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Damon Thayer
NEW HAVEN, Ky. — The Kentucky bourbon industry toasted noted horse-industry consultant Damon Thayer on Tuesday, inducting the recently retired state senator and Kentucky Senator Bourbon co-owner into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame® during a ceremony at the Log Still Distillery.
In his 22-year Kentucky Senate tenure, including the last 12 years as Majority Floor Leader, Thayer championed Kentucky’s world-renowned bourbon industry by shepherding through transformative legislation that allowed America’s only native spirit to thrive. The resulting public policy created an environment that helped expand global consumption of bourbon and turn the Commonwealth’s distilleries into a major, cohesive tourism destination centered around the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®.
The Scott County resident retired from the Kentucky Senate at the end of 2024, but his involvement with the Commonwealth’s $9 billion bourbon industry had gone far beyond legislator, advocate and responsible consumer by then. In 2018, Thayer and Lexington attorney Andre Regard — a direct descendant of the founders of Old Grand-Dad Whiskey — revived the century-old Kentucky Senator bourbon brand that originally had been distilled and bottled by Crigler & Crigler in Covington, Ky.
For all that and more, the 145-year-old Kentucky Distillers’ Association (KDA) selected Thayer as one of five inductees in its class of 2025 for its hall of fame. Established in 2001, the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame was established “to recognize the sacrifice, passion and determination of those who have made Kentucky Bourbon what it is today,” according to the distillers’ association, with induction the organization’s highest honor. No more than five people are in a class, with Thayer inducted in his first year of eligibility.
The KDA had already made Thayer one of the first eight legislators to receive its 100 Proof Award, given to elected officials who promote and protect Kentucky’s home spirit. He’s the only senator to receive the award four times.
The distillers’ association called Thayer “one of the strongest champions of Kentucky Bourbon in the history of the Kentucky General Assembly … directly responsible for stewarding more than 20 pieces of legislation that modernized Kentucky’s signature industry, propelled its amber nectar into an unprecedented golden age and transformed distilling into an economic and tourism powerhouse for the Commonwealth.”
Former Kentucky State Representative Chad McCoy of Bardstown, the CEO of Thousand Acres Distilling Co. and a 2022 Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame inductee, introduced Thayer. He referenced Thayer’s role of Senate Majority Floor Leader, telling the crowd of 300 and YouTube audience that “politics is an absolute blood sport, and Damon was kind of a cage fighter back in the day.
“For 12 years, he was the gate-keeper. If he didn’t get what he wanted, and you had a bill that still had to come through the Senate, your bill was going to die, and there wasn’t anything you could do about it. Think about it from this industry’s perspective … What was this industry doing 13 years ago? Were we allowed to have samples at the distillery? Were we allowed to sell drinks at the distillery? Were we allowed to have fairs and festivals? Were we allowed to ship bourbon? Were we allowed to have barrel picks? Were we allowed to have tasting rooms? Every single one of those changes happened because that man over there pushed it through on the Senate floor…. This industry owes him a lot of recognition for the changes we’ve seen the last 13 years.”
Unleashing “absolute economic giant”
Thayer said that he wasn’t even a bourbon drinker in 2009, when he stood on the Senate floor to express outrage over legislation that added a new wholesale tax on distilled spirits passed on to retail customers. The bill easily passed, but Thayer embarked on a personal mission to create a more business-friendly environment for bourbon in the Commonwealth.
“In my 22 years in the Kentucky State Senate, my main goal was removing artificial barriers to free enterprise, for businesses of all sizes,” Thayer said. “Those of you who work in the bourbon business, you know that there were lots of artificial barriers erected for you by the then-legislature post-Prohibition. What triggered me to become a bourbon advocate was voting ‘no' on that bill in 2009. I still think it’s one of the dumbest things that the Kentucky General Assembly has done over the past 25 years, putting a hidden alcohol tax on our No. 1 product. And I’m proud to say that after that day, the bourbon industry is undefeated in Frankfort.”
In an earlier interview with KDA vice president of operations Colleen Thomas and Kroger adult beverage specialist Chris Blandford, Thayer emphasized that he stood “on the shoulders of a lot of like-minded people in both parties in the Kentucky General Assembly who saw things the way I did about helping to unleash the absolute economic giant that the bourbon industry has become…. You could see it, because the foundation has been here for such a long time with the great heritage that the bourbon industry has in Kentucky.
“You could see it just needed a little bit of a boost, just simple things like being able to serve a cocktail at a distillery, to be able to have a restaurant, to be able to sell more than a couple of bottles of bourbon out of a gift shop. We already knew people were coming here for the bourbon trail, and you could sense that bourbon was on the ascent. It’s become a cool thing to be a part of. We reached a tipping point where we just started passing these bills, passing these bills, and the industry has flourished and gone from strength to strength ever since.”
In his acceptance speech, Thayer said, “I’m just glad that during my time in the legislature that I had just a few strokes on a masterpiece,” he said. “And that masterpiece is the industry that you make work every day.” Citing the names of some of the bourbon titans, he called his induction “an honor of a lifetime.”
(Literally providing icing on the cake while being feted, Thayer was presented with a full-sized red, white and blue cake to commemorate the fact that he turned 58 Tuesday, with KDA president Eric Gregory leading the audience in singing Happy Birthday.)
Thayer’s work to promote and grow the bourbon industry parallels his legislative support for another iconic Kentucky industry — horses and horse racing — to where Kentucky tracks today form America’s premier year-round racing circuit after being in jeopardy just a few years ago. A racing fan growing up in northern Michigan hundreds of miles from a racetrack, Thayer’s professional career has involved the horse-racing industry in a variety of capacities, including with Thistledown, the Maryland Jockey Club, Turfway Park and the Breeders’ Cup and since 2007 as an industry consultant through his Thayer Communications & Consulting LLC. He’s a part-owner in racehorses through CJ Thoroughbreds and his Half Century Equine Ventures LLC.
As with bourbon, Thayer has been honored for his advocacy for the horse-racing industry, including as 2024 recipient of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners’ Warner L. Jones Jr. Horseman of the Year Award and being the keynote speaker at the National HBPA Conference in Tampa in March.
Thayer has received the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s MVP Award eight times for his focus on the growth of Kentucky businesses. He is a two-time recipient of the Kentucky League of Cities’ Big Hitter Award for stepping up to the plate and achieving passage of legislation that would significantly impact Kentucky cities. He announced in 2024 that he would not seek re-election in part to spend more time on his growing bourbon enterprise and consulting business.
Exchanging KY Senate post to devote more time to KY Senator
Kentucky Senator Bourbon is a testament to Regard and Thayer’s love of bourbon and history, as well as a shout-out to Thayer’s time as a citizen legislator.
KySenatorBourbon.com says the revived brand “serves up great Kentucky bourbon with a side of Kentucky history.” Distilled, aged and bottled in the Bluegrass State, each release is named for a U.S. Senator from Kentucky. Always bottled at the classic 107 proof, Kentucky Senator Bourbon is at least six years old — the length of a U.S. Senate term.
Kentucky Senator Bourbon has six Kentucky releases, the latest honoring John Edwards, elected Kentucky’s second U.S. Senator on June 18, 1792, and buried in Paris, Ky. The first revival release, in 2021 and aged 15 years, honors Alben W. Barkley of McCracken County, who served as a U.S. Senator from 1927-1949 and again in 1955 until his death in 1956. He was Vice President of the United States under President Harry S Truman from 1949-1953.
The brand kicked off its Louisiana Senator Bourbon this year by recognizing the charismatic Huey P. Long, governor of the Pelican State (1928-1932) before becoming a U.S. Senator until his 1935 assassination.
The Kentucky bourbon industry generates more than 23,100 jobs, with an annual payroll topping $1.63 billion. Bourbon production and consumption in the state pours more than $358 million in annual tax revenue for Kentucky state and local governments.
Also in the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame’s stellar class of 2025 are:
Craig Beam, 66, Bardstown, Ky. A seventh-generation distiller who continues his family’s legacy as Master Distiller at the Jackson Purchase Distillery in Western Kentucky, one of the Commonwealth’s fastest-growing contract distillers.
Mary Dowling, Lawrenceburg, Ky., who died in 1930 at age 71. In an era when women couldn’t vote or own property, Dowling as a young widow overcame anti-Irish sentiments and gender barriers to become a trailblazing bourbon entrepreneur, becoming the first woman to run a major distillery in 1903 and audaciously moving production to Mexico during Prohibition.
Larry Ebersold, 75, a Hebron, Ky., resident and Louisville product who blended corporate experience at Seagram’s with entrepreneurial consulting to leave an indelible mark on the modern bourbon and rye whiskey industry. A key architect of the craft distillery boom, Ebersold’s expertise has shaped facilities for 31 distilleries, including New Riff, Rabbit Hole and Bardstown Bourbon.
Chris Morris, 67, Louisville, Ky., was first inducted into the bourbon hall in 2016 and this time as the recipient of the Parker Beam Lifetime Achievement Award. Morris was named the first Master Distiller Emeritus in Brown-Forman’s 153-year history in 2023. The 50-year veteran of the Kentucky bourbon industry is hailed around the world for elevating Brown-Forman’s whiskey portfolio and crafting innovative brands such as Woodford Reserve Double Oak and its vaunted Master’s Collection. One of the industry’s most respected historians, he is a three-time Chairman of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association Board of Directors.
The Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame ceremony was sponsored by Kroger and presented by RunSwitch PR.
Read more about the 2025 Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame class here.
Video of Tuesday’s entire Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame ceremonies, including preceding interviews with bourbon luminaries.
About Kentucky Senator Bourbon
Kentucky Senator Bourbon is an award-winning small-batch Bourbon brand committed to crafting exceptional spirits with a side of American history. Each limited-edition release is named after a U.S. Senator and represents a blend of tradition, character and U.S. heritage; it is distilled and aged in Kentucky for at least six years (the same length as a U.S. Senate term).
Founded by Andre Regard and Damon Thayer, Kentucky Senator Bourbon revives a historic brand once produced by Crigler and Crigler in Covington and later Double Springs Distillers in Bardstown. The brand launched its first revival release in 2021 and has since become known for producing richly aged, 107-proof Bourbon expressions that connect past and present.
Awards & Recognition
