449 - Ed Bley is Back with Old Stubborn Whiskey

Bourbon Pursuit

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, we finally see the re-emergence of Ed Bley. Ed has been a previous guest on the podcast that was from way back in 2018. So if you just started listening to Bourbon Pursuit, then you probably have no idea of the impact Ed had on the bourbon world during that time. Ed went into hiding and went on a mission to bring some new whiskey to the world and he's now back presenting his new line called Old Stubborn. We talk about his background in blending and the journey he took from working at Cork N Bottle, picking barrels, and being a big influence in the larger bourbon community to losing hope on building a distillery and then quickly pivoting to find whiskey that wasn't available on the open market. This is one of the most anticipated interviews for many of you long-time listeners so enjoy this episode with Ed Bley.

Show Notes:

• Above the Char with Fred Minnick (@fredminnick) talks about sustainability and new oak barrels.
• What is your background and what were you doing on the retail side?
• How often do you reject barrels during a barrel selection?
• Can you give some background on Old Baldy?
• Why would you want to leave a comfortable position to do your own thing?
• Why would you want to start a distillery versus sourcing barrels?
• How did you search for whiskey to use?
• Why did you call the whiskey Old Stubborn?
• Is there a reason why you put the word "old" on your bottles?
• Can you talk about how you ended up on the bottle?
• What went into this first release?
• How did the conversations start to acquire your whiskey stocks?
• Is this high price a sustainable business model?
• What does your product strategy look like?
• What is your plan for distribution and expansion?
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