Why bourbon is making a comeback

'An educated consumer allows us to push the boundaries of what bourbon can be without bastardising its definition,’ says Trey Zoeller as we prowl Louisville in a Jeep emblazoned with Jefferson’s livery.

Kentucky-born, Zoeller founded Jefferson’s two decades ago. ‘But bourbon wasn’t in vogue. For 15 years, we pushed that barrel uphill.’ Fortunately, Zoeller saw massive uptake in his considerately finished whiskeys owing to ‘the perfect storm’ of classic cocktails given lift by Mad Men and an abundance of information online.

While other distilleries ‘look like New York nightclubs’, Zoeller uses stills built straight after prohibition. An open truck takes us to a warehouse of 4,500 barrels (four years’ work). ‘We forgot to put in a loading dock,’ admits Zoeller, pointing to a makeshift but effective ramp. One barrel bears his nickname: ‘Mad Scientist Mystery Barrel.’

On the distillery’s terrace, I hear Zoeller’s story. Aged 11 he shot down mistletoe from the branches of trees, and sold it door-to-door. He subsequently helped open a medical distribution centre in Las Vegas where he lived beside, and partied with, a juggler and strippers. However, a fascination for bourbon always coursed through the bloodline. ‘My grandmother’s first question was: “How do you take your bourbon?”’

Jefferson’s Reserve is ‘quintessential bourbon’, says Zoeller of the new leather-scented pour (£52.99; masterofmalt.com). Ocean, which Zoeller devised on his 40th birthday on the conservation vessel of that name, is more complex. ‘In between catching sharks off Costa Rica I became mesmerised by the sight of rocking bottles,’ he says. Consequently, casks of Jefferson’s stowed aboard ‘sucked in salt and became super-caramelised as they crossed the equator four times’. One voyage nearly scuppered matters. ‘The crew said that corroded bands had burst off a couple of barrels… I have my own theory about what happened!’

Jefferson’s Ocean bourbon, £89.95 (masterofmalt.com)