Marianne Eaves heads to our island

We send one of whiskey’s great and good off to our island, what will they take?

During the past decade, Marianne Eaves has forged herself a career that has been both innovative and inspiring. After graduating from the University of Louisville with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 2012, Marianne continued her upward trajectory of success in the whiskey world. In 2009 she had started an internship with the world-renowned Brown-forman, from which she rose up to the role of master taster in 2014. This move actually led her to secure a spot on the Forbes 30 under 30 list.

After departing from the Brown-forman team in 2015 Marianne went on to bring Castle & Key Distillery back to life, remaining there for four years in her role as master distiller. Marianne explains, “The project building Castle & Key was a tremendous opportunity to meet people and have people reach out to me. I’m just really grateful for my time there. They have a great team there. They have a strong desire to improve the industry and to be a leader.”

Her unexpected departure from Castle & Key in 2019 brought about much speculation from the whiskey industry. However, it was time for a project of the more personal kind. The opportunity to spread her wings a little outside of Bourbon and Kentucky wasn’t something that she wanted to miss out on, providing a chance to spread the gospel a little wider than it is currently. Now, the new normal is living life out on the road. Having just given birth to her first daughter, a trip to our island might be more for sleep than a dram, but let’s take a look at Marianne’s top five whiskeys.

WHISKEY #1

Oregon Spirit Distillers

I’ve had the opportunity to explore and work with numerous craft distilleries and recognize that Oregon Spirit Distillers has such fantastic bones and a really passionate team; it has a vast range of spirits and particularly impressive whiskeys.

WHISKEY #2

Woodinville Whiskey

Put simply the team here are producing high-quality whiskey and forging really inspiring partnerships. I’d happily take any of their expressions with me, from the Straight Bourbon, to Straight Rye, or the Port Finished Bourbon, out to this island of yours.

WHISKEY#3

Garrison Brothers

The team at Garrison Brothers in Texas have made Bourbon their craft, with a truly unique process that has created an equally unique flavor. It is something that I could enjoy again and again. And what better place to do that than on an island with endless hours to spare.

WHISKEY #4

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked

This is a real old faithful whiskey for me and the product that I cut my teeth on in the exploration of the spirit, so really it’s only right that it makes it into the top five.

WHISKEY #5

Russell’s Reserve Rye

This creation from Wild Turkey is a product made by an absolute legend and had to be in my top five island whiskeys. It’s a spicy single barrel that’s full of surprises.

A LUXURY ITEM

My luxury item would certainly have to be a Berkey water filter, just so I can hydrate. That would also give me the option to start my own little distilling/blending operation while I’ve got all those hours to spare.