Whiskey University has Instructors in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area:

Our faculty currently serves areas in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (1,225,365); Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania (348,899); Washington County, Pennsylvania (207,981); Beaver County, Pennsylvania (207,981); Fayette County, Pennsylvania (129,274); and Greene County, Pennsylvania (36,506) in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area.

Whiskey University’s Faculty

Lt. Col. John Dowling
Lt. Col. Bruce Kish

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Lt. Col. John Dowling

Email Address: JohnDowling@WhiskeyUniv.com

Whiskey University Recruiter

John Dowling has been a member of Whiskey University since August 2022. In 2016, Whiskey University began offering Certificates, Diplomas and Degrees. John earned his Bourbon Diploma on Nov. 27, 2022.

Captain Dowling is a real but retired colonel, having served nearly 34 years of honorable service in the United States Army Reserve, including two overseas deployments. John was born on Long Island, New York, but at the age of five, his parents moved to Western Pennsylvania, where he spent his school-age years. He now lives in Canonsburg, Pa., and serves as a recruiter for the Army ROTC Mountaineer Battalion at his alma mater, West Virginia University, just an hour down Interstate 79. He has been married to Shelley Dowling, a high school math teacher, for the past 26 years.

The seeds for John’s passion for whiskey were planted when he was a student at WVU, where Jim Beam's white label and diet cola was his go-to beverage for Mountaineer sporting events. His tastes evolved over the decades, but the love of whiskey endured and really launched after a 2014 work trip to Fort Knox and a whirlwind tour around the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. It is a bourbon pilgrimage he has made three more times, including tours of all the iconic industry brands, including Woodford Reserve, Jim Beam, Bulleit, Stitzel-Weller, Heaven Hill, and Maker’s Mark. The highlight was in February 2022 when John picked up his Maker’s Mark Ambassador for Life designation and hand-dipped a batch of signature redheads with COL John J. Dowling emblazoned on the label with his wife and son, Steven, in tow. A Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned is his go-to drink, but any distilled spirit neat, with an ice brick or in a cocktail will suffice.

John’s ultimate bourbon pilgrimage is to personally experience a single barrel select program with Maker’s Mark in Loretto or along the Kentucky River in Frankfort at the former OFC distillery of Buffalo Trace. We can all dream! John’s whiskey journey has taken him from around the industry roots from Kentucky to Maryland, and it is a growing distilling industry with the likes of Sagamore Spirit, Old Line Distilling, and Baltimore Spirits Company. He toured the Emerald Isle in 2022 with visits to Bushmills, Jameson, and the Irish Whiskey Museum in Dublin, Ireland. Recently, his focus has changed to the fertile fields of the Keystone State, where Pennsylvania’s rye crop sourced the mash that played a key role in the formation of our nation, including the Whiskey Rebellion that took place in Western Pa. John is writing and developing the “Pennsylvania/Monongahela Rye” course for Whiskey University.

John earned his Associate Degree after passing 18 classes with “The Politics of Whiskeys” on Nov. 27, 2022. John taught his first class, “The Maryland Rye Region,” as an assistant instructor on Jan. 29, 2023. He also taught “High Rye Bourbons” on March 12, 2023, as an assistant instructor. On Jan. 31, 2023, Dowling completed “Brown Forman Brands” to earn his Bachelor of Science Degree with 26 classes at Whiskey University and the title of “Master Bourbon Taster” and the rank of First Lieutenant in the Bourbon Brigade. On March 15, 2023, Captain Dowling completed his 34th class, “Flavore Whiskeys,” earning the Bachelor of Arts Degree, the rank of Captain in the Bourbon Brigade, and advanced the Title of “Master Whiskey Taster” with Whiskey University. On September 20, 2023, Major Dowling completed his 44th class, earning the Master of Science Degree, the rank of Major in the Bourbon Brigade, and advanced the Title of “ Chartered Master Bourbon Taster” with Whiskey University. On November 6, 2023, Lt. Colonel Dowling completed his 54th class, earning the Master of Arts Degree, the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Bourbon Brigade, and advanced the Title of “ Chartered Master Whiskey Taster” with his highest Whiskey University degree to date.

John Has The Following “Designations” & Credentials:

“Chartered Master Whiskey Taster”

(from Whiskey University)

”Certified Bourbon Steward”

(from the Stave & Thief Society)

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Band of Rebels, Rebel Yell Association

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Lt. Col. Bruce Kish

Bruce Kish has been a Member of Whiskey University since July 2023. In 2016, Whiskey University began offering Certificates, Diplomas and Degrees. Bruce earned his Bourbon Diploma on Aug. 20, 2023.

Major Kish is also a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel with 34 years of service in the Army Reserve, including two combat tours and one stateside civil relief mission after Hurricane Katrina. He holds a BA in Journalism from Temple University, an MA in American Revolutionary War Studies from American Military University, and is also a credentialed U.S. Army military historian and military history instructor.

Bruce was born in Pittsburgh, lives in Cranberry Township, PA, and works as an Assistant Professor of Military Science with Slippery Rock University Army ROTC. He has been married to the former Darlene Artemko, a former Air Force Reserve medic, since 1994.

Bruce’s passion for bourbon started in 2005 while temporarily stationed in Kentucky. Preferring local cuisine and historic taverns to chain restaurants, he discovered The Old Talbott Tavern in Bardstown, the home of the World’s Oldest Bourbon Bar, and was totally taken by the flavors of America’s Native Spirit, used in the dishes and cocktails he savored that evening. Bruce subsequently spent his off-duty time touring several distilleries, including Wild Turkey, Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, and Heaven Hill.

Inspired by Tom Standage’s book, A History of the World in Six Glasses, Bruce views whiskey as distinctive American material culture: “When I hold a glass up, I see a lot more in it than just a beverage,” he said. “There’s a lot of history. This amber liquid is a direct link back to the nation’s settlement during the 17thcentury. Its production and consumption are intertwined with American social and political history. Cheap to make from abundant corn and grain, readily accessible, and having a longer shelf life than wine or beer, whiskey moved westward along the rivers and trails with the pioneers. It’s no wonder it became a part of American culture and governments have viewed it as a key source of tax revenue.

“And while whiskey is no longer used as a type of currency in a frontier barter economy, it’s consumption is as still an integral part of many social gatherings today as it has been over the centuries, toasting friendships or sealing business deals.”

Bruce is writing and developing “The Whiskey Rebellion” course for Whiskey University, much of which is borrowed from a 12-part newspaper series he wrote to commemorate its bicentennial in 1994 that received a Golden Quill Award from The Press Club of Western Pennsylvania.

Bruce earned his Associate Degree after passing 19 classes with “Heaven Hill (Basic)” on Oct. 11, 2023. On Nov. 29, 2023, Kish completed “The Science of Whiskey” to earn his Bachelor of Science Degree with 29 classes at Whiskey University and the title of “Master Bourbon Taster” and the rank of First Lieutenant in the Bourbon Brigade. He earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree, title of “Master Whiskey Taster,” and Captaincy in the Bourbon Brigade with 38 classes on January 22, 2024, after competing “Heaven Hill, Advanced 1, ‘Two Families.’”

On Feb. 19, 2024, Bruce completed his 48th class, “Veteran Whiskies,” earning the Master of Science Degree, the rank of Major in the Bourbon Brigade, and title of “Chartered Master Bourbon Taster” with Whiskey University, his highest Whiskey University degree to date.

On April 4, 2024, Bruce completed his 57th class, earning the Master of Arts Degree, the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Bourbon Brigade, and the title of “Chartered Master Whiskey Taster” with Whiskey University, his highest Whiskey University degree to date.