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198: Building "Brand Mysticism" - How to Launch a Viral Booze Brand

Bourbon Lens

Release Date: 10/30/2022

303: A Deep Dive with Ross Cornelissen, Master Distiller of 1792 Bourbon show art 303: A Deep Dive with Ross Cornelissen, Master Distiller of 1792 Bourbon

Bourbon Lens

This week, we’re talking about Barton 1792 Distillery and 1792 Bourbon. Master Distiller Ross Cornelissen joins Bourbon Lens to talk about the workhouse bourbon distillery. Barton 1792 is a historic distillery in the Bourbon Capital of the World and owned by Sazerac Company. We discuss three limited releases from Barton 1792, including Sweet Wheat, Aged Twelve Years, and Thomas S. Moore Port Cask Finished Bourbon. We are thankful for your support over the last 6 years. We must give the biggest shoutout to our amazing community of Patreon supporters! As always, we'd appreciate it if you...

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302: Sitting Down with Dierks Bentley and His New ROW 94 Whiskey show art 302: Sitting Down with Dierks Bentley and His New ROW 94 Whiskey

Bourbon Lens

We’re joined by multi-Platinum country music artist, Dierks Bentley, in this special episode of Bourbon Lens.  Dierks recently wrapped up his Gravel & Gold Tour and is firmly planted back in Nashville preparing for his next album. We had the privilege to sit down with Dierks to talk about his newest project, Row 94 Whiskey.  Row 94 is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey distilled at the historic Green River Distilling Company.  Dierks aims for Row 94 to be the bourbon you reach for when you’re enjoying a night with friends, listening to live music, or pouring a whiskey...

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301: Restoration and History with Cook’s Mill Whiskey Founder Jason Queen show art 301: Restoration and History with Cook’s Mill Whiskey Founder Jason Queen

Bourbon Lens

On a recent trip to Myrtle Beach we crossed paths with Jason Queen as he was working to promote his bourbon in South Carolina.  Jason shared a bit of history with us and a whiskey too.  That chance meeting and conversation inspired this latest episode of the Bourbon Lens Podcast.  Jason, a serial entrepreneur and conservationist purchased Cook’s Mill, an old grist mill in order to restore this once thriving mill. That goal set him on a path to creating a whiskey that is focused paying homage to North Carolina’s past.  Sit back and buckle in for the latest episode of the...

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300: Celebrating a New Milestone with Birthday Bourbon at Old Forester show art 300: Celebrating a New Milestone with Birthday Bourbon at Old Forester

Bourbon Lens

We are celebrating a BIG milestone this week as we release the 300th Episode of Bourbon Lens.  Old Forester and Brown-Forman were gracious enough to invite Jake and Scott to Whiskey Row to celebrate.  Bourbon Lens is joined by Melissa Rift and Caleb Trigo from Old Forester to discuss the historic brand, its legacy and future, and to toast our milestone with the 2024 Edition of Birthday Bourbon.  We couldn’t think of a better choice for celebrating this milestone episode and thank the team at Brown-Forman and Old Forester for their support all these years. As we celebrate this...

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299: Building the Best 5 Bottle American Whiskey Bar show art 299: Building the Best 5 Bottle American Whiskey Bar

Bourbon Lens

It’s the question that every whiskey enthusiast has been asked: What’s the one bottle of whiskey you keep on your bar?  Since one bottle clearly wouldn’t make a great podcast, we decided to up the ante a bit and decided to build the Ultimate 5 Bottle American Whiskey Bar.  Jake and Scott run through how they would build their whiskey bar if only afforded 5 slots. We’ve given ourselves criteria in hopes of finding a bottle for every niche and occasion.   We run through our choices for 1) best everyday whiskey, 2) best cocktail whiskey, 3) high proof whiskey, 4) Top Shelf...

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298: The Most Exciting New Whiskey Releases for Fall 2024 show art 298: The Most Exciting New Whiskey Releases for Fall 2024

Bourbon Lens

It’s been a wild season of new whiskey and bourbon releases and we’re catching up on some of the ones you may have missed. The press releases have been coming in fast and furious of late and Bourbon Lens is doing our best to keep you abreast of all the news.  We recap some of the most exciting releases from the heritage Kentucky distilleries, the best distilleries both inside and outside of Kentucky, and even some celebrity brands that have the whiskey world talking. As always, be sure you’re following along at BourbonLens.com for all the latest news and notes of the whiskey world. ...

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297: Kentucky Bourbon Festival 2024 Recap and Planning for Next Year show art 297: Kentucky Bourbon Festival 2024 Recap and Planning for Next Year

Bourbon Lens

Scott and Jake sit down to debrief after a long weekend at the   We discuss some of our favorite pours and experiences from yet another memorable Festival. We must give a shoutout to our AirBnB housemates who joined us to celebrate and to all our listeners who introduced themselves over the weekend. We wrap up this recap episode with some tips to consider as you plan your trip to the . Thank you to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, its board and staff, and Estes PR for inviting us to the Festival to cover the events and festivities of the weekend. Image Credit: We are thankful for your...

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296: Our Trip to New Riff Distilling with Jay Erisman show art 296: Our Trip to New Riff Distilling with Jay Erisman

Bourbon Lens

Scott and Jake travel to Newport Kentucky to visit New Riff Distilling and sit down with co-founder Jay Erisman.  We kick back inside the Aquifer Bar to discuss New Riff’s history, their whiskey portfolio, and what’s ahead now that the distillery recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.   In this episode, we taste New Riff Bottled in Bond Bourbon, Silver Grove Bourbon, Malted Rye, and their 8 Year Bourbon.  Stay tuned to Bourbon Lens for more coverage of New Riff coming soon, including their second batch of Kentucky Single Malt and their Whisky NRD tasting courses currently...

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295: Four Roses New Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon for 2024 show art 295: Four Roses New Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon for 2024

Bourbon Lens

We continue our coverage for Bourbon Heritage Month as we explore Four Roses Bourbon, including their new .  We are joined by Brent Elliott, Master Distiller for Four Roses Bourbon Distillery.  We discuss Brent’s process for crafting this limited edition bourbon, the , the distillery’s commitment to quality and tradition, and the recent announcement of an expansion of the Four Roses Bourbon recipe lineup.  What is your favorite Four Roses recipe or release? About Four Roses: Established in 1888, Four Roses combines two mashbills with five proprietary yeast strains to distill...

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294: James B. Beam Distilling Co. is Celebrating a Big Milestone show art 294: James B. Beam Distilling Co. is Celebrating a Big Milestone

Bourbon Lens

We’re kicking off National Bourbon Heritage Month with one of the legendary distilleries of Kentucky Bourbon.  We’ve traveled to James B. Beam Distilling Co. to chat about the Homeplace, located in Clermont, Kentucky and their 90th year at that location.  Alex Bowie, Director of Homeplace Experience at James B. Beam Distilling Co. sits down with Jake and Scott inside the Historic Beam House. We discuss how Beam has evolved its Homeplace over the last 90 years, the importance of adapting to the evolving bourbon tourist, and some of the innovations coming from this historic...

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More Episodes

Our guests this week are Steven Grasse and Aaron Goldfarb who are set to release their latest book: Brand Mysticism. The book releases on November 8th and is a must read for anyone looking to add creativity to their life and brand.  This isn't your typical "booze book" and definitely will raise some eyebrows in the marketing world, but Steven Grasse doesn't mind that one bit.  His portfolio speaks for itself; he's created some of the biggest brands including Hendrick's Gin and Sailor Jerry Rum and helped bring new life to some of the world's best brands including Guinness and Miller High Life.  Steven Grasse is an authority on building an authentic, enduring, and deeply beloved (viral) brands.  And Aaron Goldfarb, he's the novelist, author, and journalist responsible for wrangling all these ideas and creativity into one cohesive book.  Bourbon Lens has followed Aaron's work for a long while and were honored to pick his brain for this episode.  A huge thank you to Steven, Aaron, and Punch Media for making this episode happen.  We hope you enjoy it and grab a copy of the book for yourself!

Pre-order or purchase your copy of the book via Amazon or buy wherever you find books locally. 

Stream this episode on your favorite podcast app and be sure to drop us a review while you’re there.  

We are thankful for everyone who has supported us. A huge shoutout goes to our growing Patreon Community as well! We'd appreciate it if you can take the time to give us feedback on our podcast. If you enjoy our content, consider giving us a 5 star rating on your favorite podcast app, leave us a review, and tell a fellow bourbon lover about our show.

Follow  us @BourbonLens on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.  And please check out our Patreon to learn how you can support our endeavors, earn Bourbon Lens swag, be part of future barrel picks, and more. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please email us at [email protected].

Check out our freshly redesigned website BourbonLens.com to check out our blog posts, whiskey news, and details on our upcoming single barrel picks.

Cheers,
Scott and Jake
Bourbon Len

About the Book: BRAND MYSTICISM: CULTIVATE CREATIVITY AND INTOXICATE YOUR AUDIENCE

Written By Steven Grasse & Aaron Goldfarb;
Illustrated by Ron Short 

From the marketing mastermind behind countless iconic booze brands comes an irreverent and wide-ranging treatise on building and maintaining a standout brand in business and life: BRAND MYSTICISM.

Steven Grasse made a name for himself as not only an offbeat distillery owner but also the brains behind beloved brands like Hendrick’s Gin and Sailor Jerry Rum and the guy who made cheap-beer-standbys like Narragansett and Miller High Life cool again. Through his work in advertising and marketing, Grasse has changed the game in the booze world and become an authority on building an authentic, enduring, and deeply beloved brand. Food & Wine has called him “the punk-rock prince of small-batch spirits.”

“Think of me as the Ben Franklin of hooch, the Thomas Edison of booze. Or just think of me as a crazy middle-aged man who is going to tell you some really funny sometimes slightly fucked-up stories that will hopefully make you laugh and maybe realize there’s quite a bit of merit to having fun trolling people doing art for art’s sake, simply trying shit and not really giving a rat’s ass,” said Steven Grasse. “You might wonder how I became such a Big Cheese in the world of booze. I sometimes wonder the same thing, and while everything you read in my new book is true, it is also total bullshit.”

 So how did he do it? Through irreverent tips (why being a troll can be so vital), case studies (when marketing cigarettes taught him about virality) and magical ingredients (who knew beaver anus would change his fortunes), BRAND MYSTICISM guides you through the steps it takes to channel your own entrepreneurial spirit into a business, a creative practice, or a life that breaks with tradition to achieve the remarkable.

 

About the Authors: 

Steven Grasse is an entrepreneur equally influenced by punk rock and New England transcendentalism. Steven has created some of the most outrageous booze brands of the twenty-first century: Hendrick's Gin, Sailor Jerry Rum, Art in the Age Craft Spirits—all seemingly out of thin air. He is the part-owner and creative mastermind behind Narragansett beer, and his agency, Quaker City Mercantile, has brought similar success to beer icons Pilsner Urquell, Guinness, and, most recently, Miller High Life. His first distillery, Tamworth Distilling & Mercantile, opened in 2015 and gained international press and awards within its first year. Steven is also the author of The Cocktail Workshop, Colonial Spirits: A Toast to Our Drunken History, The Good Reverend's Guide to Infused Spirits, and Evil Empire. He lives and works in Philadelphia. 

Aaron Goldfarb is a novelist, author, and journalist, who frequently writes about the spirits industry and drinking culture for Esquire, Playboy, PUNCH, and VinePair. His two most recent books are Hacking Whiskey: Smoking, Blending, Fat-Washing, and Other Whiskey Experiments and Gather Around Cocktails: Drinks to Celebrate Usual and Unusual Holidays. His 2018 VinePair article on Grasse, “How Do You Make a Booze Brand Go Viral?,” fittingly, went viral itself and has since been shared online hundreds of thousands of times.

Press and ‘In The News’:

Check out Aaron’s Work: