2023 is just around the corner and it’s a big year for Cleveland Whiskey. It will mark 10 years since our first bottles went out to the market and Black Reserve was born. As our 10-year anniversary approaches, we want to celebrate the effort that led us here and prepare for a year of celebration. A year that deserves something special. Today we are announcing the release of the 10th Anniversary Edition of Black Reserve.
When the first bottles of Black Reserve were sent out to the state of Ohio, we had no idea what the feedback was going to be. Bourbon critics called us “heretics” because of our technology-driven process. One thing that separates us from other distilleries is our willingness to accept those disses and continue to make that technology better than what we made 6 months ago, which was better than what we made the year before, and so on. Our whiskeys have earned 134 medals from spirits competitions around the world. We must be doing something right.
CEO and Founder, Tom Lix, said: “In a way, I’m surprised at ten years it went by fast, yes we’ve accomplished a lot, and when I look ahead, I expect that we will accomplish exponentially more.” That is the culture at Clevland Whiskey. We are makers. We innovate. We are creative. Sometimes it’s a little messy and unconventional but in the end, we make good whiskey and do the right thing.
In addition to releasing a 10th Anniversary Edition of Black Reserve and 87, we expect we will be moving our distillery operations into our new distillery in early 2023. The construction process has been long and difficult but credit to our CEO and Founder, Tom Lix, for his never-ending resilience to move Clevland Whiskey forward to a facility that will allow us to expand capacity and increase the amount and frequency of our research and development efforts. And ultimately build a brand home and distillery destination experience for Cleveland Whiskey. “Despite my optimism, things tend to always take longer, cost more, and always more complicated, the key is perseverance, you can’t let the roadblocks stop you. It’s like everything, you get knocked down, you get back up, it’s all perseverance.
Moving into the distillery in the flats will be a great kick-off to the next decade. Along the way, we will continue growing and expanding. We envision Cleveland Whiskey becoming an exceptional destination in Cleveland. With our new distillery construction moving along nicely, that seems very achievable and the people who have been with us from the start know we will do everything we can to deliver on that. Our fans, investors, and the city have really shaped who we are as a company. In closing, Tom said, “One of my biggest surprises is how well we’ve been received by Cleveland. Every time we do an Open House when people come up to me and tell me ‘Hey, thank you for doing this, thank you for doing this for Cleveland.’ Wow! I think that’s a big deal.”
Thank you all for the first ten years and stay with us to see what the next ten years will hold. Cheers, everybody.
