Templeton Rye Whiskey invites restaurant and bar staffs to spend a day with our team and learn all about the production, history and intricacies of Templeton Rye.
Check out the highlights from the Full Court Press’ visit to the Templeton Rye distillery. For more information or to make a reservation for your staff, please email us at staffvisit@templetonrye.com.
Jeff and Jamie Schug of Johnston, Iowa, recently enjoyed the Ultimate Templeton Experience with a group of close friends: Maggie and Steve Jackson, Brenda and Bill Maly and Nicole and Rob Beaman.
Their day began at the Renaissance Savery Hotel in Des Moines, where they were picked up in the Templeton Rye bus and transported to Templeton for a VIP distillery tour, including a chance to label a bottle of The Good Stuff.
In addition to the tour, the group also enjoyed a great lunch at The Corner Station, a classic cocktail demonstration and a driving tour of historic Templeton (which turned into quite an adventure when the bus got stuck in the snow). The trip back to Des Moines included stops at Chuck’s Place in Coon Rapids and Tojo’s in Jamaica. “Team Schug” reports that their group had a fabulous time during their visit to Templeton.
Pictured, from left to right: Brenda and Bill Maly, Jamie and Jeff Schug, Nicole and Rob Beaman, Maggie and Steve Jackson
The Ultimate Templeton Experience is a great way to escape from the cold weather, stay warm with friends and learn a little about Templeton’s history. If you’re interested in this one-of-a-kind adventure, you can email us at templetonexperience@templetonrye.com and book a date. We have a potential opening coming up on Saturday, February 14th, if you’re looking for something unique to do on Valentine’s Day!
Running after the bus.
Templeton Rye President Scott Bush and Master Distiller Meryl Kerkhoff
Eighty years ago, when bootleg Templeton Rye was in the height of its
production, a very important event happened in tiny Templeton, Iowa. Our
Master Distiller, Meryl Kerkhoff, was born and started a course of
history that would eventually bring The Good Stuff to your glass.
A large group of friends and family came together at the VFW in Manning,
Iowa on Saturday night to celebrate. There was plenty of Templeton Rye
being poured, as well as the traditional cold sandwiches, potato salad,
beans, baked goods and enough birthday cake for the entire town.
Meryl is a living treasure for our company and everyone who knows him.
Happy Birthday, Meryl!
Pictured from left to right: Distillery Manager Kevin Boersma, President Scott Bush, Master Distiller Meryl Kerkhoff, Assistant Master Distiller Keith Kerkhoff and Creative Director Jason Walsmith
Pictured from left to right: (front) Dan Kerkhoff, Scott Kerkhoff, Ron Kerkhoff (back) Keith Kerkhoff, Mary Bertelsen, Imelda Kerkhoff, Meryl Kerkhoff and Marty Kerkhoff
All aboard! On Wednesday, November 26th, we’ll be cruising through Des Moines in the new Templeton Rye shuttle bus for our first annual Thanksgiving Tour of Des Moines. We’re honored to have such loyal supporters, so this is our way of saying “thanks” for another great year.
The TR shuttle bus will be making special stops throughout the Des Moines metro area, providing groups of up to 12 people a sweet getaway from the monotonous “day-before-Thanksgiving” workday. In case you want to get an early jump on your holiday shopping, we’ll have Templeton Rye merchandise available for purchase. But let’s get one thing straight: This isn’t about selling you stuff, it’s about meeting you all and saying thank you.
Want us to add your workplace to the route? All you need to do is round up a dozen people from your office who love Templeton Rye as much as you do, and ask them to take a short break from work to hang out on the TR shuttle bus. Once you’ve got your group confirmed, please e-mail us at info@templetonrye.com with your location and we will add you to the route!
For those of you interested in an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the history of Templeton Rye, we are now offering The Ultimate Templeton Experience: an exclusive trip for groups of up to 20 people aboard our private TR shuttle bus. We’ll pick up your guests at a designated meeting spot, provide transportation to and from Templeton, Iowa, and treat your group to lunch and refreshments — both aboard the bus and at the distillery.
The experience is perfect for groups of friends or corporate outings, and can be customized to include any of the following activities:
Please e-mail us at templetonexperience@templetonrye.com for more details and available dates.
On December 5, 1933, the United States Congress repealed the Prohibition Act, restoring Americans the freedom to enjoy their spirits again — legally, that is. On Friday, December 5th, Iowans all over the state will celebrate the end of the “Noble Experiment,” as coined by fellow Iowan Herbert Hoover.
We’re teaming up with the following bars to sponsor Prohibition Repeal Parties:
Sweet Fanny’s - Sioux City, Iowa
CJ’s Bar and Grill - Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Jameson’s - Waterloo, Iowa
Royal Mile - Des Moines, Iowa
Depot Lounge - Grinnell, Iowa
Legend’s Bar and Grill - Ames, Iowa
Short’s Burgers & Shine - Iowa City, Iowa
Silver Dollar Saloon - McGregor, Iowa
Pastimes Bar & Grill - Huxley, Iowa
Vito’s Bistro - Iowa City, Iowa
Mac’s Tavern - Davenport, Iowa
Beckett’s Public House - Cedar Rapids, Iowa
11th Street Precinct - Davenport, Iowa
Swamp Fox Pub & Grille - Knoxville, Iowa
Barley’s - Council Bluffs, Iowa
Uncle Buck’s - Ottumwa, Iowa
Whitey’s - Manning, Iowa
These modern-day speakeasies will feature Templeton Rye drink specials and select guests will receive Templeton Rye flasks, t-shirts and other items. Come out and join us!
Full Court Press group visits the Templeton Rye tasting room
In October, we embarked on our maiden voyage in the new Templeton Rye shuttle bus, bringing along the owners and staff from Full Court Press for a VIP distillery tour. Full Court Press operates several of the coolest and most unique bars in
Our brand new Templeton Rye shuttle bus
Our day included a tour of the distillery, a classic cocktail demonstration in the tasting room, and lunch at the Corner Station (the local diner that also serves as a convenience store / gas station). We then headed north to Maple Valley Junction to Little Gus’s for some post-lunch beers and good times.
If you are interested in a tour of the TR distillery, please visit our tours page for dates and times.
In September, we welcomed some friends from our Illinois distributor
We filmed part of our day, which can be viewed in the video below:
You may view more of our videos on YouTube by visiting the Templeton Rye channel.
The Templeton Rye team has been hard at work filling up the calendar with events for September, so celebrate the kids going back to school and join us this month.
Jameson’s Public House
Date: Thursday, Sept 4th
Location: Jameson’s, 310 East 4th St, Waterloo, IA
Join TR President Scott Bush, Brand Manager Michael Killmer and various celebrity bartenders at the famous Jameson’s pub. They will be preparing various classic Templeton Rye cocktails during the evening and then heading to the Hub for the Nadas show.
Call 319-233-0701 for more information.
Gatsby Gala at the Salisbury House
Date: Friday, Sept 5th
Location: Salisbury House, Des Moines, IA
Templeton Rye will be supporting the annual Gatsby Gala at the beautiful and historic Salisbury House. The classic cocktail bar will be set up on the Salisbury House lawn and guest will enjoy a combination of classic cocktails and classic cars.
The scene includes modern day socialites dressed in 1920s-style spats and suspenders, beads and boas, fedoras and feathers. Guests enjoy luscious, lavish cuisine and fine wine and spirits. They dance to the music of lively bands, and climb aboard vintage autos for a spin around the block. If that sounds as fun to you as it does to us please plan to attend the 4th Annual Gatsby Gala and be sure to keep your eyes out for a first of its kind Templeton Rye auction item.
Tickets are $200, or $125 for ages 35 and under. To order tickets call 515-274-1777.
For more information, visit: www.salisburyhouse.org
Randall’s Wine and Spirits Pre-Holiday Show
Date: Saturday, September 6th.
Location: 10800 Lincoln Trail Road, Fairview Heights, IL
Templeton Rye is proud to join Randall’s Wine and Spirits for their huge pre-holiday show. Randall’s is by far one of the most impressive stores we have ever seen. If you are in the area stop by for a sample of The Good Stuff and many other interesting samples. Randall’s is also one of our internet sources for those of you outside of the Iowa and Illinois markets.
For orders, visit: www.internetwines.com
Farmer’s Market
Date: Saturday, September 6th
Location: Downtown Des Moines, IA
Emerging Artist Showcase
Date: Saturday, September 6th
Location: Subterranean, 2011 W. North Ave., Chicago, IL
TR is one of the proud sponsors supporting live music and new, emerging artists. Stop by, check out the music, and enjoy a little of The Good Stuff.
For more information, visit: www.platform-1.com
Templeton Rye-inspired Dinner at Sage the Restaurant
Date: September 8th and 9th
Location: Sage the Restaurant, Des Moines, IA
Our friends at Sage the Restaurant will be featuring a Templeton Rye-themed menu on September 8th and 9th with a cash bar starting at 6:00 p.m. and dinner beginning promptly at 7:00 with communal seating. Click here for more information.
Our friends at Sage the Restaurant will be featuring a Templeton Rye-themed menu on September 8th and 9th with a cash bar starting at 6:00 p.m. and dinner beginning promptly at 7:00 with communal seating. A Templeton Rye cocktail will be paired with each course. Cost per person is $65 plus tax and gratuity. To make your reservations, please contact Sage directly at 515-255-7722. The complete menu is posted below.
Salad
Templeton Rye poached grilled Missouri peaches, with baby greens, carmelized pecans, red onions and Maytag Blue Cheese.
Fish
Templeton Rye marinated and cherrywood smoked seabass with a frisee and radish salad with a horse radish vinagrettte.
Meat
Braised Niman Ranch Pork atop an Iowa sweet corn spoonbread and a Templeton Rye apricot glaze.
Dessert
Templeton Rye bread pudding with a TR chocolate sauce.
Photo credit: Joe Crimmings Photography
Many of you have been asking about Templeton Rye distillery tours. We are pleased to announce that we’ll be offering several tour dates through the end of the year! For a complete schedule, visit our distillery tours page.
Please contact kevin@templetonrye.com with your questions or to secure a spot.
Recently, we were honored to host United States Senator Tom Harkin for a VIP distillery tour. Senator Harkin has long known about Templeton Rye from his travels across our great state, and he was very excited to see the distillery.
The Templeton Rye team discussed many issues with the senator, including rural development, renewable energy and specific challenges facing our company. Below are photos that we captured during the tour.
From left to right: Master Distiller Meryl Kerkhoff, Senator Tom Harkin and Assistant Master Distiller Keith Kerkhoff in front of the Templeton Rye still.
Master Distiller Meryl Kerkhoff and Gene Wiese of Manning discuss historic photos in the tasting room.
Assistant Master Distiller Keith Kerkhoff explaining the finer points of whiskey filtering.
As a surprise belated Father’s Day present for her father John Pederson, our friend Libby Crimmings invited a handful her dad’s closest friends for Father’s Day Templeton style.
The group loaded into the Templeton Rye (Nadas) bus and made their way to the distillery for an all-access tour. After an entertaining and informative tour, including hand-labeling some bottles and sampling a bit of The Good Stuff, the crew moved on to lunch and libations.
The afternoon consisted of a good old-fashioned Western Iowa Bar Crawl at Coon Bowl and the North Side Pub in Coon Rapids, Shack’s in Bayard, TOJO’s and the Dew Drop in Jamaica, the River House Barn, a historic speakeasy in the White Rock Conservancy, and a final stop at the Waveland in Des Moines. It was a perfect Father’s Day for a wonderful dad and great friend of Templeton Rye. We were pleased to help make it a special day.
To set up your own Templeton Rye Distillery tour, contact kevin@templetonrye.com
We are pleased to announce that Templeton Rye was chosen as “Best of Category Whisky/Whiskey” at the Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition. This is a huge honor for us and we’re very excited about it.
To view our official press release, please click here. A list of all the winners can be found here.
It wasn’t exactly the U.S. Open, but we had a wonderful day at Pleasant Valley Golf Course in Iowa City for our golf event on the 11th. We would like to thank Tom Hein, Johnita Quinlan and the entire staff for the great event and dinner. Players from all over the state took part in the event, along with the Templeton Rye team. Congratulations to our friend Dan Dove, who won the authentic Templeton Rye barrel signed by Master Distiller Meryl Kerkhoff.
We had a great bottle signing event on Thursday, July 10th at John’s Grocery in Iowa City. For all of you who did not go to the University of Iowa, John’s Grocery is a legend there that was started by John and Erma Alberhasky in 1948. With the help of their seven children and countless grandchildren, John and Erma turned a fledgling business into an Iowa City icon.
John’s is known for their extremely knowledgeable staff and impressive selection of high end wine, spirits and beer. It was a particularly neat event for me, as my dad often talks about going to Dirty John’s when he was in college and I told the staff that the last time I was there I was not buying fine spirits but beer by the 30-pack.
The event was a great success with an enthusiastic and eclectic crowd. Marjorite Mintle did a double take upon seeing our sign and said she had not seen Templeton Rye since she was a young girl in Manning, Iowa, and said both her father and older brother were involved in the rye trade.
Dr. Jim Hanson is a huge supporter of our product and asked us to sign several bottles for his friends. As we dug through the case we came upon a special bottle that Keith had put his personal touch on at the distillery as our “last bottle of the day.” Keith sent one of these bottles to Iowa and one to Illinois. Has anyone seen the bottle in Illinois? The labels ended up a bit off kilter, and it is signed by all of our bottlers.
Scott Bush
President of Templeton Rye
I would like to personally thank all of those who attended our distillery open house earlier this month. It was a huge success with an estimated 1,200 people coming from as far away as Chicago, Denver, Arizona and Michigan for a tour of our expanded distillery. Some of you surprised us by coming a little early and we appreciate you waiting patiently.
Thanks also for all of the kind words and encouragement. We were happy to witness the excitement for what we are doing and it makes the hard work we put into planning and construction well worth it. We would especially like to thank Dave Schoeppner of Schoeppner Construction for his excellent craftsmanship and great patience. The place really looks great and we are proud to have built it with local partners in Western Iowa.
For those of you who were not able to make it, we would love to have you come by. Please contact kevin@templetonrye.com to set up a tour.
Thanks again,
Keith Kerkhoff, Assistant Master Distiller, Templeton Rye
Photo credit: Mandy Miller Photography
Photo credit: Mandy Miller Photography
Below: Click to watch a live acoustic performance of Templeton Rye by The Nadas from the open house.
We recently opened our distillery doors to area media and state and local elected officials in conjunction with the Templeton and Carroll Area Development Corporations.
The luncheon was catered by The Still, and Templeton Mayor Ken Behrens, TADC President Nick Romey, CADC Executive Director Jim Gossett and Templeton Rye President Scott Bush shared remarks with the crowd of approximately 75 people. Guests toured the facility and had an opportunity to label a bottle of TR, see our new tasting room and try a little of The Good Stuff straight out of the still.
Pictures from the event can be viewed here. After pitching in with the daily distillery duties, we all landed in the tasting room for a sample and some shopping. We definitely need to put in an order for some more TR gear — it was flying off the shelves!
Steve Long from KPTV Fox 44 in Sioux City did a segment on the event, which you can view below:
Templeton Rye was proud to help sponsor the Mods VS. Rockers party this past weekend at Delilah’s on Lincoln in Chicago. Mike Miller has put together one of the country’s largest and most unique motorcycle rallies wth an assortment of Vespas, Triumphs, BMWs and lots of modified scooters parked along Lincoln Avenue. Our own Jason Walsmith took some great pics, which you can view on Flickr.
The rally ended at 5:00 but the fun just switched gears. With the Templeton Rye bus leading the way, everyone kick-started their ride and headed over to the grand opening of the Bottom Lounge at 1375 W. Lake. We enjoyed a fish and chips dinner and watched the Chicago premiere of the motorcycle film Brittown. We also got a sneak peak of the new lounge and music venue which are very impressive.
Friday, June 27th
Join us Friday June 27th at the Hy-vee Wine and Spirits on 4707 Fleur Drive from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Meryl and TR president Scott Bush will be signing bottles of “The Good Stuff” and you will have an opportunity to say hello and stock up on TR. If you have questions, please contact Ryan at 515-285-7266.
Thursday, July 10th
Templeton Rye is proud to announce it’s first Eastern Iowa bottle signing! Join us at the Iowa City staple John’s Grocery and meet President Scott Bush and Assistant Master Distiller Keith Kerkhoff July 10th from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. They will be available to sign bottles of “The Good Stuff” and share some laughs. John’s Grocery is located on the corner of Market and Gilbert Streets in downtown Iowa City. For more info, contact Bill at bill@johnsgrocery.com or 319-337-2183.
Saturday, August 9th
There will also be a signing on August 9th from noon to 4:00 pm at Gold Eagle Liquors, 255 Petersen Road, Libertyville, Illinois. For more information please call 847-367-6000.
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