347 - An Insider's Look at Quality Control and Remembering the '96 Fire at Heaven Hill with Tawnie Gootee

Bourbon Pursuit

Hobbies, Food, Arts, Leisure

4.9 • 866 Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2022

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We're always looking for veterans of the bourbon industry to bring on the show to talk about their story and career growth. Tawnie Gootee has been at Heaven Hill for nearly 30 years and has done it all. I mean, they used to have to rotate workers to give tours when a small group of people would show up. But Tawnie has excelled in her career and worked with Mike Sonne and other Heaven Hill elites to become one of the most respected palates in the industry and she gives us the low down on the quality control process at Heaven Hill. This episode is also very significant because this year marks the 25th anniversary of the 1996 fire at Heaven Hill. Tawnie remembers the first phone calls and what it was like in the days following the aftermath. It's a true testament to how the bourbon industry really works together. Show Notes: This week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick (@fredminnick) talks about the taste of bourbon. Tell us a little bit about your background and how you ended up at Heaven Hill. What was the tour experience like 30 years ago? How did you hone your tasting skills? What happens when you find a barrel that's not acceptable? Explain what reading the tank means. How often do you get complaints? How long do you keep samples? Talk about cork taint. What's your high end inspection? Talk about the process of creating limited edition products. Can you tell us about the fire of 1996? @heavenhilldistillery Support this podcast on Patreon

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just like Parker Beam said one time, you know, there's no bad bourbon.
0:03.6	It's all good.
0:16.2	This is Bourbon Pursuit, the official podcast of Bourbon, bringing to you the best in news,
0:21.8	reviews, and interviews with people making the bourbon whiskey industry happen, and I'm one
0:26.3	of your hosts, Kenny Coleman. You know, one of the things I really love about doing the show
0:30.3	is bringing people on to tell about their story, and we're always looking for veterans of the industry,
0:35.9	to go to come on and talk about their story of bourbon and their career growth with it.
0:40.2	And Tani Guti, she's been at Heaven Hill for nearly 30 years.
0:44.0	She's done it all.
0:45.2	I mean, they used to have to rotate workers to give tours when a small group of people
0:49.2	would just show up.
0:50.5	But Tani has excelled in her career and worked with Mike Sani and other Heaven Hill elites to become one of the most respected pallets in the industry.
0:58.3	And she gives us the lowdown on the quality control process at Heaven Hill.
1:01.6	But this episode, it's also very significant because this year marks the 25th anniversary of the 1996 fire at Heaven Hill.
1:09.6	And Tani remembers the very first phone calls and what it was like
1:12.5	in the days following the aftermath. It's a true testament to how the bourbon industry really
1:17.1	works together. With that, enjoy this week's episode. And now here's Fred Minnick with Above the
1:22.5	Char. I'm Fred Minnick, and this is Above the Char.
1:28.6	This week's idea comes from Rick Winters, who writes me on fredminic.com.
1:32.8	That's fredminic.com.
1:34.5	Basically a long email wanting to know about the chain of progression associated with the
1:41.2	bourbon palette and what's being made out there and how we are all individually
	...

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