James W. Rutledge

Jim Rutledge was born in 1943 and began working for the Seagram’s Company in 1966. He worked in the R&D department in Louisville,KY and in 1975 was the head of Industrial Engineering and Budgets.    By 1994 Jim Rutledge was named Master Distiller of Four Roses.

When growing up he did not know what he wanted to be. When he entered college at the University of Louisville he was going to major in Mechanical Engineering, but ended up with a degree in Marketing. When he graduated, he had decided not to just take the first job offer that came to him.  So he continued working at Sears in the credit collections department where he had been working while in school. Eventually he had two job offers at the same time. One at Philip-Morris in Louisville and the other at Seagrams in Research and Design. He decided to take the job at Seagrams.

Over the years at Seagrams he worked in every department from bottling to production management. He was transferred to New York in 1977.  He was given only two weeks notice. If he had been given more time he may have looked for another job. In 1988, he was transferred to another Seagrams facility, this time to White Plains, NY.

Jim finally had an opportunity to move back to Kentucky in 1990. During a performance review he found out that Stanley Bershaw, his mentor, was planning on retiring, so he asked to be transferred back. By 1992, Rutledge was back in Kentucky working in a barrel warehouse. In 1994, Jim was asked to become the Master Distiller with the task of turning things around as there were some quality issues that needed to be fixed or face a shutdown. Although he was out of the distilling operations for a while he was able to turn things around. 

The Lawerenceburg plant was mainly producing products for the overseas market. The Four Roses on the shelf since 1945 was considered an “A” blend of all the whiskies.  Later another blend, which was being distilled in Indiana, was not Four Roses; the “B” blend mainly 60% neutral spirits and this was what was hurting the Four Roses name. This is what was being found on the shelves. Jim had asked Seagrams to stop producing the product but they refused. In 2001, a Japanese alcohol company, Kirin, bought Seagrams and in no time at all, Four Roses ceased to exist. 

Knowing that releasing Four Roses just in the United States was not going to be enough to revive the name it once was. In 2004, Four Roses Single barrel was released for the first time in the United States. In 2006 Small Batch was released to the public. The premium product was the driving force, but the Yellow label was now gaining a following as well. 

In order to get the product in consumers hands Jim would travel around and trade the new product for the old product that was on the shelves with bartenders, he would visit liquor stores and hold bottle signings for weeks at a time. He was determined to connect with the consumers to give Four Roses another try. People credit Jim as the lone hand that turned Four Roses around. He feels three things helped make Four Roses what it is today. First, the  premium bottle releases. Second, social media. Third, education both domestically and internationally about whiskey.

In 2015, Jim decided to retire after 49 years at Four Roses. He decided to retire to spend more time with his family which he felt had suffered from his constant working all the years at the distillery. He usually would only take  about 4 days a year for vacation. During his time at Four Roses he has earned numerous awards and recognition. 

In 2001, Jim Rutledge was inducted into the inaugural class of the Kentucky Distillers’ Associations, Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame. In 2007, he was given a “Lifetime Achievement Award” by Malt Advocate Magazine. In 2008 he was named “Whisky Ambassador of the Year -American Whiskies” by Whisky Magazine. In 2012, Four Roses was named  to its Icons of Whisky America Hall of Fame also by Whisky Magazine. In 2013, he was  the 13th person inducted into Whisky Magazine’s Global Whisky Hall of Fame. He served on the Kentucky Distillers Associations Board of Directors for 13 years and was also on the Board of Directors for Kentucky Bourbon Festival for 9 years, 7 of them as the Chairman.

Jim’s retirement would not last long. Within 8 months he  stated,  “I realize it is time for me to get back to work!” He announced that he was starting a new distillery with Stephen Camisa and Jon Mowry, the J.W. Rutledge Distillery, LLC. The new distillery plans on using two or more yeast strains along with several high rye bourbon mashbills to produce quality Kentucky Straight Bourbons, Rye Whiskey and Wheated Whiskey. Some of the new products that are making moves in the whiskey world are High Plains Rye as well as Cream of Kentucky Bourbons and Rye. 

Jim Rutledge also serves as liquid advisor for Blue Run Spirits. For Blue Run he overseas Blue Run’s Bourbon barrel selections and distills their new make bourbon, currently with Bardstown Bourbon Company.