The biggest myth in Whiskey is YOU.
And big booze likes to pretend it knows who you are.
You are a dying breed.
An aging demographic
A tired consumer.
Someone hunting for a pretty bottle for a decent price.
They want you to be envious, hungry little liquor store ghosts.
With clever tee-shirts, big beards and drink tickets for corporate owned festivals…Waiting in line, with sweaty hands for a chance to hand over your earned cash.
You, my friend, are the myth.
But they don’t know your story like we do. Because guess what? We are in whiskey land together.
It’s no mystery we are all in pursuit of something. For me, i’m chasing big dreams.
And when one when finds himself in the pursuit of a big dream, he must dare to look inward, to dive deeper and ask himself some very fundamental questions: Who am I ? How did I get here? What the hell is going on with bourbon.
Between the over-supply, the under perform, and tariffs caused by a rogue administration hell bent on breaking americas spirit…times are no doubt, tough. But let’s let history speak for a moment. Bourbon is built for these times. It’s a time traveling magic maker with a poetic taste. If we can overcome prohibition, Gen Z sobriety (or lack of a decent pay check…depending on which think piece you read….should be an uphill battle we can win with a parade of booze-brained innovation or at least with our most sincere effort to re build the industry in a way that works for everyone.
It’s not our faults they got greedy. But it is our responsibility to re-set the course. Dream a new dream. Grow big enough branches to reach a new dawn.
I know the history and I’ve toasted it from the shoulders of giants but I don’t think bourbons best days are behind us…It too, is in pursuit of a bigger dream.
Frankly, I’m excited the high wire act between my deepest, cave-man by the fireside pursuit of telling stories that transcend brand and the structures in which whiskey can fold in on itself. I know that I have visions and I’ve spent my entire career as a storyteller….being visionary. I believe that the stories matter.
I want to create in ways that beg of those that make whiskey with a conviction, to hold themselves on the wings of their highest calling…to tell a story that means something, because they know that it matters.
As a life long filmmaker, I’ve found myself telling whiskey stories not to chase clout or to get free booze but because I found a thread of connection to my family and that when I tugged at that thread, it brought a bond like I had never experienced. Late night conversations. Slow sips. End-of-the-trip hugs. And in a way, I know I hold a reverence for bourbon now that feels like its own kind of spiritual calling. It’s a key to a place in my heart that cannot be denied. In so many ways, it has unlocked something that transcends whiskey all together.
Some paths criss and cross but somehow mine, has circled around and it found itself back in some kind of new beginning.
This experience has shaped the way I view the world. These things, we pursue, in Ernest, become vehicles to our own kind of higher calling. I know that I can thread a needle towards some beautiful, unexpected new height, when given the opportunity to pursue my bigger dreams.
And here I find myself, facing one of those opportunities. Whiskeyland NEEDS our voices. And I know would be of highest honor, to narrate the future, guided by the very whiskey makers and whiskey lovers who have always lead the way. And inspired my spirited journey to begin with. Bourbon lit a candle on a path that I have since carved my own way through without ever losing sight of the forest for the trees or the barrels for the brands.
Thank you for entrusting us with your story;
We know that whiskey is not content.
It’s not a trophy.
Your collection is a not a flex.
It’s a living archive. It’s the story of our lives.
Its Americana. Its’ farmers. It’s creators. It’s folks who go to fuckin work every day to take care of their loved ones. It’s a long distance call to an old friend.
Is it political? Of course it is. Everything you make, everything you buy, everyone you love, is at stake. We must do better, build stronger, last longer. Give us another 100 years. Whiskey can be forever.
I am honored to tell stories within our precious and complicated Whiskey world, because i I know that matters. In an industry that faces a complex set of conflicts, hardships, hills and hollows…We must turn back toward what makes it special, what makes it real and there is an undeniable truth in all of this…collectively, we have to give meaning to the juice…its our role, as storytellers to lift it up and carry it forward through the foggy mist of time. That’s a damn noble experiment.
I’ll do what it takes to be there, with my hole heart, knowing good and well what it means to pull at this thread…to be a partner not just a passenger, in the joyride of bourbon.
Am I the perfect fit to tell these stories? I don’t know, thats up to you, our audience to decide but I know, just like our favorite spirit, we must go boldly into the future. That my friends, is the state of our union. Viva La Whiskeyland.
