Eric Gregory, the President of the Kentucky Distillers Association, just announced the newest members of the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame.
This year’s inductees are:
Brad Boswell, President of Independent Stave Company
Owsley Brown I, longtime President of Brown-Forman
Thomas J. Flocco, President and CEO of Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc.
Edwin S. Foote, retired Master Distiller at Old Fitzgerald Distillery
Rita L. Greenwell, retired Administrative Assistant at the KDA
Jimmy Wickham, Director of Customer Relations and Quality Assurance, Independent Stave
Evan Williams, often credited to be “Kentucky’s First Distiller”
The press release goes on to say:
The Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame was created in 2001 by the KDA and the Kentucky Bourbon Festival to recognize individuals and organizations that have made a significant impact on bourbon’s stature, growth and awareness. It is the highest honor given by Kentucky’s legendary bourbon industry, with only 23 previous inductees.
Candidates may be nominated each year by the KDA’s member distilleries and the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Nominees are then sent to the KDA Board of Directors for selection.
The induction ceremony will be held this Friday, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Jideco Hall in Bardstown during the Kentucky Bourbon Festival’s VIP/Press Reception.
Each inductee will be presented with an engraved miniature still, and their names will be added to the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame display at the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History in Bardstown.
Congratulations!
Random observation: quite a large class, considering an average of three inductees per year in the previous seven years. Independent Stave rates two!
Nice to see them recognize Independent Stave. And I don’t know what happened behind the scenes they year after I was inducted, but there were only three. I honestly think they were too liberal the year I was inducted. There were a few of us–myself included–that I felt didn’t deserve it as much as others who were not nominated. (Michael Jackson, for example.)