Scott Bush, Herb Eckhouse and Michael Killmer at La Quercia in Norwalk, Iowa
We recently visited one of our favorite Iowa companies, La Quercia in Norwalk, Iowa, producers of premium quality American prosciutto and other products. Our friends Herb and Kathy Eckhouse founded the company because they knew they could make a world class product right here in Iowa. La Quercia has been incredibly successful to date and has shocked many of the taste makers in their industry. Their product takes a long time to produce, and they have had trouble keeping up with demand because they have refused to sacrifice quality. If some of this sounds familiar, you will understand why we, and especially Mr. Killmer, are big fans of La Quercia.
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.
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!
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.
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.
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the miracle Minneapolis Lakers corn field landing in Carroll, Iowa. On January 17, 1960, the Minneapolis Lakers departed St. Louis after losing to the St. Louis Hawks 135-119. Shortly after takeoff, the DC-3 charter plane began experiencing electrical problems, and eventually lost all electricity, including the fuel gauge. Unable to turn back because of air traffic in St. Louis, the plane flew for three to four hours above a massive winter storm. Eventually the plane started to veer off-course and the pilots decided they were going to have to make an emergency landing. Co-pilots Vernon Ullman and Harold Gifford managed to catch sight of Highway 71 in the snowstorm and land safely in a corn field (the Emma Steffes farm).
Carroll resident John Steffes, whose parents owned the farm where the plane landed, described the story behind the landing on Mouth of Midwest on 1700 the Champ this week. Listen to John’s story here. After landing on the Emme Steffes farm, the players were transported to a hotel in Carroll. The pilots and team were pretty shaken up by the whole incident, and rumor has it that one of the players ripped off the liquor cabinet door at the hotel and poured himself a big glass of whiskey. “The Good Stuff” perhaps?
On January 17th, 2010, the good people of Carroll, Iowa, remembered the miracle landing of the Minneapolis Lakers 50th anniversary with a ceremony. A monument was unveiled by 86-year old co-pilot Harold Gifford in Carroll’s Veteran’s Memorial Park, less than 100 yards from where the plane stopped.
You might remember bikers Troy Cobb and Zach Snavely from their visit to the Templeton Rye distillery back in July. After graduation, they set out on a cross country biking adventure from Pennsylvania to Oregon, passing through Iowa along the way. We welcomed them to Templeton, Iowa with a tour of the distillery, treated them to lunch and gave them some Templeton Rye gear for the road. The guys completed their trip to Oregon in mid-August and recently sent us this “thank you” note and photos from their trip. Congratulations to the guys for completing their tour. We love meeting people who are doing cool things and were excited to be a part of their journey.
Hey Scott,
Wanted to thank you so much for the generosity you and the rest of the
Templeton Rye crew showed us as we were passing through. We concluded
that Iowa was the most fun state that we passed through, mainly
because of the great people that we met there. Troy and I completed
our trip to the Oregon coast in mid August. I’m attaching a few
pictures we took along the way with our TR gear including Mount
Rushmore, Bighorn Mountains, Yellowstone National Park, and our
continental divide crossing in Idaho. Have been telling everyone here
in PA about the uniqueness of your product; hopefully someday we’ll be
within your sales area! Hope to visit Iowa again soon. Thanks again
and best wishes!
We recently hosted some of our friends from Wirtz Beverage in Templeton. They were treated to a uniquely Iowa experience complete with golf carts, apple pie and bowling. You can see some highlights of the visit here:
The second annual Rock & Rye Summer Music Festival was held on Saturday, August 8th in Templeton, Iowa, and was a great success. The day started at the Templeton Rye distillery with a fermentation and distillation demonstration by Assistant Master Distiller Keith Kerkhoff and distillery tours led by TR Founder & President Scott Bush. Guests were treated to a BBQ lunch prepared by award winning BBQ team the Woodfellas and wonderful beer, including Templeton Rye barrel aged products from Court Avenue Brewery and Rock Bottom Brewery. Local Carroll County winery Santa Maria was on hand as well.
The festival featured a variety of great musical acts. The Nadas played a terrific acoustic set in the distillery on a stage constructed from used whiskey barrels. Outside, Brian Joens played a great acoustic set and was followed by the lively and talented brass swing band The Prairie Cats. Fans rushed to see local favorites Aged Spirits perform their own rock version of Templeton Rye by The Nadas. Dick Prall wowed with a incredible set, and Hairball left no doubt that they came to rock the house. It was a great day in Templeton.
Scott & Keith explaining fermentation and distillation to guests.
Fans enjoying The Nadas in barrel warehouse.
A view of the stage from above.
Fans beginning to arrive.
Kevin and Scott with a member of Hairball.
Hairball being introduced by their biggest fan (Kevin Boersma).
Join us this Saturday, August 8th, for the 2nd Annual Summer Music Festival brought to you by your friends at the Templeton Community Betterment Association and Templeton Rye Whiskey. This year’s lineup will feature The Nadas, Manning’s own Brian Joens, The Prairie Cats, Aged Spirits, Dick Prall and the world’s ultimate “80’s Rock” impersonation act, Hairball. Listen to what Templeton Rye President Scott Bush had to say about the upcoming event in a recent interview with Jenna from SingleMalt.TV in this video. See full schedule of events below.
Tickets are available for $20 each at the Templeton Rye Distillery or online at the Templeton Rye store. After purchasing your tickets, you will receive a wristband in the mail. Shipping is free for this item. Only 2,000 tickets will be sold for this event. PLEASE NOTE: Tuesday, August 4, is the last day we can mail out tickets. You may still purchase your tickets online and pick them up at the door (Will Call) at the distillery.
Schedule of Events:
12pm: Pre-party for ticketed concert goers at the Templeton Rye Distillery, including all access tours, refreshments and award winning BBQ prepared by Woodfellas from Ankeny, Iowa. There will also be samples of various Iowa products including Santa Maria wines and Award Winning 21st Amendment Ale produced by Court Avenue Brewery in Des Moines and aged in used Templeton Rye barrels.
2pm: Acoustic performance by The Nadas in the distillery featuring hit songs Templeton Rye and Goodnight Girl.
3pm: Beer garden opens at concert site adjacent to distillery. All proceeds benefit the Templeton Community Betterment Association.
4pm: Manning’s own Brian Joens performs a grab bag of Americana, bluegrass and tremelo-laden musings about classic rock dinosaurs, outhouses, stray dogs and roads (dirt and paved), all with his unique Iowa perspective.
5pm: The Prairie Cats are an 8-piece band hailing from Omaha that deliver an all-original “pop-swing” mix of jump-blues, big band, rockabilly, latin and bop, delivered in an all-out rock attack.
6:30pm:Aged Spirits is a Templeton based band playing a mix of classic rock and blues. Joining the band is special guest Katie Klocke, also a Templeton native.
7:30pm: With a deft pop sensibility, Chicago-based singer/songwriter Dick Prall sings about the good, bad, and fugly moments he’s encountered in life and relationships, turning them into subtle parables that linger longer on the heart and go deeper than most surface-bound pop hits.
9:00pm: Hairball is the world’s ultimate “80’s Rock” impersonation act, recreating the good-time party atmosphere of the decadent decade with unmatched authenticity. They cop the personas of the era’s legendary front men while rapidly changing elaborate costumes, then complete their transformations with dead-on visual and vocal performances.
Please plan ahead and travel safely to and from this event. Hotels are available in nearby Carroll, Iowa.
We recently welcomed several teams of riders from Iowa’s big bike ride across Iowa to our BootLEG Tour at the Templeton Rye distillery. We really enjoy this unique event, and it’s a great way to welcome folks to Iowa and showcase our state and people. Many thanks to everyone who came by for some tours and fun, and all our best to the riders for a fun and safe ride across our great state.
Bob Hoffman of Carroll County, Iowa, talks about growing up in Templeton and how he and his friends would capitalize on the success of the bootleggers by redeeming their empty bottles for five cents each. Once they redeemed the bottles, the hotel clerk on Main Street would put them in a storage shed on his lot for safekeeping. Find out in the video below how Bob and his friends “liberated” the bottles to keep them moving.
The Templeton Rye team recently welcomed some special visitors to the distillery, Troy Cobb and Zach Snavely. The duo set out from Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, on their bicycles and are headed all the way to Oregon. Needless to say we were impressed with their dedication. You can track their ride at crazyguyonabike.com/troyandzach.
Troy and Zach ran into some Templeton Rye fans in eastern Iowa, who suggested they come through Templeton. We gave the guys a tour and treated them to a nice lunch at the Corner Station to help fuel their ride. We also gave them a couple of Templeton Rye shirts to wear at their various stops. Best of luck to Troy and Zach and thanks for stopping by the Templeton Rye Distillery.
The Templeton Rye team recently welcomed a group of bartenders from Ames to the tour the distillery. Our visitors consisted of folks from Es Tas, Legends, Mickey’s Irish Pub and Thumbs. They toured the distillery and learned a lot about the history of Templeton Rye, dating back to the Prohibition Era. They also received a cocktail tutorial featuring the Classic Manhattan and TR’s own Shirley Templeton. After the VIP tour, the group had a great lunch at Templeton’s own Corner Station and went on a tour of the town. We invite all of you to check out one of these great bars the next time you are in the Ames area.
If you have a bar that is interested in a tour of our facility, please email us at info@templetonrye.com.
We’ve been having a great time meeting new folks and seeing old friends at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market so far this summer. We’ll be back at the market again on July 11, July 25, August 15 and September 12, selling wood barrel smoking chips and TR merchandise. We hope to see you there! Here are some video highlights:
This is the last of our 4-part Happy Hour at The Plaza TR story videos series. In this video, the residents share a few more memories about Templeton Rye during the prohibition era and raise their glasses to The Good Stuff.
We continue our 4-part TR story series this week with part 3 of Happy Hour at The Plaza. In this video, a resident of The Plaza named Hilda shares a few stories involving the revenuers, drunk hogs and her father hiding Templeton Rye under the swing set.
We continue our 4-part TR story series with a video of residents of The Plaza, an assisted living facility in Manning, Iowa, reminiscing about The Good Stuff with Templeton Rye’s Keith Kerkhoff and Jason Walsmith during their weekly happy hour.
One resident tastes the “legal” Templeton Rye for the first time at the age of 91. Another resident, Florence Parson, shares a story about a doctor nursing her mother back to health with Templeton Rye in 1929.
Staff from Trostel’s pose for a photo with Templeton Rye team members
We were pleased to welcome various members of Trostel’s Dish and Greenbriar staff to Templeton for a visit in June.
It was a great day, with a lively bus ride and great tour focusing on the history of Templeton Rye and the production, aging and bottling process. We really appreciate the enthusiasm for Templeton Rye shown by these great restaurateurs.
On June 22, 2009, Steve Cannon will begin an 11-day, 300-mile run across Iowa to celebrate life. During those 11 days, he will run with children battling cancer, cancer survivors and those wanting to honor the memory of a family member or friend. The purpose of The Run To Cure Cancer is to create awareness, raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and to give hope.
When we heard Steve’s story, we thought it was great that he was doing something so unique and cool in Iowa for such a good cause, and we wanted to help in any way. The Templeton Rye bus will be the official support vehicle of The Run To Cure Cancer. Check out Steve’s blog post about supporting “The Run” to learn how you can climb aboard the Templeton Rye bus for a day or a week to help support his cause.
Please join us in supporting Steve at the Fundraising Party on Friday, June 26th at Colby Park in Windsor Heights, Iowa. We will celebrate with an evening of BBQ, beer, pop, and free massages for anyone who runs or bikes to the party.
The Good Stuff is all about Templeton Rye, our fans, our employees, our industry and our history.
We invite you to join the conversation by sharing your comments and stories.
Templeton Rye Whiskey
When Prohibition outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in 1920, many enterprising residents of a small Iowa town chose to become outlaws – producing a high caliber and much sought-after whiskey known as Templeton Rye.
Fans enjoying The Nadas in barrel warehouse.
