News Notes: Win a Trip on Four Roses, Score Six Bottles of Van Winkle, and More

Later this month, Four Roses is kicking off the first chapter of what will be a series of seasonal celebrations: It's launching with Manhattan Week, featuring a grand-prize trip to Manhattan, NYC. Starting in April, Columbus, Ohio-based The Ingram Distillery is opening up its grounds (and floating warehouses!) for tours, while Hollywood Distillery in Los Angeles is set to start making its own whiskey. And after making news last week for its charitable endeavors, Pappy Van Winkle is keeping its philanthropy going with yet another altruistic push, this one benefiting the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kentuckiana. These news items, and more, are below.

Four Roses Gets Social

In its campaign to celebrate shared moments, Four Roses has unveiled the first in a series of seasonal and cultural celebrations featuring events and giveaways. The first “chapter” in the series is Manhattan Week, a partnership between Four Roses and Carpano Antica Formula vermouth that celebrates the classic cocktail. From March 30^th through April 5^th, 11 participating Kentucky bars will serve Unmistakable Manhattans crafted with Four Roses bourbon and Carpano Antica Formula. The cocktail can be found in Louisville at Aloft, Down One Bourbon Bar, and Merle’s Whiskey Kitchen; in Lexington at Belle’s, Bourbon on Rye, Epping’s On Eastside, and Honeywood; at Revival in Covington; 440 Main in Bowling Green; and in Midway at Holly Hill Inn. Can’t make it to a participating bar? Whip one up at home:

• 2 oz. Four Roses single barrel bourbon
• 1 oz. Antica Formula sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes bitters
• 4 cocktail cherries for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, stir for 30 seconds or until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled Martini glass. Garnish with cherries.

Additionally, fans can enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win a two-night trip for four to New York City, including airfare, hotel, and $3,000 spending money. Second prize winners, 100 of them, will receive an Unmistakable Manhattan cocktail kit. You can enter weekly through April 26^th.

The Ingram Distillery Opens to the Public

Almost three years to the date since it doubled its operations and moved to a larger facility, Columbus, Kentucky-based Ingram Distillery—producer of O.H. Ingram River Aged whiskeys—is opening its grounds to the public. Three new tours are on offer, each of which gives visitors a chance to step foot onto one of its Mississippi River-anchored floating warehouses. The first, most accessible tour is the Barge to Bottle Classic ($25), an hour-long session that takes groups through the production facility and barrel barge and ends with a tasting. The other two tours are private; the first, The Chartered Experience ($250), is an exclusive version of the Classic Tour, while the second, Mellow on the Mississippi Retreat (from $500), is more involved, featuring a tour, tasting, four-course dinner, and one-night stay at the distillery. All tours open up starting in April.—Julia Higgins

Another Chance to Score Van Winkle

A six-bottle set of Van Winkle will be auctioned to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kentuckiana. Pappy Van Winkle 23, 20, and 15 year old, Van Winkle 12 year old, and Old Rip Van Winkle 10 year old bourbons, plus Van Winkle Family Reserve 13 year old rye, all signed by Julian Van Winkle III, are up for grabs. Tickets ($100) can be purchased here until they’re sold out or 10 a.m. on April 23^rd, whichever comes first. In a nod to 1984, the year Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kentuckiana opened, 1,984 tickets are available.

Since 2019, the Pappy Raffle has served more than 7,000 families of children who travel to Louisville for medical treatment.

Kings County Sells One Million Bottles

Earlier this week, Brooklyn’s Kings County Distillery reached a special milestone—selling its one-millionth bottle. To mark the event, the distillery will install a symbolic millionth-bottle display in the “Boozeum,” its on-site museum that contains other relics from the city’s distilling history. Kings County is also releasing a special commemorative edition of its flagship 4 year old bourbon, accounting for 500 hand-numbered bottles that will be available for purchase on the distillery website starting March 30th. It’s planning to host a trade-facing celebration next Friday, and a limited quantity of tickets has been made available to the public.—Danny Brandon

Colorado Distiller Jake Norris Is Back in Action

Jake Norris, who previously held roles at both Laws Whiskey House and Stranahan’s, is slated to return to the Colorado whiskey scene at the helm of an upcoming distillery based in Arvada. While the distillery gets off the ground, he has announced his The Curated Barrel Project: a cask-finishing series that will release new whiskeys starting next month. Each one uses the same base whiskey—a 7 year old bourbon distilled by Southern Distilling Company with a mashbill of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley—finished in a different type of barrel. There are currently eight expressions planned, scheduled for quarterly release over the next two years. The bottles can be purchased through a membership program that includes whisky pairing dinners and a commemorative tote bag. Tickets go on sale starting April 2.—Danny Brandon

New Barrel Picks for Remus

MGP has just announced the creation of Remus Distiller’s Vault, a new offering that allows accounts and whiskey clubs to pick their own Remus single barrels. Customers are invited to the Ross & Squibb Distillery in Indiana for a behind-the-scenes look and barrel tasting with master distiller Ian Stirsman. The program covers several age statements, mashbills, and proof points, including:

• 11 year old mid-rye (36%) bourbon, bottled at 57.6% or 58.4% ABV
• 9 year old high-rye (49%) bourbon, bottled at 57.75% or 58.35% ABV
• 7 year old 100% malted rye, bottled at 57.6% ABV

Barrels picked through this program yield around 210 bottles. Each bottle—which has a suggested retail price of $70—has a personalized label that includes the barrel number, mashbill, and name of the establishment that picked it. Interested parties can learn more on the program’s website.—Danny Brandon

Lights, Camera, Distillation

Located on Los Angeles’ Santa Monica Boulevard, and operating out of a former mortuary, Hollywood Distillery will begin distilling its own whiskey in April. Since its founding in 2012, Hollywood has offered Zanja Madre bourbon and rye, Oasis vodka, and Nopalera gin, though to this point, the whiskey has been sourced. The city’s only distillery offers tours and tastings.