- 3 months ago
In the heart of Kentucky, a quiet revolution reshaped the world of American whiskey. This is the story of Angel’s Envy, and the visionary who dared to finish bourbon differently.
Join Nick Hall, Editor-in-Chief of Man of Many, as he steps inside the Angel’s Envy distillery on Louisville’s Whiskey Row to uncover how Lincoln Henderson transformed a centuries-old craft into something truly modern. From the scorching heat of Henry County’s rickhouses to the fire and finesse of Kelvin Cooperage, dis
Join Nick Hall, Editor-in-Chief of Man of Many, as he steps inside the Angel’s Envy distillery on Louisville’s Whiskey Row to uncover how Lincoln Henderson transformed a centuries-old craft into something truly modern. From the scorching heat of Henry County’s rickhouses to the fire and finesse of Kelvin Cooperage, dis
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00:03Until the point that Angel's Envy was founded, finishing really didn't exist in
00:06American whiskey in a big way, and so it was a bit of a gamble for us to found
00:10ourselves on that notion, but 15 years on I think we've found that it's paid off.
00:30On the banks of the Ohio River lies a stretch of history soaked in charred oak and corn
00:34match. This is Kentucky, not the version you see on postcards, the real kind. Rooted deep
00:40in limestone, Bible verses and bloodlines, it's the kind of place where the spirit runs
00:44thicker than water, and traditions are made to be followed. For generations, bourbon producers
00:49have followed a strict set of guidelines that govern how America's spirit is made, bottled
00:53and barrelled. Charred new oak barrels, no additives, aged and distilled in America, these rules
00:59aren't suggestions as much as they are scripture.
01:02In this part of the world, whiskey lives and dies by the barrel, but what if one barrel
01:06was just the beginning of the story? What happens when someone decides to go completely against
01:11the grain and push the boundaries of blending, ageing and distilling? This is the story of
01:17Angel's Envy, and the moment bourbon's future stopped asking for permission.
01:21It all begins on Whiskey Row, the birthplace of America's native spirit. In the mid-1800s,
01:27this bustling street was the epicenter of bourbon commerce, and the thriving economic
01:32hub of Louisville. But when Prohibition hit in the 1920s, things changed. The hotbed of
01:38bourbon producers was reduced to a smouldering ash, with only the most established labels
01:43remaining. Today, Whiskey Row has undergone a remarkable revitalization, fusing old-world charm
01:49with a new sense of modern sophistication. And at its helm, stands a pioneering label with
01:54an unmistakable name.
01:56If you're familiar with aging, whiskey or any other spirit in a barrel, you typically
02:00lose about 5% to evaporation. And there's an old myth that angels watching over your
02:05rickhouse would essentially take their fair share. So, Angel's Share, Angel's Envy. Essentially,
02:11Lincoln tasted the whiskey out of the barrel and said, man, the angels are going to be mad
02:14they don't get more of this. Angel's Envy was born.
02:17As the most visited distillery downtown, Angel's Envy is the undisputed jewel of Louisville's
02:22revival. The cathedral-style design, complete with copper stills and bright open spaces,
02:27speaks to the label's undeniable sense of tradition. But there is a modernity that drives
02:32Angel's Envy. One that global brand ambassador Angel Tedder tells me has been there since day
02:37one, when Bourbon Hall of Famer Lincoln Henderson hatched plans for a boundary-pushing release.
02:43Lincoln always wanted to bring whiskey production back downtown to where it all started, Historic
02:47Whiskey Row. So, we were able to break ground in 2013. And the first whiskey came off the
02:53still in 2016, a few months after we opened. And it's been pretty much just a hockey stick
02:58of growth since then.
03:00We talked a lot about Lincoln Henderson. Who was this wonderful man and how did he kick
03:04off Angel's Envy?
03:05Yeah. So, he started our company after his retirement, which is kind of funny. I don't
03:10think I'll ever retire either. So, he was at Brown Foreman for nearly 40 years. He developed
03:16Gentleman Jack, Jack Single Barrel, Woodford Reserve. And Woodford was really like his crown
03:21jewel before Angels. He loved that mash bill. He liked the aging process of toasting the barrel
03:27first and then charring it. So, there's two layers of flavor the whiskey goes through. But
03:30he always wanted to secondarily finish because he had a huge respect for what they do in Scotland
03:35and Japan. So, he came back here and really was kind of encouraged by his family, you know,
03:41let's do your own thing. So, this is really sort of his life's work in a bottle.
03:45More than 15 years and countless barrels later, Lincoln Henderson's ethos lives on. And the
03:50man tasked with keeping that heavenly agreement is Owen Martin. Trained in the art of scotch
03:55production, the Kansas City native's extensive knowledge of secondary cast and maturation
03:59makes him the ideal person to lead Angel's Envy's unique journey into finished bourbon. As
04:05the label's master distiller, the bourbon expert's indelible mark is left on every barrel and bottle
04:09that leaves the warehouse. And it's a job he doesn't take lightly. I think if you look
04:15at tradition and traditional processes, there's power there, right? There's that lineage, that
04:20history, but to me it can also just be constraining in some sense. And so, as a whiskey maker, to
04:25be able to work at a brand that is pioneering gives me pretty much an open field to do whatever
04:30I want in authentic and innovative ways, but I'm not constrained in any way that tradition
04:35might inhibit. Now, we talk a lot about secondary finishing, but what is
04:39cast-finished bourbon? Yeah, so basically taking matured whiskey,
04:43so in our case around five-year-old bourbon, so, you know, primarily made of corn, aged in
04:47new charred barrels. And so that's the point at which most bourbons are bottled, but for
04:51us it's putting it into a barrel, a secondary barrel that held something else. So that
04:55may be wine, maybe spirits, and so that barrel will have infused some of that flavor, which
05:00then lends that flavor to the whiskey we put in it. And I'm sure that changes the way
05:04that the flavor imparts through the whiskey throughout the whole process. Yeah, absolutely. So, I
05:08mean, again, taking it more as a nod towards Scotch whiskey making, so finishings existed
05:12in Scotland for over 50 years now, a relatively new concept to American whiskey making, but
05:18basically the idea being that you're layering flavors that are on there, right? So, like,
05:22the existing bourbon has a fruitiness to it, has oakiness to it, right? And then the finishing
05:28cast that we're using is highlighting that or contrasting that or playing with that in some
05:32sense. So, our flagship is a port-finished bourbon, so it's been around for 15 years now. And so, as
05:37I said, it's about five years, and so, as I said, it's about five years.
05:38Old, mature bourbon spends about another six months in ruby pour barrels, and so that's how we pretty much made
05:44our name.
05:44You mentioned, obviously, it's a new thing to America. What was the aversion to cast finishing here in the U
05:50.S.?
05:50Yeah, I mean, each spirits industry, or I guess each whiskey industry, has its strictness, I guess you would say.
05:57And so, we're stricter on barreling, right? So, by law, most American whiskeys have to be a brand new barrel.
06:02Really, I think that's, I don't want to say limiting, but it is the hallmark of American whiskey, and I
06:07think it's, for us, the avenue we saw to kind of expand that or push the boundaries a little bit
06:12via finishing to differentiate ourselves.
06:14So, as a brand, I mean, directly outside these doors, on our wall, it says, revere tradition, embrace progress. And
06:20to me, that's as angel's envy as anything. Finishing is just a piece of that, right? It's taking ideas from
06:25other industries and applying that to the more traditional bourbon industry in innovative ways.
06:39The rickhouse is where the tale of two barrels unfolds. Inside these creaky walls, Owen's spectacular spirit goes through its
06:46second transformation.
06:48Once matured, it's transferred into finishing barrels, port wine cast for the classic, rum cast for the rye.
06:54And it's here that angel's envy diverges from every other American whiskey.
06:59That's going to be probably the highest proof bourbon that we have around, right? By that, I mean, this is
07:04the top floor of the rickhouse, obviously the hottest.
07:07And so our bottom floors are going to be cooler and more humid, and function almost more like a Scottish
07:12environment.
07:13So basically what that means is that the longer we age a barrel there, the proof's going to go down.
07:17We don't emphasize the individual floors. What we do is we blend them together before we put them into the
07:22port barrel.
07:25Obviously the whiskey is produced and made in the distillery, but I think here in places like the rickhouse, but
07:30also in the finishing rooms is where the magic happens, right?
07:33Oh, this is absolutely my happy place. I try to get here any and all possibilities that I can. This
07:38is where I actually get the real work done, I think.
07:40Flavor-wise, this is, these barrels, port casts and things like that is exactly where you try and get that
07:45Angel's Envy signature style, right?
07:47Yes, yeah. And I mean, especially right now in that sort of cusp between seasons is when we're getting that
07:51big push into the wood.
07:52And that's what's taking the color and flavor with it when it pulls back, right?
07:56That wonderful ruby color, the soft fruitiness, you know, nuttiness, like this is the season that this is all happening
08:02right now.
08:03Cheers. Cheers.
08:03As Owen explains, finishing is not blending. You aren't covering flaws. You are enhancing flavors, viewing the spirit through a
08:13second lens.
08:14This aging process is a subtle art, but not all things are so delicate.
08:30To build a dream, you need the right foundations. In bourbon, that means barrels. And the best barrels are forged
08:37in fire.
08:38For over 60 years, the team at Kelvin Cooperage has been building, breaking down and toasting barrels with an innate
08:44sense of purpose.
08:45If indeed Lincoln Henderson's vision was to bend the rules, then these are the fire blackened hands that did it.
08:53We do things a little bit differently here. We're toasting only over natural oak fires.
08:59So the only fuel we use on the fire is oak that regenerate through the process.
09:04So there's no gas, nothing artificial in our fires.
09:07When you're toasting the barrel, you get a really nice baked bread, marzipanee, you know, almondy, really, really pleasant smell.
09:13Once we've activated those wood sugars, we then let the barrel fully ignite, and that's the barrel charring.
09:20We've got no timers and no temperature controls.
09:22This is we want our guys to be using all their senses.
09:25So it really is sight, smell, feel on the barrel.
09:29A lot of other cooperages are removing the human element.
09:32We think that human element is really key.
09:37Looking at this spectacular dance of fire and brimstone, it's not hard to see that the cooperage workers are the
09:42unsung heroes of the whisky industry.
09:45Blue-collar alchemists who rarely get the spotlight but are essential to the story, their chapter is penned in smoke
09:50and soot.
09:52But for others, it's a case of soil and sweat.
09:57How long have you been running Langley Farms for?
09:59We started Langley Farms in 1990. We moved here.
10:03What do you love the most about your job?
10:05Just working with the people, working with the land, watching the crops grow.
10:09If you're at a bar and somebody orders an Angel Envy on The Rock, you say, hey, I know a
10:13guy that brought safe coordinator.
10:15You know, it's a good community of people too.
10:17And it's something to be known for, something that I had a part in.
10:21I know I don't do any distilling or any of the marketing or any of the labeling, but I did
10:25have some part in it and that feels good.
10:33Back on Whisky Row is where Angel's Envy gets its wings.
10:37Intricately adorned with engraved typography and a smattering of shimmering gold, Angel's Envy's bottle stands tall amongst its contemporaries.
10:45A tribute to its namesake and to the fleeting nature of the Angel's share.
10:49And through the brand's unique personalization program, guests can engrave names, dates, even love letters into that very bottle.
10:57Not only want you to be able to come here to the distillery, but to bring gifts back, to celebrate.
11:02We're one of the most highly giftable spirits.
11:04So being able to personalize it with a message or your name or to commemorate a certain occasion.
11:09It is really cool that you can get this gift from Louisville itself.
11:13Angel walks us through the process from bottling to the personalized engravings that make each bottle a gift, a memory,
11:19a piece of history.
11:21At Angel's Envy, even the smallest touch is considered.
11:24Because in a world of mass production, offering something personal is revolutionary.
11:30We see everyone drinks Angel's Envy.
11:32It's not necessarily in a dark room with a cigar at night.
11:35It's in the summertime in a spritz or a lot of people were like, this was my gateway bourbon.
11:40I didn't really prefer it before, but I love port wine.
11:43So I tried it and now I'm getting all my friends to drink it too.
11:46So those experiences stick with them.
11:48If you could have people come away from the Angel's Envy distillery with one lesson learned, what would it be?
11:53That tradition doesn't always have to be boring and innovation doesn't always have to be completely outside the box.
11:59It can be something for everyone.
12:01We've talked a bit about Lincoln Henderson's legacy, but for you specifically, when all is said and done, what would
12:07you want your legacy to be?
12:08I guess when I think about legacy at its most basic, I'm a believer that the liquid should probably do
12:13the talking.
12:13So the releases we put down, the special releases, the core releases will speak for themselves.
12:18When I think about legacy more broadly, it's about the people and the ideas that you leave in your wake.
12:24So obviously Angel's Envy wouldn't exist without Lincoln, but I would say finished whiskey in the U.S.
12:28wouldn't exist the way it does now without Lincoln's vision of how things should go.
12:32And so that's kind of where I think, what comes after me?
12:35How can I keep paving that road?
12:37What boundaries can I push that then allow people that are smarter and more creative and the next generation to
12:43come behind me and even build upon that?
12:49Being here in Louisville, in the heart of bourbon country, it's easy to get swept up in the romanticism.
12:54But Angel's Envy stands out as a sleek silhouette against the skyline, a modern cathedral to a reimagined fate.
13:00Tours are intimate, conversations are real, there's no velvet rope between you and the whiskey.
13:04And when you see the tale of two barrels firsthand, you learn how the finishing process actually works.
13:09How the angel's share ascends into the rafters and how what's left behind can become something more than mere bourbon.
13:15It's a story that continues with every bottle poured, every barrel filled and every rule questioned.
13:19And for that, you get back a handful of contrarians who know the value of operating just outside the law.
13:25So here's to Kentucky, a Bible Belt state that baptizes its bourbon in time and tradition.
13:31To Angel's Envy, a name that dares to defy the heavens, proving that sometimes it's not what you lose, but
13:38what you earn makes all the difference.
13:40It's a story twice written in oak and handed down by way of beauty, bourbon, no better deal than the
13:47angels.
13:49To Angel's Envy is a explorer, a spot of victory, and it's a story that he writes in the town,
13:50something that they go with you.
14:03Like I said.