push away from the heritage play that I ’ d done for so long . So many people now are selling whiskey while talking about something that was made in 1876 . I wanted a modern approach , a modern feel .
There ’ s a ton of money coming into this space right now . I was approached by a lot of people . But I felt like I needed to be patient for the right opportunity to present itself . It did . I connected with Prestige Beverage Group .
They had laid down barrels of a proprietary mash bill in 2015 . They brought me in to consult . They wanted to know whether they had made a huge mistake . I thought this was going to be basic 4- to 5-year-old stuff , but this stuff was incredible .
They ’ re a family-owned business that can make these kinds of gut decisions . I told them there was something there , and I told them about my idea for it . They put their faith in me . I pinch myself every day for it . 2XO wouldn ’ t be anywhere near what it is today if I had just gone with the first guy who said , ‘ Here ’ s X number of millions of dollars , make it happen ’.
BD : Tell us about your blending process . DD : Blending always sounds cool — and it is cool — but I don ’ t start with some specific idea that I want to create and work towards that . Instead , it ’ s a ‘ me ’ thing . I think , ‘ How do these things play together , how no they not play together ’. I create the best blend I can with what ’ s available to me . Each time , it ’ s a blank canvas , and I try to follow my gut . Sometimes , it falls apart , and you have to go back three steps and start again . That ’ s the part I enjoy , working through the different blends and seeing where they land . You think you have the right spot and then you come back the next day and think , ‘ Oh man , oops ’.
BD : Seems like we ’ re in a transition moment in whiskey , where premium blends and distillery sourcing have emerged as the new trend . DD : I do think it ’ s the beginning of something , but I don ’ t think the old stalwarts are going anywhere .
I do think the consumer is so much more educated today . The period where brands could buy old stories and trademarks and put generic juice into it , tying it all to something that happened 100 years ago — the whiskey community today says , ‘ Fool me once . . .’ People do their research now . The juice in the bottle , people understand it . A good story won ’ t cover up the juice anymore .
Every day now , there ’ s 17 new whiskeys on the shelf . What ’ s being said about a bottle , who ’ s behind it , what substance is there behind it — that ’ s what people gravitate towards .
BD : What ’ s next for 2XO ? DD : We ’ re going to launch a single barrel series in an all-black bottle , called our Gem of Kentucky series .
BD : Why the all-black packaging ? DD : Think of the agave space . Brands there are completely changing what the bottles look like . Clase Azul is so cool . People gravitate towards it . Consumers today want some good juice bottled in something that looks different , something that ’ s unique .
There ’ s a modernization of American whiskey that ’ s taking place . There was a time when the bottle needed to look like something produced in 1935 . Now we ’ re realizing that we don ’ t need to do that .
This interview was condensed and edited for publication .
www . beveragedynamics . com May 2023 • Beverage Dynamics 5