Kentucky Bourbon Business Attracts Whiskey Brokers' Interest

Published by Louisville Business First
April 7, 2023
By Stephen P. Schmidt

Jeff Hopmayer’s journey to bourbon might reflect the same of many: “I didn’t find bourbon. Bourbon found me.”

Before venturing into the Brindiamo Group, a well-known brokerage and consulting firm in the distilled spirits industry, Jeff Hopmayer stumbled upon bourbon through a friend in 2012. This friend, who owned a whiskey business in Nashville, Tennessee, tasked him with sourcing bulk whiskey. After a few phone calls, he not only found the barrels but also discovered a new career path.

Similar to many others, Hopmayer faced financial challenges during the 2008 financial crisis after investing a significant amount in a large winery in California. However, he used this experience as motivation for the next stage in his career.

“It’s really a wonderful blessing to be able to say, ‘I signed on that personal guarantee line and lost — and had the banks come after me and went bankrupt,’” he said. “And so you’re able to talk to these people who are looking at things like that and go, ‘Oh, let me tell you how this works. I can tell you firsthand.’”

Currently, Brindiamo Group manages approximately 260,000 barrels of bourbon, Irish whiskey, and Scotch globally. They facilitate the distribution of barrels to both producers and investors, with a distribution ratio of approximately 60% to producers and 40% to investors for new distillate. When it comes to aged liquid, the ratio shifts to about 90% for producers and 10% for investors.

In 2022, Hopmayer and his team opened a rickhouse in a joint partnership at Log Still Distillery in Gethsemane, Kentucky. A second is currently being built next to it, with plans for six more rickhouses “in different places around Kentucky” in the works…

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