What truly makes our company unique is our personal relationships with the distilleries and vendors we work with. Every relationship we have is directly with the people making the products, not the local sales representative so we ensure you always get the absolute best they have to offer. While there isn’t anything wrong simply working with local connections, a true business partner involves the owners communicating. That’s exactly what we offer at the ABV Barrel Shop.
Here’s a look at our friends in the bourbon industry we work with to bring you their products (please note when it comes to the distilleries, please check our current inventory to see if we have a barrel pick available from them):
Relationships… The Secret Ingredient at the ABV Barrel Shop
Kelly Ramsey of Art Eatables in Louisville, Kentucky. Kelly combines her passion for making the world's best chocolate with her love for bourbon. She is equally dedicated to both, and it shows. Her store was literally named the best candy shop in Kentucky by the Food Network. She is an innovator specializing in her signature bourbon truffle, and she has partnerships with just about every distillery in Kentucky. There's so much more to her, though, than just being the best bourbon chocolatier in Kentucky. She went through the first Executive Bourbon Steward certification with the Stave and Thief Society making her the first certified bourbon steward chocolatier. She not only combines these two passions via her chocolates, she focuses on education offering classes at her shops. We are bringing this delicious "piece of Kentucky" to Missouri. We will be the first in the State of Missouri to sell these amazing confections at our store. Kelly is also going to help us develop a chocolate and bourbon class pairing her sweet treats with bourbon. These should be fun offerings we have in our classroom that will bring new fans to what we are doing and we couldn't be more proud to be working with her.
Owner Lenny Eckstein is a longtime friend of Steve Akley. He appears on his podcasts and they’ve spent time hanging out in Kentucky, Florida and very soon Maine together. He’s a creative force and enjoys the fun side of making whiskey.
Owners Royce and Beka Neeley are some of the best friends Steve and Jim have in the whiskey world. In fact, if you see they are in Kentucky, more than likely they are staying at Royce and Beka’s house.
Steve and Jim have both been friends with owner David Weglarz for many years. Prior to opening the store, they were both regulars at Dave’s First Friday events (now they are at the shop, so stop by and see us before heading to the next First Friday… we’re a quick drive down Highway 55 from him).
Steve Akley and Jason Fruits are buddies. Jason comes on Steve’s shows and Steve’s other company, the ABV Network, once did a barrel pick at Old 55. Of course, Steve makes the run to Newtown every year when they release their barrel strength sweet corn whiskey, one of his favorite offerings in bourbon!
The closest distillery to Steve’s house is Stumpy’s Spirits. They are separated by the JB Bridge so a quick cross of the Mississippi and Steve’s over at Adam’s distillery, a place he has been known to refer to as his “adult daycare.”
Owner Gary Hinegardner and Steve Akley are in the mutual admiration society for the other. Steve appreciates Gary’s knowledge about corn, whiskey making and history and Gary is a big admirer of what Steve’s accomplished in the world of bourbon noting that when he was learning how to sell a product, he was advised to go to the person with the biggest mouth in the area… he thought of Steve when it came to selling bourbon in St. Louis. They’ve been friends ever since.
Native to Honolulu Hawai’i. Chastin Kanoa Okalani brings his passion for cooking to the world. Kanoa’s Hawaiian Grill offers genuine Hawaiian cuisine through their food truck and catering services. Their menu showcases a variety of Hawaiian foods, including BBQ Beef, Shoyu Chicken, and Kalua Pork, taking you on a culinary journey of the islands.