Ep. 17 - Lori Carcich of Country Smooth

Transcript

Drew (00:14):
Welcome to Whiskey Lore, the interviews. I'm your host, drew Hamish, the Amazon bestselling author of Whiskey Lores Travel Guide to Experiencing Kentucky Bourbon. And I want to welcome you to an encore interview that I did back in 2020 with Lori Uch, the founder of the country smooth brand of whiskey. Now Lori is at the forefront of a movement towards having more women in the distilling industry. She actually makes a claim on her bottles. And in the beginning of this interview that ended up setting me off on a huge research project trying to discover the legacy of women in the world of whiskey. And that episode, if you want to hear it, is in season three of whiskey lore. And I got to tell you, I had to dig really deep to see if there were any female founders before Lori. Now I'm not going to spoil the results for you. You can always go check out that podcast episode and hear my results. Instead, I'm going to spend this interview asking Lori about her experiences as a woman in a very male dominated industry. Also find out her inspirations for her whiskey. We'll hear about the example that she's setting for her children and what it takes to get started in the whiskey industry. So sit back, relax and enjoy my conversation with Lori Uch.

Lori (01:42):
So Country Smith was formed in February of 2015, I believe based on our research To date, I am the first America's first female founder and c e of an American whiskey company. I didn't understand at that time the relevance of that because for me, I just created a company in which I really was passionate about and wanted to really enjoy the art of drinking bourbon and whiskey meat and everything else that follows. Obviously drinking it with over ice and cocktails and really having a country smooth be a lifestyle that was really in my heart and my intention and my passion. So understanding the other woman in the industry, I definitely did a bit of research but I didn't see myself as a lawyer, you're going to be a leader, a female leader in the whiskey category in bourbon category. I didn't see it that way until over time I realized how challenging it was to be a woman founder and CEO of a whiskey company.

(02:42):
Especially I had no experience in the alcohol industry. So I think over time and through experiences both challenges and significant rewards, I realized this is something that's very unique. And I asked myself, why aren't there more women leading whiskey and bourbon companies? And I think my initial findings were just that traditionally whiskey and bourbon have been very male dominated from a consumer perspective. The data shows more and more women are enjoying bourbon and whiskey, which is exciting because I think when more women can get behind the art of drinking and enjoying whiskey, not only the art of it, but also when they can get into that, they also start looking in the history of whiskey and bourbon. And I think that things are starting to definitely change. I am definitely seeing more and more women in the leadership position of whiskey today than even I even saw in 2016, 2015. And I, it's exciting. But that being said, even though a woman can be very challenging, I've also had some tremendous supporters along the way, male supporters as well as women champions that have helped country smooth break into the markets with distributors into chain accounts, key influencers. So although it's been a challenge, I still believe that the people, regardless of their gender, good people, have really helped make country smooth who we are today, which is exciting, but lots of room for improvement from a female perspective as well as just as a company growth perspective.

Drew (04:24):
So one of the things that I really appreciate about the whiskey industry from just being in it for a shorter period of time is I have been is that between distilleries and distillers and between these companies, there's almost like a big family network of people who don't really, I don't feel any kind of wall being put up whenever you're trying to speak with somebody in the whiskey industry. And I hear so many distillers say, well we have friends in the distillery business or in the whiskey industry that really gave us a hand in getting started here. And everybody's really free with information. Is that something you found as well

Lori (05:12):
In general? Yes, for the most part. I think that to say it's 100% exclusively supportive, it's probably not a fair statement to say. I think that an industry, you're going to have the majority of supporters, you're going to have those who are not just by nature. I think that there are a serious amount of supportive people in this industry wo women and men both. One of my closest friends and a good mentor is the founder of CIA Scotch and she is America's first importer of scotch whiskey and she has been in business since 2013 I want to say, and I could be wrong. And she's one of the ones you're, you're referring to there to help there to mentor there, to give advice through good experiences and success as well as some challenges. And I feel like people like Corrine is her name and others have really tremendously GI given me and the company, lots of support in experience and teachings and I do think there are many beautiful people and I hope to be one of them, the other people starting a new industry company in the industry to be able to help them.

Drew (06:24):
And you are in California, correct?

Lori (06:28):
I am.

Drew (06:29):
So it's interesting that we think of Kentucky as the center of whiskey. A lot of people think of Kentucky as the center of whiskey and for good reason that so much of it has grown out of there, but different pockets of the country have had success in the whiskey industry as well. Do you feel like you are disconnected in any way by being so far away from Kentucky or do you feel like with technology today you're pretty much in no matter where you're at?

Lori (07:03):
That is a great question. So my family, I've born and raised in southern California, went to university in southern California, three children, a family in southern California. So our headquarters are Orange County, California. We are bottled in Nashville, Tennessee, which is great. That's where a country smooth is bottled and stored and ships out from across the country to our distributors. And interestingly enough, I understand that your question about how Californians receive whiskey, traditionally we're known for our wine, which we are. We have many regions, Napa, Sonoma and up and coming in Temecula in southern California. But I have to say one of our best markets for sales is California, which is interesting. We do drink a fair amount of whiskey and bourbon even though there really aren't many. I think there's just a couple of whiskey distillers here in southern California. Obviously the undulation in temperature that Kentucky, Tennessee parts of the country have helped enhance the flavor profile of whiskey and bourbon.

(08:13):
That's why it's really important to be able to have usually in traditional aging methods change in temperature from hot to cold throughout the year. It's what helps expand and contrast the whiskey bourbon in the barrels. So I think from a geographical perspective, yes, but I do travel pre covid quite a bit to the space in which we're distributed as well as Nashville, Tennessee. So yes and no. I think that's really important for country smooth is to really focus on our distributors, our chain accounts, our consumers, our bartenders in which we're sold and do all that we can as a company to keep those relationships going, to help them promote, sell and educate the consumers on who we are. So I would say a fair amount of my time is spent as well as Kyle and many others on our team in the markets which were distributed.

Drew (09:09):
And you actually went to state Fullerton for a business administration and accounting, is that correct?

Lori (09:17):
Yes, I did. I graduated, gosh, it's been 18 years from Cal State Fullerton. I have a business degree with an emphasis in accounting, which has really very little to do with art of distilling whiskey,

Drew (09:31):
Correct.

Lori (09:33):
But my father who's definitely my lifelong mentor in business and really in life, he, he's been a very successful C f O of large companies and informed me and said, Laura, you definitely have a marketing and business development mind, but in order to be able to do what you want to do, do the rest of your life, you really need to understand business and the art of numbers and what they mean and finance and all of that. So he promised me, I would be thankful to him for pretty much telling me that's what I need to be doing. And I am, I'm really glad because that obviously the educational background and training for accounting and finance and then working for a CPA firm for about four and a half years before I had my first of three children really helped me understand numbers, balance sheets, income statements, cash flows, how businesses work from every component, not only from a numbers on a ledger, but really from a operating perspective, from a management perspective, from a fraud risk perspective. So in the end and prior after I left my CP from having my first child, I consulted privately for about 10 years before starting country smooth accounting, finance and business development. And I think all of that experience training and exposure to different clients in different industries really helped me from a business perspective, from a financial perspective, from a monetary perspective, start country smooth and have an understanding of how the framework would go.

Drew (11:14):
So when you started all that you whiskey was nowhere in your future at that point. Wait, what? Nowhere, what was it that made you go what I should start a whiskey company?

Lori (11:27):
So I was not a whiskey drinker. I have been exposed to whiskey, bourbon, scotch my entire life by with family, friends, get together gatherings and I always would go towards a really Okie chardonnay or a Pinot noir, which I still enjoy, but I wanted to be part of that lifestyle. I wanted to be a part of what people around me had been doing my whole life, which was sports, love of country, all things Americana which kept consistently bringing me towards brown liquor. And I didn't just want to drink it in cocktails, which I love drinking w country smoothing cocktails. But I wanted to be able to really get behind it from and really, really enjoy it neat because to me everything, if you can enjoy something neat at an affordable price point, which we're 25 99 in most retail stores for a fifth, then you can do anything thereafter.

(12:29):
So for me, the importance of creating whiskey that was smooth enough for myself to drink, going back to females as a woman who normally wouldn't drink whiskey, a very non-traditional whiskey drinker, but yet still strong enough, the 86 proved to be enjoyed at bars and at home and to be enjoyed by your more traditional whiskey drinkers. So many bars, once you get past 90 proof, many bars will not will question serving it because of the high proof. So it's important to make it strong enough and the high enough proof where it didn't take away from the smoothness component, but it could be served at bars as well. So we could hit both the stores a retail perspective as well as the bar bar perspective. And with that, when my objectives were to create a smooth tasting whiskey but really entirely made in America for me that there's nothing, to me, there's no other alternative in addition to the taste, the most important part of this company is we're 100% American made and the story we're not going back. And I think that I am proud to say that was our intention and that has been the culture of our company from day one. So it's in today's climate, I'm very proud to say that that was our decision, not the gate. I'm thankful that we have wonderful suppliers and from a financial perspective we can afford to do that made in America smooth taste for about $26.

Drew (14:08):
Nice. So I got a bottle and I tasted it and I'm still fresh into this tasting thing. I mean I'm like, I was a little later to whiskey and I was a beer drinker then I tried to get into drinking wine and I was like, no, that's too dangerous for me just because you buy a bottle and you drink a bottle and for me whiskey's been great because you can drink little bits, savor it, enjoy it. It's like it has all the benefits of wine that you can analyze it and kind of get to know it and know what region it came from and all those different aspects that you get from it. But it took me a little time to work myself into tasting whiskey. And so the first thing I would do is I would say, what brand do I go look for that I can start with or I can get myself going on before Country Smooth. What did you experiment with and go, yeah, I could tolerate that.

Lori (15:23):
That's a great question. I look at different categories from just a price perspective for example. So if I'm going to prior to drinking country Smooth and I'm going to try to find a bottle between $25 and $30, that's smooth. Granted, I was not a whiskey drinker and I'm drinking whiskey meat at this point in time trying it. I would say a bullet bourbon was a really a bullet bourbon or Buffalo Trace was another great product with for that price point that I really thought was a could is a fantastic product for about $25. Crown Royal is a Canadian blended whiskey, but it's, it's easier to drink. Then when you get up in that higher price point in different proofs, you're looking at an entirely different product. So it's not really apples oranges, if you will. So I'd say in our price point, those are the ones I really did enjoy, not to the point that I enjoy country smooth now of course.

Drew (16:32):
Well you got to pick it, you got to make it the way you wanted to make it.

Lori (16:35):
Yes. And it took months and it took people saying, gosh, you are so picky. And I said absolutely love the course. Whatever I do, I do genuinely and I do with passion and commitment and determination. And so that being said, I wanted to make sure whatever was in this bottle is fits the name country smooth. And it was important for me in formulating this, that was exactly what we did.

Drew (17:01):
You had to find a spirit that you could work with that you had to figure out how you were going to age it and you had to figure out how you were going to store it. Can you kind of walk us through that whole process?

Lori (17:14):
So when I had the idea of starting a whiskey company, obviously that from there an inception takes hours and money and lots of decisions. So after researching the market domestic internationally for hundreds of hours and looking into, okay, if our culture is 100% made in America for Americans and whomever, then we need to find really reliable suppliers who were obviously 100% made in America that were consistent. Our style. Our style is more of a modern style you probably noticed where our bottle is tall and slender intentionally. It wasn't intended to be a short, stocky, traditional looking whiskey bottle. Also screen print on labels were another really important part of our more modern style of style. So it's important to find suppliers that were made in America that could phase up with us quick. So let's say our first year we're selling 500 cases. Year number two we're selling 20,000.

(18:18):
That hasn't been our history, but scaling up quickly was really important for our company that our suppliers were reliable, they were consistent, very reputable and they were scalable. And then of course price point, they had to be at a great price point for us so that we can still get to a $26 bottle country smooth on shelves. And everyone in the three tier system that we're part of, meaning country smooth distributors, retailers, consumers, that they all have their margins they need to hit to be profitable. So I tore the country, I did a fair amount of research, I narrowed it down to quite a few suppliers, from glass to sleeves to screen printers to whiskey suppliers to bottling facilities toward the country. Wanted to look all of our suppliers eye to eye, which I think is the way to do business if you're looking a long term business partnership to make sure that all of the ducks are in a row for both parties. And so the company was formed in February, 2015. We began selling in January, 2016 in Southern Health. Wow. Wow.

Drew (19:31):
That's quick.

Lori (19:32):
And we didn't have an in-house team of experts helping us processed. I was primarily myself and I had some help from a few other people on more passive help and guidance. It became my full-time task about two-thirds of the way into 2015. So basically we are an American whiskey that's aged less than two years. So we're not a straight whiskey. Straight whiskey requires that the age is at least two years. We are 93% corn intentionally because the corn helps make that smooth taste that we were intending to produce age less than two years in new oak barrels. We are distilled in Indiana mgp, which is a fantastic distillery who produces a lot of high quality products for a great majority of companies and I'm really proud to be one of them. Once we were able to hone in on high corn base, formulating not knowing what kind of corn base formulating, took about four months going back and forth saying, Hey, I want this to be very smooth, but I still want it to be a little stronger than your average 80 proof not exceeding 90 for this first product, which is a baby of course.

(20:54):
And I want to make sure that when people open the cap to this bottle drew, the people are interested in drinking it. My experience had been, and not with the Buffalo tray or bullet, those are phenomenal products, but my experience had been that for certain whiskeys and bourbons, once I opened the top, the aroma, it wasn't an inviting experience, meaning I didn't want entice me to want to drink it neat. I wanted to be able to have all those characteristics met. So it took over four, four and a half months going back and forth. And this was wholeheartedly right on our end because we wanted to get started and once we determined our formulation, we were off and started selling in 2016 in southern California because of where I live and now we're distributed in seven states, which has been fantastic. There were additional two states that we had to push off until the covid sort of cleared. Covid has been an interesting situation. I think everybody for all

Drew (22:01):
Of us. Yes, yes, everybody. Thanks. A whiskey traveler. I have, I'm having a really tough time with this. Right.

Lori (22:08):
So that's sort of our journey in terms of how we came up with country Smooth. We are bottled in Nashville and stored in Nashville. We run X amount of cases and our runs have now doubled, almost tripled in the last 12 months based on demand and based on sales, which is really exciting. So we are stored there until we ship out to our, or they pick up from our warehouse in Nashville to the various distributors state by state.

Drew (22:40):
Okay. Yeah. And what I found about this whiskey and you saying that it's 93% corn blows my mind because one of the things that happens with corn whiskey sometimes is that burn the Kentucky hug that you get at the finish. Yes. And you don't really have that intense burn coming at the finish. So that was pleasant. The other thing is for a whiskey that's not aged that long, you're you're definitely dependent a lot on the juice that you get. So mgp, the quality is definitely showing itself when you drink it, it has a really nice mouth feel to it. I mean it's like I get Cinnamon and Tuffy and all this stuff going on in and it just lays really nicely in my mouth, which makes me say I never want to put ice into this. Have you had that kind of a response from people before?

Lori (23:38):
We love to hear that. That makes me smile and makes me very happy because that was exactly intention. I think when people open a $25 bottle of whiskey, that's not a big brand. It's like a not international national brand like a buffalo trace or bullet ribbon. I'm going back to them. I think they are not sure what to expect and they're surprised. It truly is as smooth as the, I mean it's smooth and doesn't have that bite. And that was the intention. Some of the traditional whiskey bourbon drinkers, they want that bite and they really desire that. But I was hearing more and more people were like me who really wanted to enjoy whiskey and bourbon, but they didn't want to have the overwhelming burn just like you and I perhaps enjoy. So I appreciate that and that was the intention. And I think as we expand our product lines, we're going to get into bourbon and other bourbons and whiskeys. We're going to have different price points and different age statements as well as proof. And those, when you get up to over a hundred proof, you're going to have a different experience. But for this first product that was the intention to be really enjoyable and to not have the burn but still be reminded that you're drinking whiskey.

(25:01):
Was that the case for you?

Drew (25:04):
Well, I mean for me, like I say, wish this whiskey was around a little bit earlier, so it could have been my gateway in. But honestly when I got it and I saw that it was of a younger age, I mean when you don't see the word bourbon on there, immediately you start thinking, oh, is this going to be harsh? That's what your expectation is. So to have a different experience with it and to have it also be flavorful. Because the other thing is that sometimes when you try so hard, I bought a bottle of early times, not the hundred proof bottled in bond, but just the bottom shelf stuff and it was drinking water. There was nothing to it. And so to me to be able to have that perfect marriage of you're not getting so much of the burn, you're getting a really nice mouth feel out of it and you're feeling enticed to drink it neat instead of having to put it into something else to get it down and have it do the job. As I've heard people say to me that that's pretty impressive that you could pull that off.

Lori (26:20):
I thank you and it's definitely an interesting balance to try to do both like you said, to marriage both and I'm really glad you enjoy it.

Drew (26:30):
So you have three kids, do you, are any of the kids showing any interest in following in mom's footsteps?

Lori (26:39):
Yes. So my oldest daughter is 14. I have two girls, 14 and 12. My youngest is nine and a half a boy. And the 14 year old is definitely very entrepreneur minded, which is just in her, I mean it's obvious. She's got her mom's entrepreneurial spirit. She really is interested in helping. We've got her taking some great photography, of course closed bottles and merchandise and certain things. And she helps assemble packages for our team. And I think really the most important lesson that I want to teach my children is importance of hard work and nothing's given to any of one of us. We're not entitled to success to have success. Success is earned by lots and lots of hard work, lots of research relationships. And I believe that we've been doing this for long enough. I think they see that mom is extremely committed to this business.

(27:45):
And even though mom sometimes is gone for four or five days at a time, obviously not so much during Covid that it's all part of what she's building. And so I want to make sure that my kids understand how important it is and when they get to the age where they're actually working for someone other than me or the business, but they have the same work ethic and passion for success. But it's really interesting. I also get lots of comments on Mom suggestions of what they think, and obviously it's alcohol and they don't touch that they're clearly far too young. But from a business perspective, from a design perspective, from a compiling packages and photography and suggestions about work attire, it's really fun. They're at the age that they're getting it.

Drew (28:35):
So will any of them follow in your footsteps as you were instructed to go to get a business degree before you stepped out? Are you kind of like, all right, here's what you need to do?

Lori (28:49):
That's a great question. I look at each one of my children and I see that they're all different. So I do believe that they're all going to have their strengths in different industries just based on their personalities and their aptitude and where I feel like they're supposed to be and where I feel like they're going to excel. But I do believe that one of them is going to be the entrepreneur. And I want to make sure that with that she gets to college and she has the proper training in every component, accounting, finance, marketing, sales. And I'll make sure that she understands balance sheets, cash flow statements really well. Yeah, because she doesn't just have the answer to me. She has my dad that she'll have to make sure. So I believe there's at least one of my three kids will be an entrepreneur. And then I think that we're not all the same.

(29:43):
My sister definitely, she's in education, she falls after my mom. So I think as parents, it's our job to understand and listen to our children and understand where they're best going to thrive and give them all the tools to make sure that they thrive and whatever they choose to do, whether it's being in the military, whether it's going to four university, whether it's going to a trade school, they're all kind of different. But I would love to support each one of my kids in their endeavors and make sure that they work really hard to be the best they can be. And lots of lessons during Covid to teach my children. For all of us I know every one of us has our own challenges during Covid, but trying to teach my kids the big lesson, the last three and a half, four months with my kids as I talk to 'em about the business is we're in an ever-changing world.

(30:38):
And one of the most important characteristics of a leader in any industry is the ability to adapt to the world and the ability to understand what was really strong yesterday and a month ago and last year, for example, country smooth slightly has to change to adapt to the new normal for right now. And that new normal may last a month or two or three, or it may last five years, but we don't know, hopefully not five years. But my job is to make sure that I analyze the new normal, how country smooth needs to adapt in certain components to be successful in the new norm and keep pushing forward. So for example, part of that is a new product launch through, we were supposed to launch our second product, which we're really excited. We formulated in everything in July for the 4th of July weekends. How much more American for us, for me anyway, not for the rest of the country, how much more American would it be to launch country, smooth love of country made in America product 4th of July.

(31:53):
Weekends we have about 450 stores which sell and serve country smooth. So we were ready for our second product and it's definitely a different product, but the same brand. And that was one of the things we chose to hold off a few more months to see how Covid airs out. Cause we have an entire launch campaign from a PR perspective, tasting perspective, you name it, which wouldn't be as optimal to do to roll out during Covid. So Will is Covid going to be around for a while likely. But I think that over time we're going to realize just how prevalent it's going to be and make some adjustments according to that. So

Drew (32:38):
Yeah, you have to base it on your industry as well as just what's going on in the world. Because in my case, I just put out a Kentucky travel book and seems like an interesting congratulations. Thank you. It seems like an interesting time to be putting out a travel book. But as I started asking around and getting some advice, they said the whole thing is you need to get it out there because people want a plan. So in my particular circumstance, it made sense to just move forward. But if I'm going to go out and do tastings and things like that, then that all kind of changes and those types of things. You have to say, okay, now what do you do? And so in your case, you're doing recipes online and you're giving people a chance to be their own bartender instead of going to a bar to try these different things.

Lori (33:31):
Right. And I would say as of today, about 75% of our business is retail stores, which is great. We do pretty well in retail stores and I think that this new product will be probably one of two that we're going to launch first part of 2021, which is exciting. But yeah, it's just a different time in some ways. It's great. I think in some ways companies are able to really take a bit of time to analyze certain things with our company and maybe make some changes or perfections or take time to mani, alter a course a little bit. And then in some cases it's hard because travel and in-person meetings or demos or certain key events aren't happening. And that's a challenge for many companies. But in general, country Smooth has been around long enough where we're no, we're a known brand. We're not a household brand yet in every market, but we have enough penetration with distribution points and distributor support, which I'm very thankful to have. We definitely have some awesome distributors and chain buyers and managers where we're doing very well. It's just a different kind of way to operate a business right now.

Drew (34:52):
Yeah. Well, so my last question would be around your advice for women who would be interested in getting into the whiskey industry. Is there any one piece of advice that you would give to say, here's a better way to blaze your own trail in the whiskey industry?

Lori (35:15):
I think that's a great question, and I definitely think that knowledge is power in anything, right? I mean, obviously you're a vessel and author and you share knowledge and you share experiences and guidance. And I think that if you take that approach in life, we're all better off. I think for women, number one, now is the time to go after it. More and more women are doing it. It's a perfect time for women to come out and start doing whatever you dream of, whatever you're passionate about. I would say if I can give one piece of advice, it would be find your experts or experts who have been through this. I think finding your expert to help brace some of the challenges and prepare for the challenges before they occur, whether it's money raised, because it's not inexpensive to start a liquor brand, even if you don't have your own distillery, the amount of money it takes is significant significantly more than most other industries consulted.

(36:21):
Number two, just the distribution and the marketing component. There's so much to learn, even once you establish a beautiful product that you're proud of, someone told me in distribution, Laurie created a great product with a killer stellar brand that's consistent. The hard part is going out and selling it and marketing it. So I think that finding your expert or your advisors and having them be your champions and having them help prepare for the good and the bad times, I think is the number one most important component. And that advisor or that expert will also help you raise money if money is needed to be raised. As we did ours in phases, we were self-funded for quite some time, and then we just closed a recent raise, which is fantastic and it's helped us grow. That's what I recommends. And there's Women Who Whiskey There's, which is a fantastic organization and they have different chapters around the country. So it's great for women and men who want to gather together, share their love for whiskey, to share stories. Also, the women, the Bourbon women are another fantastic group of women that we are a part of recently newly. And we really want to get behind them and be a part of what they're doing. But I believe there are enough of us in the industry with different levels and years of experience that are wanting to help other people and empower other women to go after their dreams.

Drew (38:01):
Well, thank you very much, Lori. I appreciate your time today and sharing your story and also telling us about a new product that's coming out. It's fun hearing your journey through and also discovering how somebody gets to formulate their own whiskey, because not all of us get to do that.

Lori (38:20):
Yeah, it definitely, I feel fortunate, but lots and lots of hard work and lots of nos, but usually nos are just a starting point to really make it happen. And I've been writing my own book called Breaking the Barrel Nice. And the chapters evolve over time because I have new experiences that sort of fit into one of the 16 chapters that I have written so far. But Breaking the Barrel is sort of a compilation of my experiences in this industry as a female and just in general, whether I'm a female, I mean obviously I'm a female, but I don't think some of my experiences are gender specific or related. I think they're just experiences in a new industry, let alone liquor industry. But I really feel like we've been able to succeed based on the three Ps that I live by every day. And I consciously remind myself of them verbally out loud every morning. And that's passion, partnership, and persistence. And I feel like when we have all three of them deeply embedded in us, and then everything else is possible and success will be innately achieved. And so some days one of those Ps are kind of slightly off in my world because let's base and not every day is perfect. So when I'm able to really consistently follow these three Ps, it, it's incredible what can happen. And I feel like if my story can be an inspiration to even one other person, male or female, it's very thankful.

Drew (40:02):
Well, I appreciate Lori being on the show. And if you want to learn more about Country Smooth, you can check out their website@countrysmooth.com and to find out about female founders, then go to Whiskey Lore, the podcast and head for season three in an episode called Underestimated. If you get a copy of my Kentucky travel book, get whiskey lore, social media links, and more, head to whiskey lore.com. I'm your host, drew Hamish. And until next time, cheers and SL JVA Whiskey Lores a production of Travel Fuel's Life, L L C.