World Builders' Guild Newsletter

Craig Beam is a master storyteller.

This may surprise you, but Craig is not an author by trade.

He's the former head distiller of Heaven Hill Distillery known for the Elijah Craig and Evan Williams bourbon brands. The Beam name goes back generations. They have family running most of the American whiskey brands you know.

I have attended a few of Craig's festival lectures over the past five years. They're usually called something like "The Essentials of American Cherrywood Casks" or "A Tribute to the Legacy of Parker Beam".

You would be forgiven for thinking that's a snoozefest waiting to happen.

But, you would regret missing the session because Craig takes you on a sensory journey like nothing you've ever experienced.

Through his words, it's easy to imagine the pains the Beam family took over the years to perfect the distilling process.

All we needed to participate was a world-building genius like Craig at the podium and a little glass of bourbon in front of us.

He would spend hours pontificating about the merits of a certain mix of grains or the amount of time it takes to pull the proper flavor levels out of an oak barrel.

As we sipped honey-tinted rare blends, we rode along on a tour of the fascinating world of whiskey distilling.

We walked through the rickhouse. We pulled the thief. We smelled the wafts of homemade charcoal pits burning outside. Finally, after Craig built his story to a climax, we tasted the fruit of his centuries-old method.

The rickhouse was invented by a guy named Rick. Don't quote me. (Photo by Matt Hoffman on Unsplash)

Craig is an understated fellow.

In front of a crowd, he's a preacher at the bourbon megachurch.

We learned which barrels he preferred the most. Which floor they lived on in the rickhouse. How long the sun kissed them each day. What the temperature of that level of the house held to keep those blends tasting just to his liking. He even brought a bottle of his favorite barrel for us to taste with him.

Can you believe we were sitting in a Marriott banquet room the whole time?

The man is a legend of his craft.

He literally built the world he described to us. He runs it to this day honoring the tradition of his family and those who came before him.

Close your eyes.

Can you take people on a journey through your world like Craig can?

To future worlds,

Matt Ventre

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