Templeton Rye Brand Manager Michael Killmer demonstrates how to make the classic cocktail The Manhattan.

Click here for The Manhattan recipe (plus others), and don’t forget to follow Brand Manager Michael Killmer on Twitter to keep up to date on Templeton Rye events and classic cocktail tutorials in Chicago.

Want to see more videos? Please visit our YouTube channel.

Photo courtesy of the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market Facebook Page

The Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market kicks off this Saturday, May 2nd with Opening Day at the Historic Court Avenue District. The Downtown Farmers Market goes rain or shine every Saturday 7 a.m. - noon, May 2nd through October 31st, 2009. You can expect to see nearly 200 vendors from 47 counties at the Farmers Market this year.

Templeton Rye is excited to return to the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market again this season. You can find our booth at the Farmers Market on the following Saturdays: May 23rd, June 13th, June 20th, June 27th, July 11th, August 15th and September 12th. Be sure to stop by and say “hello” to the Templeton Rye team.

We’re excited to share this photo with you of our new sign at the Templeton Rye Whiskey Distillery in Templeton, Iowa.
From left to right: Meryl Kerkhoff, Kevin Boersma, Scott Bush and Keith Kerkhoff

It appears that someone has already stumbled upon it. Check out this photo that @mebreton of Des Moines, Iowa, captured and posted to Twitter via Twitpic.

Be sure to drop by the distillery this summer and check it out. Here’s the link to our distillery tour dates.

We’ve received a few inquiries about our inventory in response to many of you having a hard time tracking down a bottle of The Good Stuff in Iowa, so we thought we’d fill you in on the details. As for our inventory, here’s the scoop: Our product takes over four years to make, so we only have available for sale what we made four-plus years ago. We’re still a small company and were a very small company back then, which is why we’re only currently selling in two states (Iowa and Illinois).

Some of you may remember that we sold our first year’s worth of product in three-and-a-half months, and then we were totally out of product for over eight months. Rather than finding ourselves in that position again, we’ve made a strategic decision to do a monthly allocation. We put together our allocation plan for Iowa based on our previous year’s experience, but yes — it’s tight, as we simply do not have a lot of whiskey.

April - 400
May - 500
June - 400
July - 500
August - 400
September - 400
October - 1,200
November - 1,200
December - 600

We also wanted to take a moment to thank all of our fans out there. We truly appreciate all your support (and patience)! If you have further questions or comments about our allocation strategy, please leave a comment below or reach out to us via email.

Cheers,
Scott Bush
President, Templeton Rye

We’re excited to be a part of this great event. Templeton Rye President Scott Bush will be a guest judge at Cochon 555 in Des Moines, Iowa, this Sunday, April 19th.

WHAT: A group of Iowa chefs will each prepare a heritage breed hog from head to toe for this competition. Cochon 555 is the only national chef competition promoting heritage pigs and breed diversity and is currently on a ten city tour. Guests and professional judges will determine a winner based on creative, classic preparation and overall best flavor. The winner will be crowned the “Prince of Porc”. In addition, five family-owned wineries will showcase their wines. The event is presented by Diversified Financial Group, Inc.

WHO: Taste Network presents
Andrew Meek, Sage
Matt Steigerwald, Lincoln Café
Jamie Monaghan, The Des Moines Embassy Club
Tag Grandgeorge, Le Jardin
Bill Overdyke, Centro

Wineries: Elk Cove, Patz & Hall, Lioco, Four Vines and Jasper Winery

WHEN: Sunday, April 19th, 5:00 p.m.
Chef & Judges Reception 3:30 p.m. For VIP ticket information contact: brady@tastenetwork.com.

The VIP features the reserve wines of Elk Cove and artisan cheese reception by Gateway Market with special guest Herb Eckhouse of La Querica, this portion is $125.

WHERE: STICKS 3631 SW 61st Street, Des Moines.

WHY: To benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: Iowa Chapter in honor of Will Krueger.

HOW: For Friends and Family of Iowa the cost is $80 per person. This is an exclusive price to those who are involved in “preserving and revitalizing the flavors of the heartland.” Advance ticket purchase required for this discount. Password: buylocal

Hi folks,

We wanted to say thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth and came to see my presentation at WhiskeyFest. It was a great week for Templeton Rye in Chicago, and we really appreciate all of the enthusiasm and support. We are just getting started, and every bit of encouragement is a big deal to us.

Our team had a long week, but we really enjoyed the time we spent with fans, friends, bartenders and fellow distillers. Also, thank you to our friends at Malt Advocate for putting together another tremendous event.

All the best,

Scott Bush
President, Templeton Rye

Last night we attended an event hosted by our friends at Binnys. We had a great time pouring for folks and catching up with some of our friends in the industry. There are a lot of really cool whiskies being developed right now.

The best part about last night was that Master Distiller Meryl Kerkhoff and wife Imelda arrived in town. They joined Keith and I at Binnys, and then our team all went to dinner at Ditka’s. Iron Mike was a coach for the Cowboys when Keith played so we got to hear several of the old training camp stories and how guys used to smoke at halftime back then.

After Ditka’s we went and watched our friends Hello Dave at Stanley’s (Jason even sang a song) and then for a nightcap or two at the Drawing Room where Templeton Rye is featured in their Manhattan. It was a great end to a great night. Below are some pictures of our evening.

Cheers,
Scott Bush
President, Templeton Rye

Meryl sharing secrets with Jimmy Russell from Russell’s Reserve

Keith and Scott with our friend David Perkins from Rendezvous Rye

The TR team at Mike Ditka’s Restaurant

On Sunday evening we attended the very first 3rd Coast Cocktail Club at Bar DeVille. The idea is for top bartenders in Chicago to hang out and talk with suppliers in a low-key environment. Low-key fits us well, and Keith, Killmer and I met and talked with a ton of big-time industry folks here in Chicago. The enthusiasm for Templeton Rye and Iowa was tremendous and meant a lot to us. Honestly, we were a little overwhelmed.

After the event we had dinner with some friends at Cordis Brothers Supper Club, a great spot on Irving Park and then hung out and listened to some music at the Long Room.

Cheers,
Scott Bush
President, Templeton Rye