Meet and Contact the Author, Chet Zoeller

(Reprinted from the book, Bourbon in Kentucky: A History of Distilleries in Kentucky)

I WAS BORN in 1941 in the shadows of Churchill Downs and many of the large distilling concerns located on 7th Street in the south end of Louisville. On a good day I could hear the races being called at Churchill Downs, and if I wandered close enough to the whiskey warehouses I could enjoy that heavenly aroma emanating from within. Just to prove I was a rounded Kentucky boy, not only did I have horses on one side and whiskey on the other, there were also numerous tobacco warehouses nearby. In the summers I could earn a quarter an hour sweeping tobacco warehouses that must have been 120 or 130 degrees inside.

Like everyone else I knew, my first experience with bourbon was to buy the most inexpensive bottle I could find, pour it into a Coke and drink it at a Saturday football game. You have to start somewhere. Soon enough, I discovered things like Whiskey Sours and Old Fashioneds and at Derby time a Julep or two. It didn’t take me long to figure out that the better the bourbon, the better the drink. Unfortunately, most people’s only experience with bourbon is at the Kentucky Derby in the form of a Mint Julep. The problem is, by the time you get your drink it is so watered down with melted ice and has such a huge sprig of mint in it that you are not able to really taste the bourbon. If you use excellent bourbon, I think you will enjoy your Mint Julep. I have found the less I mixed with my bourbon, the better I enjoyed the flavor. Occasionally I pour a little on the rocks, with or without a splash of branch water, and savor the glass over the next hour or so. Ultimately, however, I’ve come to buying the best bourbon I can find, pouring it in the bottom of the glass and sipping it over the course of an evening. It’s truly relaxing and enjoyable.

A BRIEF COMMERCIAL MESSAGE:

After discovering my family had some small ties to the whiskey business, I became very interested in its history. I started reading everything I could find on the subject, and became enamored by the romance of the product. It wasn’t long before my son Trey and I decided to enter the whiskey business ourselves, and in 1998 we introduced a product known as "Jefferson’s Reserve." It was 15-year-old bourbon bottled in what we call a "very small batch," meaning that we mingled about a dozen barrels at a time. I recommend it to your attention; around our house it is referred to as "mother’s milk."

I would love to tell you that we were welcomed into the bourbon community with open arms, but I cannot. Within the first few months we were contacted by several of our larger competitors and were advised to make some changes to our package or else. We made the changes. I am no longer in the business, but have turned it over to my son and I am delighted to say that his products are available across much of the United States and in several foreign countries. He has since introduced a 10-year-old "Sam Houston" and an 8-year-old "Jefferson’s." Despite the fact we had no advertising budget to speak of, we have received many excellent reviews of our products, and in late 2006 McLain & Kyne Distillery Co. was purchased by Castle Brands, which hopes to turn the aforementioned products into worldwide brands. I would refer you to our website, www.mclainandkyne.com, for more information if you are so inclined.