329 - To Source or Not To Source with Scott Schiller, Executive Director of Thoroughbred Spirits Group

Bourbon Pursuit

Hobbies, Food, Arts, Leisure

4.9 • 866 Ratings

🗓️ 28 October 2021

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Starting a distillery is no easy task and figuring out how to bank roll it is even harder. Do you tie up all your money into equipment and wait a few years and hope the whiskey is good or is it smarter to supplement that with some sourced product? But beyond that, how do you scale, distribute, and sell? Scott Schiller from Thoroughbred Spirits Group has launched 30 distillers, designed over 50 brands, and facilitated 3 successful exits. He joins the show to talk about everything I just mentioned, but Scott also has a fascinating family history with spirits where he learned how to distill with his grandfather at an iconic Chicago tavern called Bucket O Suds. Show Partners: Catoctin Creek has been honoring that tradition of small craft rye whisky since 2009. Learn more at CatoctinCreekDistilling.com. Smooth Ambler builds on the traditional roots of American whiskey in West Virginia. Visit SmoothAmbler.com to learn more. Wilderness Trail is Sweet Mash Kentucky Straight Bourbon and Rye Whiskey distilled, aged, and bottled in Danville, Kentucky. Learn more at WildernessTrailDistillery.com. You can now buy Barrell Craft Spirits products online and have them shipped right to your door. Visit BarrellBourbon.com and click Buy Now. Spirits of French Lick is delivering the finest hand crafted Bottled in Bond bourbons. Check out SpiritsofFrenchLick.com. Savor every drop of summer at Total Wine & More! You’re sure to find cool prices in-store or online at TotalWine.com. Heaven Hill Distillery has been lifting America’s spirit since 1935. Check out educational resources and sign up for their newsletter at HeavenHillDistillery.com. Show Notes: This week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick (@fredminnick) talks about QR codes. How did you get into this industry? What company did your family start in Chicago? What is Bucket O Suds? Tell us about the distillery. Talk about one of your early successes. How do you approach the conversations with clients about scaling? Do you see a lot of NDPs that previously bottled older whiskey and now can't get it? Are a lot of people starting to scramble because there isn't as much access to aged whiskey? How do you advise someone on distribution? Do you ever have to tell clients sourcing might not work for them? How do you start conversations with potential clients ? Talk about bottle pricing.

Transcript

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0:00.0	when you first hear about sourcing in this world, you almost get like this negative connotation
0:05.1	to it. And you think, I don't really know. I'm only going to buy from brands. And believe me,
0:09.5	I was one of these people too. I said, I'm only going to buy from brands that produce their own
0:13.5	whiskey. And then five years later, here's me coming out with my own sourced whiskey.
0:26.9	Yeah. out with my own sourced whiskeys. It's Bourbon Pursuit, the official podcast of Bourbon, featuring news, reviews, and
0:31.7	interviews with people making the bourbon whiskey industry happen, and I'm one of your
0:35.6	host, Kenny Coleman. We've talked about it
0:37.9	plenty of times on the show before that starting a distillery is no easy task, and figuring out
0:43.0	how to bankroll it is even harder. Do you end up trying to tie up all your money into equipment,
0:48.9	putting down a lot of liquid, and waiting a few years, hoping the whiskey's good, or maybe even
0:53.4	doing some clear spirits.
0:54.8	Or maybe it's even smarter to supplement all that with some sourced product.
0:59.2	But whether you think that having a product at your distillery only produced by you is
1:04.1	something that you believe in or not, you have to understand that this is a business that has
1:07.7	to survive.
1:08.7	But beyond that, how do you scale, distribute, and even sell your product?
1:13.8	Well, Scott Schiller from the Thoroughbred Spirits Group, he's launched over 30 distilleries,
1:18.4	he's designed over 50 brands, and has facilitated three successful exits.
1:22.9	And he joins the show to talk about everything I just mentioned,
1:25.7	but Scott also has a fascinating family
1:28.3	history with spirits, where he learned how to distill with his grandfather at an iconic Chicago
1:33.1	tavern called Bucket of Suds. With that, enjoy this week's episode, and now here's Fred Minnick
	...

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