

20:13.643 –> 20:18.105
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, do I get to go out and talk about it more and things like that?

20:18.225 –> 20:26.468
[SPEAKER_00]: But while I’m getting to do this, they’re doing the work as well and it’s pretty amazing to watch it happen.

20:27.795 –> 20:34.616
[SPEAKER_01]: No, I mean, I just, I mean, all, I mean, it’s amazing because I feel like it’s just, it’s, it’s a beautiful family.

20:34.636 –> 20:35.917
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, make beautiful whiskey.

20:36.657 –> 20:55.421
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you think about back then when we did that, and I know you love to show a certain video, or I think I’m fumbling and bumbling while I’m trying to talk about celebration, but it’s, you know, no matter how many times we do this, see that even like today, there’s always an nervousness that exists there.

20:56.576 –> 21:04.881
[SPEAKER_01]: I did, and I just like, I look back on that day, and the biggest thing that stood out was, so, you know, I owned that two thousand and fourteen ride.

21:05.061 –> 21:06.382
[SPEAKER_01]: I’d never tried it before.

21:06.402 –> 21:09.824
[SPEAKER_01]: I had asked multiple times, not more a few times.

21:09.884 –> 21:17.969
[SPEAKER_01]: I just mean like, hey, I’m just wondering, and the general responsibility to be like, let’s talk about something else, or, you don’t know where to find.

21:18.009 –> 21:22.092
[SPEAKER_01]: And then showing up that day, and I remember seeing Andrew in the hallway, and she’s like, yeah,

21:22.392 –> 21:23.393
[SPEAKER_01]: Joe said, it’s a go.

21:23.433 –> 21:25.674
[SPEAKER_01]: You can just say, and I’m like, what’s the go?

21:25.694 –> 21:26.374
[SPEAKER_01]: What’s going on?

21:26.714 –> 21:28.596
[SPEAKER_01]: And I walk in that room and we pour that.

21:29.036 –> 21:30.937
[SPEAKER_01]: And I remember Andrew just sitting back there.

21:31.077 –> 21:34.379
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m videoing you and I remember looking at her and she’s just stepping on that gun.

21:34.419 –> 21:36.760
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, wow, this is great whiskey.

21:37.480 –> 21:39.582
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

21:40.242 –> 21:44.044
[SPEAKER_00]: That bottle is so sell them ever come out.

21:44.184 –> 21:45.925
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s a truly special whiskey.

21:45.945 –> 21:47.826
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s an amazing whiskey.

21:48.106 –> 21:50.228
[SPEAKER_00]: When you’re ready to open it, I would be.

21:51.127 –> 21:54.088
[SPEAKER_01]: No, God, that’s one that’s never, that’s one that I’m not getting rid of.

21:54.108 –> 22:01.772
[SPEAKER_01]: That’s not, and all my celebrations and a few of my twenties, you know, when this, when this, this thing, but I mean, it’s just something’s amazing.

22:02.192 –> 22:05.813
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, just in case you do want to open it, I can fly to meet you.

22:05.933 –> 22:09.615
[SPEAKER_01]: And, uh, no, no, I think, well, I think, well, I have a lot of fun with that bottle.

22:09.655 –> 22:15.818
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it’s just, it’s a, you know, I, you know, to be honest, you know, no disrespect to that two thousand and fourteen, I thought it was special.

22:16.178 –> 22:18.879
[SPEAKER_01]: But then I had the two thousand and twelve was Steve in the office.

22:19.039 –> 22:20.700
[SPEAKER_01]: His office was very impressed.

22:21.360 –> 22:22.861
[SPEAKER_01]: He had over there in his stories.

22:24.581 –> 22:36.746
[SPEAKER_01]: I spent three hours with him and I think we sipped on like three whiskey’s and spoke the whole time about like he’s like imagine a bunch of guys from New York in the eighties cruising through Kentucky trying to purchase whiskey and they’re like who are you guys?

22:37.206 –> 22:38.827
[SPEAKER_01]: Like you guys are driving around the limousine.

22:39.547 –> 22:44.632
[SPEAKER_00]: So Steve Ziegler, our EVP of sales, he’s amazing.

22:44.712 –> 22:47.034
[SPEAKER_00]: And I can only imagine his collection.

22:47.074 –> 22:51.779
[SPEAKER_00]: He’s been with mickers in Chatham for over thirty five years.

22:51.899 –> 22:56.603
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, he has been a part of helping build this brand.

22:56.684 –> 23:02.569
[SPEAKER_00]: And so yeah, the fact that I just wanted to why he has all those bottles of night now.

23:03.510 –> 23:08.891
[SPEAKER_01]: And I know that they’ve got you on bigger trips than just going to casual New York a few hours away.

23:09.371 –> 23:12.492
[SPEAKER_01]: But we also drank like a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a,

23:25.935 –> 23:26.395
[SPEAKER_01]: about that.

23:28.076 –> 23:29.957
[SPEAKER_00]: That was an amazing time.

23:30.678 –> 23:38.162
[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, I wasn’t here during that time, but I’ve gotten to try a few of the whiskeys from the early years, which is amazing.

23:38.942 –> 23:39.123
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

23:40.263 –> 23:40.643
[SPEAKER_01]: That’s it.

23:41.044 –> 23:41.924
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s truly special.

23:42.264 –> 23:45.726
[SPEAKER_01]: We have crushed thirty minutes with nothing.

23:45.806 –> 23:50.969
[SPEAKER_01]: I know we started with this call with you going back thirty years and going, I would never envision.

23:50.989 –> 23:53.791
[SPEAKER_01]: So we’re going to end with my favorite question.

23:54.955 –> 24:07.732
[SPEAKER_01]: Are there any one or two pinch yourself moments in this spectacular career you’re having where you literally are doing something and you look left, look right, and you like, holy shit, I can’t believe I’m doing this.

24:08.807 –> 24:10.888
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I think, you know, there’s several.

24:11.628 –> 24:26.733
[SPEAKER_00]: First one would have been just, again, my first day in the industry, you know, working at Jim Beams, working, being able to say that and operating, you know, like I said at the largest urban distillery, it’s just,

24:27.493 –> 24:38.666
[SPEAKER_00]: That was a pinch of moment, you know, and then just through the career, but another big one would have been joining the mickers team in December of twenty fourteen.

24:39.106 –> 24:45.754
[SPEAKER_00]: And then by August the twenty fifteen, you know, we were the new distillery here at Mickers was online.

24:47.035 –> 25:05.869
[SPEAKER_00]: and you know working with Willie Pratt and Pam Hollman and of course Andrea and two to distillery operators and myself being the first ones to put beer to our still that that right there was another pinch of moment and and then of course in twenty nineteen becoming master distiller

25:06.670 –> 25:17.515
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, those are three great moments in my career that I’ll always remember and be very grateful for many people supporting me along the way and allowing these opportunities.

25:18.175 –> 25:31.441
[SPEAKER_00]: But those were three great moments, the introduction into the industry, being a part of sending beer to our new beer still and creating, you know, it’s just such a high quality premium whiskey, very proud of.

25:32.201 –> 25:45.693
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, in twenty twenty three we were voted most admired whiskey in the world and and first American whiskey company to achieve that by drinks international and then to repeat that in twenty twenty four.

25:46.213 –> 25:48.816
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, that’s a testament to what the team has been doing.

25:50.297 –> 25:51.297
[SPEAKER_00]: It really, especially.

25:51.317 –> 26:00.061
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, when I was in Hong Kong a few months ago, one of the very rare people to get a picture outside Tiffany’s bar that is not actually in the whiskey business.

26:01.322 –> 26:03.783
[SPEAKER_01]: So what did they bring out for, what’ll for me to hold mickers?

26:04.103 –> 26:06.044
[SPEAKER_01]: They’re like, yeah, here, hold this that sign.

26:06.064 –> 26:07.805
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, Lars, you know, he’s like, of course I know.

26:08.185 –> 26:13.388
[SPEAKER_01]: And then Matt was there about a month ago and he’s sending me pictures of all my new Hong Kong friends.

26:13.408 –> 26:15.229
[SPEAKER_01]: He’s like, oh, I know these guys.

26:15.509 –> 26:17.510
[SPEAKER_01]: They said they had so much fun with you and I’m like,

26:17.870 –> 26:25.236
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, Hong Kong was just a mind blowing experience of like really like going to like places and finding stuff.

26:25.556 –> 26:30.521
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, of all places, I was having, you know, Dan and I was so sure I really loved for good food.

26:32.142 –> 26:38.487
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was at this, I was at a Michelin star Indian food place in Hong Kong for lunch.

26:39.188 –> 26:41.249
[SPEAKER_01]: And I’m sitting down there and it’s like, um,

26:42.115 –> 26:48.136
[SPEAKER_01]: Wagyu cheek and caviar and all these things, and I’m like, man, I just need like, I need a whiskey.

26:48.737 –> 26:52.137
[SPEAKER_01]: And I look on the menu, Dan, and there’s a Mictor’s cocktail.

26:52.197 –> 26:53.658
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m like, get the hell out of here.

26:53.978 –> 26:59.059
[SPEAKER_01]: How is there a Mictor’s cocktail in Hong Kong in an Indian food restaurant?

26:59.079 –> 27:01.239
[SPEAKER_01]: And I said, Matt, a picture, and he’s like, oh, yeah.

27:01.519 –> 27:03.740
[SPEAKER_01]: So I said to the guy, listen, I don’t want more cocktail drinker.

27:04.360 –> 27:05.981
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you have any other mixtures?

27:06.541 –> 27:08.041
[SPEAKER_01]: And he’s like, oh, let me go find that.

27:08.061 –> 27:08.982
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me go look at the bar.

27:09.022 –> 27:11.042
[SPEAKER_01]: And he’s all excited because, you know, at lunchtime.

27:11.483 –> 27:15.184
[SPEAKER_01]: And I’m sitting in there and I’m wearing, of course, Mike, and make whiskey great again at.

27:15.664 –> 27:17.705
[SPEAKER_01]: And now the chef, the head chef, has come out.

27:18.045 –> 27:19.545
[SPEAKER_01]: And he’s talking about whiskey.

27:19.946 –> 27:24.347
[SPEAKER_01]: And the guy brings me a two thousand and eighteen, um, ten ride.

27:24.967 –> 27:25.808
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, and he’s like, hey.

27:26.908 –> 27:30.431
[SPEAKER_01]: And then it’s like, there’s like two and a quarter ounces left in the bottle.

27:30.451 –> 27:32.033
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m like, I’ll just finish that with my lunch.

27:32.673 –> 27:38.218
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the chef sits down with me and I pour, and I give him some and he’s like, oh my God, this is amazing.

27:38.238 –> 27:41.161
[SPEAKER_01]: And I’m like, mickers, follows me everywhere.

27:41.361 –> 27:42.542
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s such a beautiful thing.

27:42.602 –> 27:43.943
[SPEAKER_01]: And I’m like, here I am.

27:43.963 –> 27:49.027
[SPEAKER_01]: And I’m like, these are the experiences that when I look back, I mean, I look back with you and me.

27:49.087 –> 27:50.849
[SPEAKER_01]: You and I did a breakfast tasting once.

27:51.309 –> 27:54.072
[SPEAKER_01]: And we drank all that crazy whiskey with like donuts.

27:56.895 –> 28:22.850
[SPEAKER_01]: if it’s like the only time in your day that you had it was like eight thirty in the morning and like I’ll be there remember that we had a host bread of like donuts and we’re like well cool we’re going to drink some twenty five bourbon we’re going to drink a couple of bomb burgers the views janks yeah we’re going to be good I will say I will say that one special thing about the victors whiskeys is they pair so well with food and they really do

28:23.450 –> 28:24.050
[SPEAKER_00]: but I’ll do.

28:24.310 –> 28:27.192
[SPEAKER_00]: You asked something that has changed over the years.

28:27.272 –> 28:32.734
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I’m probably not pairing them with donuts anymore in my life as like, you know.

28:33.195 –> 28:34.415
[SPEAKER_01]: That wasn’t not intention.

28:34.475 –> 28:35.376
[SPEAKER_01]: It was just a time.

28:35.776 –> 28:40.198
[SPEAKER_01]: And if anyone’s ever gone to Shival, you know that they, they always have something there.

28:40.398 –> 28:41.799
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s never just like, hey, come in.

28:41.819 –> 28:48.482
[SPEAKER_01]: There’s always, there’s hospitality is always included in every aspect of every experience.

28:49.102 –> 28:58.488
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh no, Andrea, I think says it best, you know, we make whiskey, but we’re definitely in the hospitality business, that’s for sure, and it hands down.

28:59.664 –> 29:02.847
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, Dan, I can’t thank you enough for coming on the hundredth episode.

29:03.467 –> 29:06.990
[SPEAKER_01]: I really, you’re so special to me, the brand is so special to me.

29:07.010 –> 29:09.432
[SPEAKER_01]: And I use real, I can’t, I mean, the memories.

29:10.012 –> 29:12.875
[SPEAKER_01]: Like one day, I will look back and go like holy shit.

29:13.535 –> 29:17.618
[SPEAKER_01]: Like this is these are some solid, huge memories that they already are now.

29:17.699 –> 29:21.542
[SPEAKER_01]: But like, they just keep exponentially getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

29:21.562 –> 29:27.546
[SPEAKER_01]: And I’m so grateful to call you and the whole team friends and family and just

29:28.487 –> 29:49.053
[SPEAKER_01]: really been around watching it and and watching it grow and and how hard do everybody’s work the whole team for all these huge accolades that you receive and to me even as a consumer I love her all that kind of stuff like I get so proud I’m like wow like look at them look at them look at them like everything is so well deserved and so hard work for

29:49.968 –> 29:53.050
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, again, I appreciate it and congratulations.

29:53.150 –> 30:02.817
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, it’s, it’s things like this, though, along, along my career that I’m going to look back and, and it just makes me smile.

30:02.877 –> 30:06.460
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the fact that you asked me to be a part of your hundredth episode.

30:06.480 –> 30:10.283
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, no, seriously, there’s so many green ones that you could have asked.

30:10.963 –> 30:15.789
[SPEAKER_00]: And the fact that you asked me to be a part of it, that means a lot.

30:16.089 –> 30:18.832
[SPEAKER_00]: And it’s these moments.

30:18.992 –> 30:25.119
[SPEAKER_00]: I mentioned a few of them, but there’s been so many really cool moments along the way.

30:25.139 –> 30:26.621
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is one of them.

30:28.677 –> 30:29.638
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, thank you, my friend.

30:29.958 –> 30:30.718
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you’re really.

30:31.138 –> 30:33.039
[SPEAKER_01]: You’re very special to me, and I appreciate you.

30:33.079 –> 30:34.260
[SPEAKER_01]: And to me, it was a no-brainer.

30:34.280 –> 30:35.040
[SPEAKER_01]: You were my hundredth.

30:35.120 –> 30:36.441
[SPEAKER_01]: I’ll wait for you to get back to me.

30:36.901 –> 30:37.882
[SPEAKER_01]: I would have waited weeks.

30:38.302 –> 30:40.824
[SPEAKER_01]: And when you were born, you said, how soon do you need to do this?

30:40.904 –> 30:42.164
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m like within the next two weeks.

30:42.184 –> 30:43.705
[SPEAKER_01]: And you’re like, cool, here’s the time.

30:43.725 –> 30:44.866
[SPEAKER_01]: And like, that works for me.

30:44.946 –> 30:47.847
[SPEAKER_01]: And like, I would have waited six, seven weeks to get you.

30:47.887 –> 30:49.988
[SPEAKER_01]: You were the hundredth, no matter what, I was gonna get you.

30:50.409 –> 30:52.190
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that’s cool.

30:52.710 –> 30:56.892
[SPEAKER_00]: And the fact that I responded as soon as I did, I think that was a record as well.

30:57.292 –> 30:57.633
[SPEAKER_01]: Me too.

30:58.573 –> 30:59.474
[SPEAKER_01]: I was like, wait, what?

30:59.554 –> 31:01.415
[SPEAKER_01]: Like the Dan of a Secretary now?

31:01.716 –> 31:02.456
[SPEAKER_01]: That’s responding.

31:03.257 –> 31:06.639
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, thank you everyone for listening to these amazing, hundred episodes.

31:07.240 –> 31:09.261
[SPEAKER_01]: I really can’t thank you the listeners enough.

31:09.342 –> 31:11.523
[SPEAKER_01]: The amazing people I’ve gotten on the show.

31:11.844 –> 31:12.504
[SPEAKER_01]: The friendship.

31:12.544 –> 31:13.605
[SPEAKER_01]: We’re not going anywhere.

31:13.645 –> 31:14.686
[SPEAKER_01]: We’re going to keep doing this.

31:15.146 –> 31:31.994
[SPEAKER_01]: This is, as you know, this is nothing, this is not finances, this is not my real job, this is purely passion for me and I love it and I’m grateful for all the amazing relationships and the great people I’ve met along the last ten years doing this Rolex whiskey thing that I do.

31:33.034 –> 31:34.595
[SPEAKER_01]: But really, thank you everyone for listening.

31:34.695 –> 31:36.497
[SPEAKER_01]: This has been an amazing hundredth episode.

31:36.517 –> 31:38.218
[SPEAKER_01]: Dan, I appreciate you so much.

31:38.618 –> 31:39.639
[SPEAKER_01]: I can’t wait to see you.

31:39.719 –> 31:40.860
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you everyone for listening.

31:41.240 –> 31:47.725
[SPEAKER_01]: Keep rating the shows and there’s your hundredth episode my family and friends and I appreciate every one of you.

31:48.045 –> 31:49.947
[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for listening and that’s a wrap.