Meet this year’s class of the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame
Five transformational bourbon industry leaders are joining the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame.
Each of this year’s inductees represent a different chapter in the success of Kentucky bourbon, said Kentucky Distillers Association President Eric Gregory.
“Even though they come from a variety of backgrounds, these distinguished leaders all have one thing in common: an unrivaled passion for Kentucky Bourbon that has shaped our timeless craft into the global economic and tourism powerhouse it is today,” Gregory said in a news release.
The 2025 class will welcome former legislative leader Damon Thayer, female entrepreneur Mary Dowling, craft distiller Larry Ebersold, seventh-generation distiller Craig Beam, and 50-year bourbon veteran Chris Morris.
Those five will be formally inducted in a private ceremony in September, which is Bourbon Heritage Month.
The association created the Hall of Fame in 2001 to recognize individuals who have made significant impact on bourbon’s stature, growth and awareness.
Here are the new Hall of Famers:
Damon Thayer, 57, Georgetown
Thayer is the retired state senate majority leader behind more than 20 pieces of legislation that modernized the bourbon industry in the 2010s and early 2020s. He spent more than two decades in the state legislature putting the bourbon business in a position to be the economic and tourism staple it is for Kentucky.
Thayer stepped back from the Kentucky General Assembly at the end of 2024 to devote more time to his own bourbon business. He co-founded Kentucky Senator Spirits in 2018 with Lexington attorney Andre Regard.
Craig Beam, 66, Bardstown
Beam is a seventh-generation distiller who learned from his father, Parker, and his grandfather, Earl, how to make whiskey. Earl and Parker were both master distillers and hall of fame inductees before Craig.
Now in his fourth decade of distilling, Beam works as the master distiller at Jackson Purchase in Western Kentucky. Prior to that, Beam followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps at Heaven Hill working on the company’s new products, especially its single barrel series.
Chris Morris, 67, Louisville
Known as one of the key people responsible for the success of Brown-Forman’s bourbon portfolio, Morris is now the master distiller emeritus for Woodford Reserve.
After years at Glenmore Distilleries Company, Morris returned to Brown-Forman in 1997 where he developed the Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection, Double Oaked, Rye and Distillery Series products.
Larry Ebersold, 75, Louisville
A key player in the craft distillery boom, Ebersold has combined his corporate experience with entrepreneurial consulting to make an impact on the industry.
His expertise from working at Seagram’s in fermentation and manufacturing planning has influenced the physical spaces of more than 30 facilities including New Riff, Rabbit Hole and Bardstown Bourbon.
Mary Dowling, died 1930, Lawrenceburg
Dowling was born in 1859 to Irish immigrants at the height of anti-Irish sentiment. She married John Dowling, who made whiskey barrels. Together, they bought a piece of land in Lawrenceburg and expanded their cooperage. By the mid-1880s, the couple had acquired three distilleries using profits from selling barrels.
When John died, Mary became the only woman to run a major distillery. After her lines of credit were cut off and her distillery and cooperage were destroyed by fires, she rebuilt the business and got a new distribution deal.
At the beginning of prohibition, Dowling moved her bourbon production to Mexico and it continued operating for three more decades after her death until 1964.
This year’s class joins recent inductees including former Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, third-generation distiller Julian P. Van Winkle, trade relations director Larry Kass and others.
Candidates for the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame are submitted by Kentucky Distillers Association member distilleries and its Board of Directors through an application process. A selection committee of previous lifetime achievement award winners then select no more than five nominees each year for induction.
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