Jim Rutledge
| Managing Partner, J. W. Rutledge Distillery
Jim Rutledge has been working in the Bourbon business for over 50 years with Seagram and Four Roses and now at JW Rutledge Distillery. He was Master Distiller at Four Roses for more than 20 years. His passion, enthusiasm and loyalty for Four Roses Bourbons and the distillery employees and staff were instrumental in returning Four Roses Bourbon to the USA after spending more than 40 years in European and Japanese markets only.
The 1990s were a very important time for Four Roses, as Four Roses credits Jim, now Master Distiller Emeritus, for his work to bring the brand back to the United States during this time.
Jim joined the Four Roses family in 1966, working with Seagram in the Louisville Plant’s Research and Development Department. In 1975, he was transferred to Corporate Headquarters in New York as the head of industrial engineering and budgets, and stayed at this office for 17 years. It was during these years that Jim’s passion for Four Roses began to stir, and from his position, he believed that the brand needed much more care and attention to production and quality than it was being given.
So, in 1992 Jim returned to the Commonwealth of Kentucky to help with the Four Roses brand – first, overseeing budgets at the Warehouse & Bottling Facility in Cox’s Creek, then as Master Distiller in Lawrenceburg in November 1994.
Jim began his quest to bring Four Roses back to the country almost immediately after his return to Kentucky. Finally, by the end of 1994, he convinced the company to allow Four Roses Yellow, their 80-proof product now known as Four Roses Bourbon, to be made available in limited quantities. Without any advertising, the brand then found its way to select retail shelves in Kentucky.
In 2001, Rutledge was inducted into the inaugural class of the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame. He was given a “Lifetime Achievement Award” by Malt Advocate Magazine in 2007, and in 2008 Whisky Magazine named him “Whisky Ambassador of the Year – American Whiskies.” In 2012, Whisky Magazine also named Jim to its Icons of Whisky Hall of Fame, for global whiskies. He was the 2nd American inducted into this elite group of whisky makers.
Jim retired from Four Roses in 2015 and started a new career as a consultant, sharing his years of industry experience with other distillers. Jim is also curating his own high-end bourbon brands, Cream of Kentucky Bourbon and High Plains Bourbon and rye whiskey. He has also been distilling several times a year at Castle and Key in Kentucky.
Jim has his sights set on starting construction soon on the JW Rutledge Distillery in Kentucky, which will produce Bourbon and rye whiskey once the site gains the funding. Jim hopes to “maintain the integrity” of Bourbon and rye whiskey and build a modern and sustainable distillery “that looks more like a Californian winery”. Plans are for it to be a “mid-sized” distillery with capacity for 35,000 barrels a year.