The TR team recently attended the John Stoddard Rally Against Cancer benefit at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines. We donated an Ultimate Templeton Experience to the auction, which generated $3,500 for this great cause.

TR Distiller Keith Kerkhoff had a chance to catch up with one of his old coaches from the Dallas Cowboys, the one and only Mike Ditka.

Keith and Coach Ditka shared some old training camp and Coach Landry stories over a glass of The Good Stuff.

Dear friends,

Greetings from Templeton. We are a ways into a long winter here in Iowa, but spring is in sight and it is officially 2010, the year when our expanded inventory starts to come on-line.

As many of you know, our product is aged in oak barrels for more than four years so we are only able to sell today what we distilled in 2006. We refused to rush our product or sacrifice quality, which has led to a long game of hurry-up-and-wait.

We started to expand production at the end of 2006 and that product begins to come on-line late this year. The bad news is that inventory will continue to be very lean until then. The good news is that we hope and expect to have a much larger and more stable inventory in place for Iowa and Illinois in time for Christmas and after the first of next year.

Until then, we will continue to ask for your patience. We currently sell about 70% of our product in Iowa and will continue to send product to the State Liquor Warehouse each month. You can see our actual Iowa case allocation for 2010 and early 2011 below. And, yes, we’ll be giving thanks in November that December and beyond looks much better.

Thank you all for your continued support. We are just getting started and are very excited about the future of Templeton Rye.

All the best,
Scott Bush
President, Templeton Rye

Keith and I had the privilege to host some very special visitors at the distillery on Monday, February 15th. Lieutenant Colonel Greg Hapgood and Captain Chris Johnson of the Iowa National Guard didn’t let mother nature ruin their trip to the Templeton Rye Distillery on President’s Day. Lieutenant Colonel Hapgood recently returned from Kuwait, and Captain Johnson is getting ready to leave on his fourth deployment, returning to Afghanistan in the fall. On behalf of everyone at Templeton Rye, we thank you and all of the men and women of the armed forces for doing what you do and giving us the freedom to do what we do. God bless you all, and we will see you soon!

Cheers,
Kevin

Dan Deoliveria, Michael Killmer, and Peter Vestinos at Shift Drinks at Pops for Champagne

Last night’s Shift Drinks at Pops for Champagne to raise money for Shawn Koch of Paramount Room was a great success. Peter Vestinos from Wirtz Beverage Group, Dan Deoliveria and I banged out some classic cocktails for the hard working industry folks of Chicago. All of our tips went to our friend Shawn at Paramount Room who is recovering from brain cancer. We had a great time at this week’s Shift Drinks at Pops for Champagne.

Be sure to stop in at Pops every Monday night to enjoy a local chef or mixologist highlighting his/her skills. All tips go to charity of their choice. Here’s a short video of Colleen L. Healy from Pops for Champagne talking about why she likes Templeton Rye Whiskey during “Shift Drinks” the Monday Industry Night in Chicago, IL:

Cheers,
Killmer

Hey folks, Jason Walsmith here. “Hard to find, just not looking in the right places.” This was a text I received from a friend last week accompanied by the above image. I replied, “Where did you find all that TR?” and he said “In the dining room of my restaurant.” I will keep the location anonymous, so they aren’t ransacked in the middle of the night by thirsty Templeton Rye fans, but I would like to use this as an illustration that there is Templeton Rye out there - you just have to look for it, and luckily, our fans know that Templeton Rye tastes better when shared. By now, everyone is getting into the habit of checking the shelves of the stores where they procure their whiskey. At any time, if you see a few bottles on the shelves, you mentally check your inventory and pick up a bottle if you’re running low. You might buy two bottles, so you can give one to a friend as a gift and save one for that special occasion that’s coming up.

One of the biggest trends we continue to see on Facebook and Twitter amongst Templeton Rye fans is their willingness to help other fans find The Good Stuff. If you’re on Twitter, you might have noticed Templeton Rye Twitter fans using what’s called a hashtag in their updates that looks like this: #TRspotting(s). This hashtag tells Templeton Rye fans that they’ve spotted a bottle (or multiple bottles) of Templeton Rye at their local grocery or liquor store. Sometimes fans even include photos in their tweets to prove that it’s on the shelves. The same trend has carried over to Facebook, allowing fans of our Facebook fan page to easily locate Templeton Rye when their stock is running low.

These days, if a person finds more than one bottle at any given location, they might feel inclined to buy it all. I understand that many of you are afraid that we might run out, and you won’t be able to get your supply of “The Good Stuff.” I just want to remind you that we will not run out. We have a steady and growing supply. I would also like to remind you that Templeton Rye does indeed taste better when shared. That applies to a single bottle amongst friends, or leaving a bottle or two behind the next time you find the motherload at your retailer of choice. It’s kind of like leaving a pile of dry firewood at the campsite in the woods for the next cold and wet campers that happen upon it in need of warmth. Spread the love.

Cheers,
Jason Walsmith

Chef Andrew Meek of Sbrocco in Des Moines, Iowa, talks about cooking with Templeton Rye whiskey. Chef Meek likes to incorporate local ingredients into his dishes as much as possible, including his Chocolate Walnut Torte.

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

Hello, Templeton Rye fans,

Kevin Boersma, Distillery Manager, here with a little winter storm news. Not only has this been a long, snowy winter, but we were recently pummeled with a crippling ice storm. This storm left thousands without power for several days including the distillery, which was out of power for nearly four days. We received close to an inch of ice in the area, which led to downed power lines, poles and many, many trees. Crews from Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Nebraska were in the area trying to restore power so everyone could try and get back to normal. Clean-up of trees is still going on and will continue into the spring. I thought I would share a few photos with you from around the distillery. Here’s to warmer weather!

Cheers,
Kevin

A view of the distillery from behind the snow piles.

Snowfall totals in Iowa have exceeded 3.5 feet this winter (that’s twice as much as the average snowfall per year)

Power lines outside of the distillery were coated with an inch of ice.

Tree branches covered in ice after the freezing rain ice storm.