Bourbon Lens

Drew Thorn helped build Sagamore Spirit from a three-person startup and later became its CEO. In 2026 he launched Silverthorn Reserve, a Maryland bottler focused on 10- to 14-year-old whiskeys and small, intentional blends. In its first year, Silverthorn's Blender's Art Bourbon scored 98 points and Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. It's now a Best-in...

In November 1996, fire swept through Heaven Hill's original Bardstown distillery, sending a river of burning bourbon down the campus with smoke visible for miles. Not one life was lost, and Heaven Hill rebuilt. On the eve of that anniversary, Jake Lewellen reads Executive Chairman Max Shapiro's reflection on the fire and tastes the brand-new Heaven Hill Phoenix.

Phoenix...

Adam Edwards of Heaven Hill is the first five-time guest on the Bourbon Lens. He joins Jake and Scott at Kentucky Bourbon Festival to break down Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond Double Mash. It's a 9-year-old, $49.99 blend of Heaven Hill's traditional and wheated bourbon mash bills, and Adam calls it "one of one" on the market.

Adam explains why rye overpowers wheat in four-...

High West turns 20 this year, and it's marking the occasion with the boldest version of its most famous release. Jake sits down with Tara Lindley, Director of Sensory & New Product Development at High West, to talk about A Midwinter Night's Dram Act 14.

For the first time, the Rendezvous Rye blend includes whiskey finished in Amontillado, Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez s...

People are drinking Still Austin so fast the distillery had to grow. In Part 2 of our conversation, co-founder and CEO Chris Seals walks Jake and Scott through The Still Austin Quarter: a move from one and a half buildings to ten buildings on six and a half acres, with a live music venue built as the home of "The Musician" from their label.

Chris takes us room by room. ...