231 - Continuing 84 Years of Tradition at Heaven Hill with Conor O'Driscoll

Bourbon Pursuit

Conor O'Driscoll is beginning to make a name for himself. After spending part of his career at Brown Forman and Angel's Envy, he was recruited to fulfill the role left behind by Denny Potter. Conor is now the seventh Master Distiller in Heaven Hill's 84-year history. We spend some time getting to know Conor's past, what the recruitment process is like to find a master distiller, what his role is going to be with the operation side of things, and how at the end of the day he just doesn't want to screw anything up.

Show Notes:

• This week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about dry January.
• Where are you from?
• How did you end up in Terre Haute, Indiana?
• How did you get into bourbon?
• Tell us about your time at Woodford.
• What was difficult to learn about the distilling process?
• Talk about working at Angel's Envy.
• Is distilling rum the same process as bourbon?
• Are distillers in charge of blending?
• How did you end up at Heaven Hill?
• Did you have to give up anything to move into this role?
• Are you looking for ways to improve the legacy brands?
• Was there a learning curve coming to Heaven Hill?
• Who determines the increase in production?
• Were you involved in forecasting at your other roles?
• How did you learn the Heaven Hill portfolio?
• Do you have a favorite brand?
• What was it like to sign your first bottle?