ABOUT US
At Barrell Craft Spirits, we have an unrelenting drive to break the status quo by selecting and blending products that explore different distillation methods, barrels, and aging environments. All blends are not created equal – knowledge and 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.
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As industry trailblazers, we’re passionate about continually pushing the boundaries of blending and exploring opportunities to source and blend outside the box. Our goal is to elevate barrels of whisky into something greater than the sum of their parts and to showcase the world’s most exciting spirits. In the process, we’re flattered to have inspired many others to begin blending with whiskey.
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.
JOE BEATRICE
FOUNDER
TRIPP STIMSON
CHIEF OF DISTILLERY OPERATIONS
CHIEF WHISKEY SCIENTIST
CHRIS RIESBECK
CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER
NIC CHRISTIANSEN
BLENDER
MANAGER OF BLENDING OPERATIONS
JOE BEATRICE
FOUNDER
Joe Beatrice has built his career on new ideas. A former marketing and technology entrepreneur, Joe founded his first company, Blue Dingo Digital, in the 1990s to help companies use the Internet to establish, brand, and grow their products.
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After 20 years, Joe was ready for a change. Joe saw the true magic of spirits after a transformative experience tasting whiskey straight from the barrel for the very first time. In 2013, he launched Barrell Craft Spirits in Louisville, Kentucky, the epicenter of the American spirits industry.
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Instead of building his own distillery, Joe questioned the conventional wisdom and took a different course. He sourced and blended exceptional casks from established producers, bottled whiskeys at cask strength, and sold them as transparently as possible.
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That approach was unique in the United States, but not the world. Scotland’s long-established independent bottlers were a major inspiration, and Joe was captivated by their ability to elevate barrels of whisky into something greater than the sum of their parts.
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Joe’s visionary instincts were spot on. Barrell Craft Spirits’ cask-strength small-batch and single-barrel releases quickly became an influencing force in American whiskey, picking up awards from the world’s most prestigious spirits competitions.
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Joe is intimately involved with every step of the production process at Barrell Craft Spirits, using his exceptional palate alongside the BCS blending team to choose and create great spirits. Creative finishes, a liberated approach to blending, and a deep-seated commitment to releasing each whiskey at cask strength and without chill filtration—just like that fateful barrel tasting years ago—continues to guide every product release.
TRIPP STIMSON
CHIEF OF DISTILLERY OPERATIONS
CHIEF WHISKEY SCIENTIST
Tripp Stimson hails from Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 2004, following his graduation from Tennessee Technological University with a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, he was recruited as a Research and Development Scientist for the Brown Forman Corporation, headquarters to Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve and Old Forrester. There he gained his experience in yeasting, fermentation, and the distillery sciences and operations that make a distillery operate successfully and efficiently.
Following his 9 years with Brown Forman, Tripp formed his own consulting company providing the technical expertise needed to design, build and efficiently run a new distillery. He’s been a key component in the success of distilleries around the country. Most recently, he helped to design and build the Kentucky Artisan Distillery, where he was later employed as Master Distiller and the Director of Distillery Operations. He oversaw all the Jefferson’s Reserve project design and implementation including Jefferson’s Groth, and Jefferson’s Barrel Aged Manhattan. Additionally, he built the first malting operation in Kentucky in 2016.
Tripp met Joe Beatrice at Kentucky Artisan Distillery and they began their work there together blending and producing interesting and unique whiskeys. He joined Barrell Craft Spirits in January of 2017 as the Master Distiller and Director of Distillery Operations and is responsible for developing our product formulation and overseeing operations.
CHRIS RIESBECK
CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER
Chris Riesbeck joined the team at BCS as the Chief Commercial Officer in February 2023. A spirits industry veteran of 15 years, he most recently served as the Vice President of Sales for Westland Distillery in Seattle and played a crucial role in establishing their reputation as a leading producer of American Single Malt. During his extensive management history, he’s overseen commercial teams at wholesale (Slocum & Sons), import (Classic Imports), and distillery (Westland) tiers as well as working with select private clients for consulting on their growing whiskey brands.
Chris is a firm believer in the link between ambassadorship and commercial excellence in the whisky industry. He is a two-time recipient of Whisky Magazines “Icons of Whisky” Highly Commended Brand Ambassador of the Year, for his work at Westland as well as his tenure with Gordon & MacPhail. In 2015, he was awarded the title of “Keeper of the Quaich” in Scotland and is the youngest American to hold the title. In addition to his commercial experience, Chris is a PgD recipient and current MSc candidate from the prestigious Heriot-Watt University in Scotland as a part of their Brewing and Distilling Sciences program. His undergraduate work was focused on Philosophy (Bioethics) and Economics at The College of Wooster in Ohio.
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In the CCO role, Chris is directly responsible for the global commercial strategy of Barrell Craft Spirits, developing commercial planning to realize the revenue targets and overseeing distribution strategy both in the US and beyond.
NIC CHRISTIANSEN
BLENDER
MANAGER OF BLENDING OPERATIONS
Barrell Craft Spirits blender Nic Christiansen joined BCS in 2019 after serving as the Beverage Director at Louisville’s Butchertown Grocery, where she built an extensive bar program showcasing creative cocktails, bourbon tasting menus, and more than 25 hand-selected single barrels from around the country. She’s an Executive Bourbon Steward, a Level 1 Sommelier, a former U.S. Bartenders Guild board member, and appeared on Top Chef to educate judges and contestants about cocktails.
Nic manages our blending operations, as well as our single barrel and private release programs. As a crucial member of our blending team, her keen palate plays a pivotal role in developing and evaluating preliminary blends for all of our products, as well as overseeing the logistics of scaling up batches from the lab to the production floor. When she’s not managing our massive barrel inventory or helping bars and retailers pick their own single barrels, she's thinking up exciting new blends for future Barrell releases.