Family, Legacy, and Bourbon with Wright Thompson

What can bourbon teach us about legacy, nostalgia, and consumer trends? Pappy Van Winkle is some of the most coveted bourbon in the world, but it took three generations of labor and loss to reach this pinnacle. Author Wright Thompson spent years with the third generation Van Winkle, who brought the family business back from the brink, studying the careful craftsmanship and rich history that goes into every barrel they produce. With a drink so inextricably tied to a distinct time and place, Wright found an opportunity to interrogate the mythology of the South, the seduction of nostalgia, and what it means to make things that last. RELATED READING: Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last by Wright Thompson Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey by Reid Mitenbuler