meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Bourbon Pursuit

361 - From Bourbon Enthusiast to Retail Store Owner with Luke Castle of Ace Spirits

Bourbon Pursuit

Bourbon Pursuit

Hobbies, Food, Arts, Leisure

4.9866 Ratings

🗓️ 9 June 2022

⏱️ 53 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Many of us have a passion for bourbon but I'm not sure we think to ourselves, "I want to run my own liquor store." Our guest today took that leap. Luke Castle makes his return to the show but not to talk about being a bourbon enthusiast but to talk about his new endeavor taking ownership of Ace Spirits, it's a retail shop in Minnesota who you may have heard about from a prior guest when we talked about moving volume with shipping. Luke puts it out there for those wanting to learn about the business and answers the questions many of us want to know as bourbon consumers such as distributors, barrel picks, allocation, and figuring out what determines a best customer. Show Notes: Above the Char with Fred Minnick (@fredminnick) talks about XYZ You were back on Episode 166, but tell folks how you got into bourbon. What made you want to leap into the business after being an enthusiast? What did you want to change to make it your version of Ace Spirits? What's the currently landscape for direct to consumer in Minnesota? What would direct to consumer mean to you as a retailer if it opened up or shut down completely? Are you starting to see the decrease of allocated barrel picks happen? What are the new brands people are getting excited about? Do you prefer a small or large distributer to buy from? Do distributors and brand reps just show up randomly to try and push stuff? What do you find the most challenging aspect of owning a liquor store that you didn't know about? What is your method for selling allocated bourbon? Are you figuring out your best customers through a rewards program? What is your method for growth to find new customers? @acespirits Support this podcast on Patreon

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This will release sometime between March and August is when it'll be released.

0:06.1

So it depends on how bad I suck and whether or not you want to hurry it out there or take your time. If you're listening to this show, you have a passion for bourbon.

0:25.9

But has that passion ever drove you so much to say,

0:29.0

I want to run and manage my own liquor store?

0:31.9

Well, our guest today, he took that leap.

0:35.1

Luke Castle makes his return to the show,

0:37.2

but not to talk about being a

0:38.6

bourbon enthusiast, but to talk about his new endeavor, taking ownership of ace spirits.

0:44.0

It's a retail shop in Minnesota, who you may have heard about it from a prior guest

0:47.8

when we talked about moving volume with shipping. Luke puts it out there for all of us wanting

0:52.7

to learn more about the business, and answers a lot of the questions many of us want to know as bourbon consumers,

0:58.0

such as how do you deal with distributors, how can you get more barrel picks,

1:01.0

what do you do about allocated bottles? And with those allocated bottles,

1:06.0

how do you figure out and determine who's your best customer? Well, enjoy this week's episode. And now here's Fred Minnick

1:12.3

with Above the Char. I'm Fred Minnick, and this is Above the Char. This week's idea comes from

1:22.1

longtime listener Christian Madsen, who by the way has had his above the char read before, with the question,

1:29.6

why do more distilleries not use smaller barrels? Since smaller barrels have more surface contact

1:35.8

with the juice, wouldn't it age quicker? Well, well, well, Christian, you have stepped yourself

1:42.9

right in the front center of tradition.

1:46.4

Small barrels, while used in the 1800s, for sure, small barrels have always been used in

1:53.5

American whiskey, but it's not been to extract flavor necessarily. It's been more for transport.

2:00.8

The 53-gallon, or in some cases, 55-gallon barrel, to extract flavor necessarily. It's been more for transport.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Bourbon Pursuit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Bourbon Pursuit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.