His path into whiskey was unlike most, but having been born and raised in Louisville, it was like this truly American spirit was in his blood. For nearly a decade, he has been a part of the growth and evolution of Peerless – growing in his own right along with the spirit and tackling every challenge throughout the distillery along the way. We sat down with John Wadell, Head Taster at Peerless, to discover his journey in whiskey, his approach to finding astounding flavors, and his view on what’s to come.
What was your first introduction to bourbon?
I'd say that half of it was the right place, right time. And it's just one of those things where it's weird how the world works, or how things come together. I was born and raised here in Louisville, Kentucky, so I've been around bourbon all my life. When I was a kid, I remember at family gatherings, the parents would all give their glasses to the kids, and they'd be like, I need this much ice, this much bourbon, and that much seven up. That was my first introduction, as a kid, just being like, man, what are they all drinking? They loved highballs, as they called them, so I guess you could say that I’ve always been around the spirit. But just growing up here, you always hear about it, you see it, you've been to the distilleries and things like that.
Then fast-forward to bartending a little bit in my mid 20s, and that’s when I really started getting into bourbon. I wasn't a mixologist or anything at that point, but that's what grew my interest, starting with craft beer. First, I got into collecting and going to all the beer releases, and then it was a bit of rum, tequila and then bourbon – all of the things I worked with. I was introduced to Caleb Kilburn at Kentucky Peerless; He was the master distiller at the time. They didn't have any product out, and they were still somewhat building and doing the construction phase upstairs. I shared my love of bourbon with him. He shared his love of distillation because he was a big chemistry guy. While he wasn't a big drinker, he had a deep love for the science and stuff behind it.
What inspired you to actually pursue this whiskey journey?
Well, after we first met, I became good friends with Caleb. And I remember him saying, “Have you ever thought about working at a distillery? You got some knowledge behind you.” And I came down here for an interview and kind of a work day, and just absolutely fell in love. But they really just believed in what they were doing, and I saw an opportunity to get in somewhere meaningful at the ground floor. So I hit the ground running with that man. I started off doing tours up front, filling barrels in the back and all that kind of stuff. I just never said no to any task they wanted me to do here.
What did your initial interests in craft beer impart on this world of whiskey?
What I gained from the craft beer experience was an understanding of how these special releases work, learning about the following when you’re chasing those rare releases that you can only get at a brewery. There'd be a lot of people out there hunting and enjoying the ranges offered by various breweries. It’s kind of the same reason I love the bourbon industry so much. It’s about the passion of the people that you were around, also hunting, when we’re all standing in line at 6 am.
It’s similar to the passion of bourbon hunters. Except, when you get a bottle of bourbon, after you open that bottle, you can re-cork it and set it back. In a weird way, craft beer taught me to really enjoy the spirit and moment – because as for beer, it's not something that you can put back and save for later. You have to be in the moment, drinking that beer with people, and sometimes that's all you’ll get. Sure, a similar release would be next year to get to taste that beer again, but it’s not the same. So, I feel like it's helped teach me to savor the moment with who you're sharing it with.. And the bourbon industry is absolutely amazing when it comes to those types of things, and welcoming just everyone in. You come for the bourbon, but you stay for the community. It’s one thing that craft beer and bourbon have both taught me. Some days, I wish I still had my beer collection, because I ended up selling off half of that – That was back when Zombie Dust was big, and you couldn't just walk in and find that on tap somewhere.
How did each of those tasks and steps within Peerless prepare you for your current role?
I fell in love and appreciated this job so much from the start – I couldn’t believe I was actually working for a distillery, making whiskey and bourbon. Sure, it all started with giving tours, filling barrels. At that time, we still had product just aging. We had all of these barrels to taste through. I started helping go through and tasting the samples.
We were tasting hundreds of samples, finding ones for batches and also for single barrels. I went from hosting tours into production to learn everything back there. I remember those early conversations like, “Well, why don't you learn to cook first before you learn this field over there? So I was doing the cooks, and then Caleb would ask for help running barrel picks. And then I would break everything down after the selection, and he would let me sit in to listen to see how that went. And one day, I had the opportunity to run the barrel program – it was really starting to pick up with groups wanting to come in. So, I worked with the single barrels before I learned how to run the still. I would say that the still was the scariest thing, because if you're with a small distillery like us, when you go in to start the still, you're turning on the boiler room, you're opening up valves and pipes, stuff's making noises and rumbling.
But honestly, that was one of the things that I felt became the most natural to me. Sitting there running that still, especially when you have such a good team that you're working with. But I remember dreading that first morning, when I was set to go in. What if I screw up so massively today? It ended up being such a great two weeks – to walk through it and feel comfortable enough to run the still by myself. And that's a big moment, when they trust you to come in at 6 am, no one looking over your shoulder; you're fully in charge of getting the steam and your water going, then your beer going. That was probably one of the coolest moments here for me, at the distillery.
What does your current role look like as Head Taster?
Man, it is all over the board. There are just 30 employees here, so from day to day things can look very different. One day I could be out at the rickhouse pulling samples. The next day I could be down here hosting groups for barrel selections, or running the still. And then I do a lot of market work for us too. Because we don't necessarily have a single master distiller, we also get out into the market and lead dinner pairings and stuff like that. That means I get to travel a lot; I'll be in Colorado here in a couple of weeks, and in California for 10 days, and that's always an exciting part as well.
When you’re here, you just have to stay on your toes and be prepared for anything to change at the drop of a hat. The work keeps changing, and I think that's why I love it. Because, like I said, I get the taste barrels, run the still, do the cook, and even go get the grain sometimes (very rarely) – that last one is interesting because you’ve got these big, massive grain bins that we need to haul for the truck and trailer. And today, I'm doing barrel inventory, so I'm literally going down and tracking every single barrel we have in the program.
When you’re picking single barrels, what are you trying to impart?
We like to find something unique, something that to us feels like a one-off, or maybe it has a very unique flavor profile we don't get a lot of, or just one that we just really love. Those are the ones that we look for, not just for our single barrel selections, but even for our batches. That's one thing that a lot of people might misunderstand – thinking that we take out all of these special barrels for our single barrel program and don't use any for the batches. But our Small Batch releases are built on those single barrels; you can find them in the gift shop. And it's kind of like a breakdown of our Small Batch.
You get to see the flavor profiles that we are using and putting together to help create some of our batches that we make. But there are those ones we’re also looking for, that we’ll sometimes come across that just make you say, “Man, this sucker is 130-something proof; we should release this as a single barrel.” We don't have these types of proofs that come out often. Or you'll have one that tastes pure caramel or a vanilla bomb. And those are good ones to highlight, so people can also see the quality of whiskey and bourbon that you're making here too.
How have you explored unique flavor types or finishes?
One of the first ones we ever did, and weirdly enough, I feel like it's almost our most popular – though it's such a 50/50 on whether you are going to like it was our Rye finished in Absinthe barrels; it's fantastic, with black licorice notes. So it's not likely your everyday pour. It reminds me of a Sazerac in a glass. I like finishes, but we don't do them too much.
We also have a Rum Finish. Carson is a big rum drinker, so we enjoy making a rum finish every year. And we had a Cognac finish come out last year. Then, we also have our toasted and double oak; while some might not categorize those as a finish, they're fun and exciting to do. They share our innovation and the flavors we are trying to develop. They’ve become a fan favorite. I'm looking at ways to work these into our single barrel program.
How do you see Peerless fitting within the broader bourbon conversation and culture?
Well, I think the fact that we're family owned, with Corky Taylor owning 100% of the brand, means we have a level of freedom in how we pursue our growth. I also feel like people love the fact that whenever you get something from us, you know we have never sourced any bit of whiskey in that bottle. You know exactly where it came from – it’s made right down here at our distillery in downtown Louisville – where we cook, distill, barrel and bottle here. We have one of our rickhouses right behind me, here on site. I think that's a pretty cool part of our story. While we're a little bit of a higher price point, I think that once you come down here and see it first hand, the first response is usually something like, “I thought they were a lot bigger.”
Everything we do is barrel strength. We don't chill filter, or charcoal filter – we run the whiskey through a simple paper filter, so you get all that flavor, oils, fatty acids and such from our barrels. I feel like people love the fact that they can come down here and just see everything in one spot. That's a big thing for us too. We don't run 24 hours. We don't produce on the weekends, and we produce roughly just 10 to 12 barrels a day. We're family owned, and we make everything ourselves right here – our size is definitely the biggest misconception people have for us.
When you're drinking Peerless, what is the first thing you open?
I love our Double Oak Rye – to me, it's probably my favorite SKU that we produce here, because I just love how it tastes like a bourbon, but you still get that little kiss of rye in there. I love to drink it neat; I let mine sit for about five minutes or so. So, I'll pour myself a glass, and just walk off, do whatever, come back to it and, man, it just sings. The nose, to me, is a big part of it. And one of the things I also love about that double oak rye is the marshmallow, and kind of a burnt campfire vanilla note. Even if you don’t like rye, it will make a believer out of you, and then we can go into the bourbon.
Do you have any rituals that you go through when you're making those selections?
When we do our tastings, we do them earlier in the day. I like to try them in the morning, but sometimes my palate goes a different way in the afternoon. When we make decisions – whether it's going to a batch or a single barrel – I really like to go back and just revisit those samples. I'm also a big music guy, so I like having a little music on while I'm tasting and doing other things around the distillery. But ultimately, tasting is all about the mood you're in, the environment and people you’ve surrounded yourself with, the weather, and the music you’re listening to. And sometimes, I just like being by myself when I taste so I can take away all of those outside influences. I don’t quickly overlook those retastings – I try things for a second time before I finalize anything.
Do you have a playlist for your tastings?
If you were to go through my playlist, you’d quickly discover that I am all over the board. I've had this playlist on Spotify for probably 10-plus years, and I have just kept building on and on. So I put it on shuffle and see what happens. One of my favorite genres lately has been Modern Instrumental Jazz – it sets such a good vibe.
I'm also a really big 90s R&B and Hip Hop guy. I love some of those old school songs – they bring back some fun memories – I just need to be mindful because we have tours coming through here, and I try to be aware of what music I've got playing.
What classic cocktails do you enjoy using Peerless in?
It really depends on the mood. I absolutely love doing cocktails with our Rye, and I feel like this is a “love it or hate it,” but I really enjoy it in Bloody Marys. Bloody Marys can be so good, and while a lot of people are on that vodka train, I promise you that a good rye, like ours, in a Bloody Mary will change everything for you. One way that I like to prepare for it is to do a fat wash first with the rye. It gets a little bit of that meaty essence that is a perfect complement to your Bloody Mary mix. Of course, most people go with an Old Fashioned or Manhattan, but I'm more of a citrus kind of cocktail person. You’ll find me with a Gold Rush or Paper Plane, and things like that. With our bourbon, I love a good bourbon punch cocktail – I just feel like bourbon pairs so well with a punch cocktail. But cocktails for me go from mood to mood; sometimes I just want a negroni, which is a more bitter cocktail that I am using to sip on while I’m having a good cigar or something like that.
Corky absolutely loves our Rye, and he does Black Manhattans with them. We actually have a cocktail on our website that I made for him, and it has creme de cacao and mint – it's almost like you're eating a mint Girl Scout cookie and sipping on a Black Manhattan; it's fantastic. That's probably one of my all-time favorites that we do. And then sometimes I like a good sour – a great sour with a little bit of an egg white wash in it.
Having grown up just in Kentucky, what does it mean to you being a part of the industry?
It's crazy because, like I said, being born and raised here, bourbon's been popular, but not like it is right now. Let's say 10 to 15 years ago, you didn't have people moving to Kentucky coming to be a part of the industry or visiting for bourbon tourism. It just wasn't a thing. Downtown wasn’t anything like it looks like these days. And now we have distilleries, cocktail bars, all this crazy stuff. Seeing what bourbon has brought to the city I live in, to the state, and the impact of that bourbon tourism – I think it is absolutely fantastic, and has helped the city grow and be better. Can you imagine this area without the cocktail lounges, tasting rooms, distillery visits, and all this stuff?
I think sometimes we get caught up because we're in it and working, but when you get a chance to really step back and take a look at it all, and the growth, it’s crazy, and just makes you love and appreciate it even more, knowing the jobs it's created, the people I've met because of it, and where I'm at in life in general because of it. I know it sounds weird to say, but I owe it all to the bourbon industry.
Before we go, do you have any closing thoughts?
It has been so great seeing people coming back, and getting more interested in bourbon. I think we should all know one rule of thumb is “always be kind”, and that at the same time, it’s just bourbon and whiskey. There’s no reason to freak out or have bottle FOMO, even though I still get it all the time. It doesn't matter if you get that bottle or not, but when you slow down and realize that it’s about the people and connections that you make along the way, then you value sharing the pours with the people closest to you and the memories. Man, I’ve got so many good stories and memories just from bottle shares, events, dinners, and things like that.
