Joe Beatrice

Founder @Barrell Craft Spirits

Louisville-based Barrell Craft Spirits is the original, pre-eminent independent blender of unique, aged, cask strength whiskey and rum. Recognized for our blending expertise since 2013, we skillfully design, produce, and launch leading, unique products that surprise and delight whiskey aficionados and novices alike. As the most innovative, forward-thinking, and progressive whiskey blenders in the nation, we have an unrelenting drive to break the status quo by selecting and blending products that explore different distillation methods, barrels and aging environments, and bottle them at cask strength. All blends are not created equal – experience matters. We don’t simply follow a recipe or blend by consensus. Rather, we blend based on years of expertise and experimentation. We personally taste and blend hundreds of products each year and have experimented with thousands of unique blends over the past 10 years. We are passionate perfectionists fueled by curiosity. ​ We were awarded Best Bourbon twice at the internationally acclaimed San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC)- in 2017 and again in 2020. Other SFWSC awards include Best Small Batch Bourbon and Best Overproof Rum, as well as 21 Double Gold medals and 15 Gold medals. We’ve also received high honors at the NY International Spirits Competition, LA Spirits Competition, and Ultimate Spirits Challenge (USC), including Chairman’s Trophy for Barrell Dovetail and our Private Release Whiskey. Barrell Craft Spirits is consistently highly rated by Whisky Advocate and was named Best American Whiskey of 2018 in Forbes. Our award-winning line of products is currently sold in 49 U.S. states as well as in Puerto Rico, Canada, the UK and Australia.