Don Westoff of One North in Chicago talks about Templeton Rye whiskey.

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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.

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Templeton Rye Brand Manager and Brand Ambassador for Chicago Michael Killmer demonstrates how to make The Templeton Press.

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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.

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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.

Autumn Griffith, bar manager at the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago talks about how Templeton Rye fits into their company mantra and their bar.

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The Plaza is an assisted living facility in Manning, Iowa. Manning is a neighboring town to Templeton, and many of the people who live there are lifelong residents of the region. Every Friday afternoon they have a happy hour. On this particular Friday, the function was hosted by Templeton Rye. After a couple of sips, everyone started reminiscing.

We kick off this TR story series with a video of Merlin Rostermundt of Manning, Iowa, sharing his memories about Templeton Rye and his grandfather’s visit from The Feds.

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

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The bartender at Reggie’s in Chicago talks about their Templeton Rye wall of fame.

Ron Hodne from Manning, Iowa, talks about his Chicago connections to Templeton Rye during the Prohibition Era.

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Our friend Trillion, a bartender at Chicago’s M Lounge, demonstrates how to make The Mr. President cocktail with Templeton Rye:

Click here for The Mr. President 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.

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Below, Templeton Rye President Scott Bush explains our joint effort with Iowa distillers to be able to sell product at the distillery.

Mike Miller, owner of Delilah’s in Chicago, discusses where Templeton Rye fits into his whiskey library:

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Sandra Hines talks about her memories of Templeton Rye growing up in Carroll, Iowa, and how the telephone operators would warn the local tavern owners of raids during the prohibition era.

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We tracked down and interviewed Shane Smith about his Great Grandfather, who distilled whiskey on the farm, and his Great Uncle who sold lots of sugar at his store in Halbur, Iowa.

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Jim Schumburg of Rockford, Iowa, talks about meeting Al Capone’s driver at a mortuary in the 1960s, and the ties back to Templeton Rye Whiskey.

Gene Wiese of Manning, Iowa, talks about the “unspoken” presence of Templeton Rye in his hometown:

View more stories on YouTube at our Templeton Rye channel.

Got a TR story of your own to share? Please leave a comment below, or click here to tell us all about it.

In September, we welcomed some friends from our Illinois distributor Judge & Dolph to spend a day in Templeton, Iowa. This included lunch at The Corner Station, a tour of the distillery and a “Templeton style” scavenger hunt.

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.

Harry W. Harmeyer of Carroll, Iowa, reminisces about drinking Templeton Rye and his dancing days in Templeton:

View more stories on YouTube at our Templeton Rye channel.

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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.