HONORING EXCELLENCE: 2025 KENTUCKY BOURBON HALL OF FAME® WELCOMES NEW INDUCTEES & CELEBRATES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT RECIPIENT
FRANKFORT, Ky.— The 2025 class of the Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame® incorporates a longtime legislative champion, a trailblazing feminine entrepreneur, a key architect of the craft distilling growth, a Seventh-generation distiller of a storied Bourbon household and a 50-year veteran whose title is synonymous with whiskey high quality, integrity and trade management.
That revered veteran is Chris Morris, Brown-Forman Grasp Distiller Emeritus, who will obtain the distinguished Parker Beam Lifetime Achievement Award for his illustrious profession in Kentucky’s signature spirits trade courting again to 1976. It’s the trade’s highest honor.
Morris, 67, has performed an influential function within the success of the Brown-Forman portfolio establishing famend manufacturers comparable to Woodford Reserve Double Oak and Grasp’s Assortment, whereas additionally serving on acclaimed trade boards as a revered and visionary chief.
The Kentucky Distillers’ Affiliation as we speak introduced this yr’s esteemed class that shall be inducted in September in an unique, personal ceremony. The KDA created the Corridor of Fame in 2001 to acknowledge people who’ve made a transformational affect on Bourbon’s stature, progress and consciousness.
KDA President Eric Gregory famous that every inductee represents a chapter within the success of Kentucky Bourbon, from historic whiskey producers to the following era of craft distillers, the current modernization of Bourbon legal guidelines and insurance policies, and a lifetime of service spanning the lows and highs of American whiskey which he helped to flourish.
“Though they arrive from a wide range of backgrounds, these distinguished leaders all have one factor in widespread: an unequalled ardour for Kentucky Bourbon that has formed our timeless craft into the worldwide financial and tourism powerhouse it’s as we speak.
“We stay up for celebrating them and their achievements in September — Bourbon Heritage Month® — together with tons of of Bourbon’s most iconic legends and luminaries, all showcasing how Bourbon Builds Kentucky.”
Right here is the twenty third class of the Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame®, in alphabetical order:
- Craig Beam, 66, Bardstown, Ky. A seventh-generation distiller, Beam realized the artwork and science behind crafting nice whiskeys underneath the tutelage of his grandfather, Earl, and father, Parker, each legendary Grasp Distillers and Bourbon Corridor of Fame inductees from Heaven Hill Distillery. Now in his fourth decade, Craig is showcasing his award-winning skills and persevering with his legacy as Grasp Distiller at Jackson Buy Distillery in Western Kentucky, one of many Commonwealth’s fastest-growing contract distillers.
- The late Mary Dowling, Lawrenceburg, Ky. An acclaimed image of resiliency and pioneering spirit, Mary Dowling was born in 1859 to Irish immigrants and overcame anti-Irish sentiments and gender boundaries to turn into a trailblazing Bourbon entrepreneur. The primary girl to run a significant distillery in 1903, Dowling audaciously moved manufacturing to Mexico throughout Prohibition. A pillar of her Lawrenceburg, Ky. group and clearly forward of her time, Dowling constructed church buildings, championed immigrant, black and ladies’s rights and opened a free hospital earlier than her demise in 1930.
- Larry Ebersold, 75, Louisville, Ky. Ebersold’s decades-long profession, mixing company expertise at Seagram’s with entrepreneurial consulting, has left an indelible mark on the trendy Bourbon and rye whiskey trade. A key architect of the craft distillery growth, Ebersold’s experience has formed amenities for 31 distilleries, together with New Riff, Rabbit Gap and Bardstown Bourbon, collaborating with architects and engineers to design progressive manufacturing areas.
- Chris Morris, 67, Louisville, Ky. A 50-year veteran of the Kentucky Bourbon trade, Morris’ craftsmanship and integrity is hailed world wide for elevating Brown-Forman’s whiskey portfolio and crafting progressive manufacturers comparable to Woodford Reserve Double Oak and its vaunted Grasp’s Assortment. Morris additionally is likely one of the trade’s most revered historians, a three-time Chairman of the Kentucky Distillers’ Affiliation Board of Administrators, and a cherished mentor to his successor Elizabeth McCall, all of which has solidified his lasting, lifelong affect on Kentucky Bourbon.
- Damon Thayer, 57, Georgetown, Ky. One of many strongest champions of Kentucky Bourbon within the historical past of the Kentucky Common Meeting, retired Senate Majority Chief Thayer is instantly answerable for stewarding greater than 20 items of laws that modernized Kentucky’s signature trade, propelled its amber nectar into an unprecedented golden age and reworked distilling into an financial and tourism powerhouse for the Commonwealth.
Observe: Full biographies, submitted by the inductees, accompany this launch in a separate file discovered right here.
Annually, candidates for the Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame® are submitted by KDA member distilleries and the KDA Board of Administrators via a complete utility course of.
A particular choice committee consisting of all recipients of the Parker Beam Lifetime Achievement Award then rigorously critiques every utility and selects not more than 5 nominees a yr for induction.
The invitation-only ceremony and luncheon shall be held Tuesday, Sept. 16, at The Legacy at Log Nonetheless in Nelson County, Ky., and is proudly sponsored by Presenting Sponsors, Buzick Development, Inc.; Brindiamo Group, Bardstown Tourism, Unbiased Stave Firm, Log Nonetheless Distillery, and Vendome Copper & Brass Works Corp.
Tune In: 2025 Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame® Livestream Occasion, produced by RunSwitch PR and sponsored by Kroger Wine & Spirits, will function unique interviews with the 2025 Inductee Class, award presenters, and esteemed members of the Bourbon trade. Be part of livestream co-host Chris Blandford, Grownup Beverage Specialist for Kentucky, Southern Indian, and Southern Illinois Kroger shops, for an insider’s perspective on this annual and extremely anticipated celebration of excellence in Kentucky Bourbon.
Don’t miss this chance to expertise the tales and recognition behind the trade’s most prestigious honor.
Study extra concerning the Kentucky Bourbon Corridor of Fame at www.kybourbon.com.
Based in 1880, the Kentucky Distillers’ Affiliation (KDA) is the Worldwide Voice of Bourbon™.
Concerning the Kentucky Distillers’ Affiliation:
Based in 1880, the Kentucky Distillers’ Affiliation is the legendary voice for Kentucky’s signature Bourbon and distilled spirits trade. Its numerous and rising membership produces the overwhelming majority of the world’s Bourbon, from historic, world manufacturers to rising micro distilleries which might be fostering the following era of the Commonwealth’s landmark financial engine and its thriving, timeless craft. Member advantages embrace media relations, worldwide commerce improvement, personal sampling occasions, technical help, financial improvement assist, networking, authorized protection, advertising and marketing methods, governmental and regulatory advocacy and progressive tourism experiences via the KDA’s world-famous Kentucky Bourbon Path® and Kentucky Bourbon Path Craft Tour® adventures. A 501(c)(6) nonprofit group, the KDA maintains an open membership coverage, champions a robust dedication to the accountable and reasonable consumption of spirits, and fights to curb underage consuming and drunk driving. Study extra at www.kybourbon.com and www.kybourbontrail.com.
