Rule one is are you enjoying it?

And it doesn't matter if it's, you know, four years old or 20 years old, especially on the, like, the heritage collections.

There is a lot of discussion and the parkers.

Like this is, yeah, this is good, but is it Parker's good.

Yeah. This is Bourbon Pursuit, the official podcast of Bourbon, bringing to you the best in news, reviews, and interviews with people making the bourbon whiskey industry happen, and I'm one of your hosts, Kenny Coleman.

If there's one distillery that truly feels like it could be a cornerstone of the bourbon world,

it has to be Heaven Hill. From Evan Williams to Elijah Craig to larceny, their portfolio is an absolute institution. And with their 90th anniversary upcoming,

there's no better time to get a look at the past,

present, and future of this bourbon powerhouse.

So we're going to be sitting down with Connor O'Driscoll.

He's the master distiller over at Heaven Hill.

And he's taking us through a journey of the company's remarkable history

from its founding back in 1935 to its new massive expansion with the Heaven Hill Springs Distillery that's capable of pumping out over 1,500 barrels a day.

Connor talked to us about how every facet of the new distillery was planned, from the fermentation techniques to how they're going to continue to innovate with their grain to glass series. Plus, we also get into the latest market trends, including if

Connor thinks that barrel-proof expressions are on the decline. With that, enjoy this week's

episode. And now here's Fred Minnick with Above the Char. I'm Fred Minnick, and this is Above the Char.

This week's idea comes from Bruce Esposito, who writes me on fredminic.com.

Who would you say are the five most influential people in bourbon alive today.

Holy shit, Bruce.

I don't think I'm the right person to answer that one.

But then again, I've got, I've got some thoughts.

Let's put it into the perspective of people who have distilleries.

...