LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame inducted five new members into its 2025 class, the highest honor given by the bourbon industry.
Before a record crowd of more than 300 bourbon industry legends on Tuesday, Sept. 16 in Nelson County, individuals who have made a "transformational impact" on the state's $9 billon bourbon industry through growth and awareness were recognized, according to a news release.
The inductees for the 2025 class are:
- Craig Beam, 66, of Bardstown, Kentucky is a seventh-generation distiller, learning the craft from his grandfather, Earl, and father, Parker, both Hall of Fame inductees from Heaven Hill Distillery. Beam, who has been in the industry for 40 years, is Master Distiller at Jackson Purchase Distillery in Western Kentucky.
- The late Mary Dowling, of Lawrenceburg was the first woman to run a major distillery in 1903. Born in 1859 to Irish immigrants, Dowling became a trailblazer in the bourbon industry and a pillar in Lawrenceburg, building churches and working for immigrant, Black and women's rights.
- Larry Ebersold, 75, of Hebron, has a long-standing career of industry expertise, shaping facilities for 31 distilleries, collaborating with architects and engineers to design innovated production spaces.
- Chris Morris, 67, of Louisville, a 50-year bourbon industry veteran, is known for his craftsmanship and integrity in building the Brown-Forman brand. He is one of the industry's most respected historians and the recipient of the prestigious Parker Beam Lifetime Achievement Award.
- Damon Thayer, 57, of Georgetown, a retired senator in Kentucky's General Assembly, he is responsible for stewarding more than 20 pieces of legislation that modernized the state's bourbon industry, becoming a tourism powerhouse.
For more information about the Hall of Fame and inductees, click here.
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