Cask and Still Magazine | 35 >>>
Left to right: Bernie was a stand-up comedian and musician; he closed his sets with a toast to his father; bourbon inspired tattoo; at a tasting in Warsaw.
You are involved in music as well, and even produce a show that combines bourbon with Bluegrass music – how did you find a way to combine your two passions? You can’t get more ‘Kentucky’ than Bluegrass music. I’d played the guitar since college and music is something I’d always wanted to do. After meeting the very talented Bluegrass musician Hickory Vaught I wanted to find a way to combine his music with one of my tastings. Our show called ‘Bourbon and Bluegrass’ starts with music from the 1700s as we taste unaged whiskey. Then we slowly progress through the history of bourbon, next tasting mellow corn whiskey as the music moves through the times too. It’s really a tasting combining the history of bourbon with the history of bluegrass music. We rehearsed and refined our performance for over a year before it became a show. We both have such busy schedules though so it’s difficult for us to do shows together but we have created a solo version that I can do on my own. It is a wonderful way to realise my dream of being a
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Bluegrass musician and representing Kentucky authentically.
Tell me about the family dynasties involved in the Kentucky bourbon industry and about their feuds There are loads of families. The Beam family’s distillery was set up by Jacob Beam in 1795 and is now run by eighth generation Master Distiller, Fred Noe III, Jim Beam’s great-grandson. Jim Beam gets its name from James Beauregard Beam, known as Jim, who rebuilt the family business after prohibition. Heaven Hill was set up in 1935 and is
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