How Master Whiskey Distiller Owen Martin Crafted a World-First Bourbon

A ngel’s Envy was founded in 2006 by a legend of the whiskey industry: Lincoln Henderson, who was the powerhouse behind Brown-Forman for 40 years, and who’s also credited with creating Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel. Angel’s Envy, the first bourbon brand to launch a finished product as Louisville Distilling Co.’s flagship, was eventually acquired by Bacardi in 2015 for around $150 million. In 2022 a new era at the distillery began when the first non-Henderson took the helm, Owen Martin.

Under Martin’s stewardship, Angel’s Envy recently made history by releasing the first-ever bourbon combining the two popular categories of cask-strength whiskey and bottled-in-bond whiskey. No whiskey before Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bottled-in-Bond has met all the exacting legal stipulations required to pull off this feat. To do this, Martin blended 27 lower-proof cask-strength barrels and two high-proof cask-strength barrels distilled in the same season to reach the required 100-proof for a bottled-in-bond spirit. This historic limited release bourbon is exclusively sold at the distillery gift shop on Main Street in Louisville, KY.

Before being appointed Master Distiller of Angel’s Envy, Martin distilled at Stranahan’s in Denver, CO and Rock Town in Little Rock, AR. He earned his Master of Science in brewing and distilling in Scotland at the prestigious Heriot-Watt University, and prior to that earned a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Kansas. Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Martin about this new release and his vision for Angel’s Envy as he leads it into a new era – and below are my notes from tasting this extraordinary whiskey.

Browse & Bid

Browse Bottles of Angel’s Envy Whiskey Available at Auction

Forrest Price
Congratulations on becoming part of bourbon history! In theory this feat has always been possible, but no one has ever taken on the exacting nature of the project. What did you find most challenging and what excited you most?

Owen Martin
Thank you. It’s been a fun project because it gives me a chance to talk about blending. Our marketing team needed exactly 12,000 375ml bottles, so not only was I thinking about the final flavor in the back of my mind but I was also thinking of the number of barrels I would need to use while also hitting 100 proof on the freaking dot. The unique structure of the goals offered a very interesting challenge, but one that I found very fulfilling and that we were able to execute. Blending involves a lot of mental exercise.

Forrest Price
Angel’s Envy isn’t afraid to innovate what’s possible with bourbon. Is that what drew you to the brand? It’s a young distillery yet it already has some legacy.

Owen Martin
That absolutely plays into my mind. Angel’s Envy launched 14 years ago on an innovative idea, and one of my main jobs is to hold our identity and quality steady as we grow.

Lincoln Henderson looked outside the bourbon industry and applied what he saw in surprising ways. Bourbon was still very traditional at that time; it’s important to remember that finishing was done in Scotland for ages before Angel’s Envy existed. We aren’t out to do something crazy, like creating a barrel aged in space. We apply a known practice that’s worked very well for Scotch for over 50 years. There are a lot of historical and geographic practices – such as if I’m looking at bourbon through the lens of an old cognac producer or a tequila producer, what natural avenues appear? If I’m innovating correctly, I’m not just jamming things out the door – it should feel natural.

That’s how I carry on the Angel’s Envy legacy that Lincoln and the Hendersons would be proud of. It’s about marrying different ideas from similar industries.

Forrest Price
Do you like being creative and selling different releases?

Owen Martin
Exactly, yes. Now that we’ve had our first distillery exclusive, I think it opens the door to doing more small batches of 20 to 30 barrels geared around different themes. It was cool to do our first unfinished release, and if I want to reframe the series more broadly, I’d say the Distillery Series allows us to do things differently. I don’t want to handcuff myself in any way.

Forrest Price
You earned an MS in brewing and distilling at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. When you went to work for Stranahan’s in Denver, were you drawn to them because they’re single-malt focused?

Owen Martin
I’ll be honest, it was actually a Heriot-Watt connection that got me turned onto there. A guy I knew who was a year ahead of me in the same program was the production manager at the time, and he vouched for me. That was one part of it. The other part was that my wife wanted to live in Colorado, so it was the first place I sent an application to when looking to leave Little Rock.

But I definitely have a passion for Scotch and single malts. My career seems to be a pendulum swinging between bourbon and single malt. I have a general interest in whiskey as a spirit.

Forrest Price
Being part of the Bacardi portfolio gives you access to all sorts of barrels. What excites you most about that?

Owen Martin
100%. You are reading my mind. The idea is to do one annual project through a barrel broker and one that’s in-house with Bacardi.

One of the first things I did after getting hired was work on getting introductions to all the other blenders and distillers within the portfolio. Now my goal is to establish at least one in-house collaboration project every year. Amongst all the brown spirits, there are a lot of interconnectivities waiting to be explored. We’ve established a couple of projects already, and I’d like to establish one more this year.

These projects are meant to be learned from, and I don’t have any direct idea of what the final products will become. But they will be different, allowing us to start gathering intel about different finishes. If one sells twice as fast as the others, then maybe there’s scalability there.

Departments

Learn More About Whisky, Whiskey & Spirits at Sotheby’s

Forrest Price
It sounds like you have tons of ideas. Reuse and sustainability seem important to you based on my research into your studies. How are you incorporating those concepts into your production practices?

Owen Martin
Well first, Angel’s Envy has a program called Toast the Trees, which predates my being here, where bartenders and various bar programs are encouraged to plant trees every year. On a more current basis, the trading and reuse of casks is certainly a way to have a sustainable impact with regards to developing new products. A good example is our Angel’s Envy Rye, which started out in Plantation rum barrels and transitioned over to Bacardi rum barrels. I felt we could find something more suitable than scraping the barrels, so the rye barrels were sent back to Bacardi to use for their Bacardi Ocho limited release. Regarding finishing bourbon, I’m excited about the creativity that using and reusing multiple barrels allows.

Forrest Price
What are some finishes used in Scotch that you haven’t seen enough of in bourbon?

Owen Martin
That’s a fun question. We already did one that I like: our cask-strength rye that we got out end of last year used a Sauternes cask. I’ve always been a fan of Sauternes finishes. Scotch does a good job of using the full spectrum of sherry casks, which we haven’t used yet. The dry ones can be harder to work with, but those are actually the ones I’m curious about. I’ve never worked with Fino, but I would really like to.

As a blanket statement, I prefer finishing in spirits barrels more than wine barrels, beer barrels or cider barrels. I think using spirits makes it easier to control the flavor of your finishing cask. You don’t have to worry as much about overextraction. I’ve had ideas in my head for years that I’ve started to apply here.

Forrest Price
Angel’s Envy has several special series, including the Founder’s Collection and the Cellar Collection. How do you see yourself differentiating between the two tiers moving forward?

Owen Martin
I’m someone who wants to make whiskey for people. I don’t want to make limited releases that will only ever be seen on social media. We can do some releases that are 100 barrels without a problem; I can apply a level of expertise and craftsmanship, and enough will be drank that the juice is worth the squeeze. But I want to get our limited releases into the hands of those who are passionate about whiskey.

One thing I feel strongly about is that we should increase our Cellar Collection volume and make it more widely available. We did some things only in the hundreds of cases, but we are a hundreds-of-thousands-of-cases brand. Our marketing team is going to do a lot of work. We are discussing new bottle designs and new labels, amongst other details. We are about to have our 5th release in that series, and I would like to take it fully national, or maybe even global, to show the world that we make cool, fascinating, finished whiskeys. It will still be a high-end release, but we want that in people’s hands.

We’ve only done one Founder’s Collection release so far, so there is less of a map laid out. Whatever we do next is probably going to be a high-end distillery exclusive. The first release put some out to the market, but most was sold at the distillery. I want the future ones to be exclusive. I envision the Founder’s Collection becoming a special edition, released once every four or five years, in addition to our current Distillery Series.

Forrest Price
If you could share a whiskey with a historical figure, who would it be?

Owen Martin
My first thought isn’t necessarily a historical figure, but he is retired. John Glaser of Compass Box is one of my whisky heroes. I’ve never met the man, but I’ve always wanted to put a whiskey in front of him and get his opinion. Not just because I’m a Scotch nerd, but to reference our talk of innovation earlier, I think Compass Box shook things up pretty well, and they did a great job reclaiming the quality of blended whisky. You can obviously tell he puts a lot of stock in blending, and I love his mindset. I hope to sit down with some drams with him some day.

Whisky & Spirits

How to Read a Whisky Bottle Label

Nose
Roasted candied nuts, caramel, a touch of green herbs. After allowing to breathe the whiskey has very subtle singe and bite, even at 100 proof.

Palate
Starts off with a bready vanilla up front before magnificently tapering off into a blend of coffee, wildflower honey, and orange marmalade. The bourbon drifts away slowly and pleasantly.

Verdict
It is certainly worth the $54.99 price tag, and nearly half the bottles are already sold. Be sure to buy enough to enjoy some now and enough to auction in several years – at which time you should get in touch with us. Cheers!

Sell with Sotheby’s

How Much Is Your Wine & Spirits Collection Worth?