Meet The Unsung Heroes Of The Kentucky Bourbon Trail

You’ve probably heard of the big names in bourbon–Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Brown-Forman, and Wild Turkey, to name just a few. Their business has been booming for years now, so they’re both busier and better-known than ever.

But you’ve probably never heard of Vendome Copper & Brass Works Incorporated. If you’ve toured Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail, though, you might remember the name. It’s displayed on vessels you should have seen right in the heart of just about every distillery.

Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Vendome makes equipment that makes the bourbon (along with whiskey and other spirits too). The company crafts process vessels such as fermenters, cookers, pot stills, column stills, condensers, coolers, tanks and accessories. If you’ve toured a bourbon distillery that features their work, then you know that what they make is half industrial equipment and half works of metalcraft art. Because they’re a favorite supplier in an industry that’s booming, they’ve been crazy busy for years now, with no end in sight.

“I didn’t think back when all this started, that we’d be where we are in 2023,” said Mike Sherman, Vice President and co-owner of Vendome, about the bourbon craze that has now lasted most of a decade. “The bourbon companies have done a great job marketing. They developed new cocktails with bourbon that intrigued the younger generation, and then they also grew to appreciate bourbon on the rocks. And the Kentucky Bourbon Trail has driven a lot of tourism–it’s like wine country in California now. We get calls about it all the time.”

The success of those efforts mean that for Vendome, the stereotypical problems for manufacturers everywhere, like labor and supply chain challenges, are even more difficult. “Both workers and materials are hard to get,” explained Rob Sherman, Mike’s cousin, fellow VP and co-owner. “We’re doing welder tests every day. If there’s a good welder out there who’s not working, that’s a problem. All our base customers are expanding, and everyone has gotten bigger. It’s a perfect storm of work.”

“The scope of the projects now is huge,” added Mike. “There just aren’t any small plants anymore. Everyone is starting off the size that Maker’s Mark was 20 years ago now. We definitely have the longest lead times we’ve ever had on our equipment, 20 to 24 months now where we had never been more than 12 before this all started. We keep thinking we need a new building, but then wonder where we’d get the people to put in the building. We’ve got about 80 people in the shop now. We’ll get down by five, then get back up by five, but never get beyond that.”

“One thing we’ve been seeing lately,” added Rob, “is that people will come to us with a plant design, and before we even get our designs done, they’re already expanding it.”

That’s indicative of how highly the company’s expertise is regarded by its customers. “From the owners, project managers, engineers and welders, Vendome has assembled what would be considered a Hall of Fame Team,” said John Hargrove, President, COO, Master Distiller and co-founder of Whiskey House of Kentucky, and veteran of the Bardstown Bourbon Company and Barton 1792 Distillery. “At Whiskey House of Kentucky, our sole supplier for process vessels and distillation equipment from day one was Vendome Brass & Copper Works. Vendome is the only equipment supplier where I don’t require competitive quotes on a project. Their craftsmanship, equipment performance, quality, pricing and customer service represent the best of the best.”

For the Sherman cousins to be explaining the unprecedented nature of the current bourbon boom is really saying something. They’re fourth-generation owners of a business that dates to the beginning of the 20^th century, which has certainly seen booms and busts before. The company was founded by W. Elmore Sherman, who had learned the business working in the Louisville branch of a successful Cincinnati copper company before striking out on his own. He built a thriving business that ran into a brick wall in 1920 when Prohibition began. The company survived by doing everything from building steam boilers to relocating an American distillery to be restarted in Canada to providing vessels for distilleries making “medicinal” alcohol.

There were more boom times in the 1930s, but the company had to shift gears in the 1940s to wartime production. A postwar boom carried through the 1950s into the 1960s, when bourbon drinkers abandoned their brown goods in favor of gins and vodkas. “The 1970s and 1980s were all about spirits,” said Rob. “We were producing for rum in the Caribbean and beer brewing for places like Anheuser-Busch. We also got into other businesses like chemicals, food, and confectionary. We diversified to avoid the downturn. We had to do whatever work came our way just to keep the doors open. We also did more international work–we did plants in Vietnam, London, and Australia.”

Whisky and bourbon made a slow comeback starting in the early 2000s, before sales went through the roof after 2010, driven by both the big names’ marketing success and the burgeoning craft distillery movement. Now Vendome’s customers are mostly American again. “Our domestic customers are keeping us plenty busy,” said Mike. “We hand-pick a few international customers, depending on who they are.”

Today they focus on both the basics and on higher-level services as they get ready for another generation to take over the business. “What I’m proud of is that we’re still a custom shop delivering very high quality,” Rob said. “One customer told us recently we’re the only ones who still machine our flanges, even when they’re eight stories up. We offer a lot of engineering know-how. We bring a lot of little advantages that can make a plant run well and save our customers time and money with built-in efficiencies.”

Another big customer certainly agrees. “Vendome Copper & Brass Works is an exceptional partner,” said Josh Anderson, Vice President of Manufacturing at Brown-Forman, owner of Woodford Reserve and Old Forester, as well as a Tennessee Whiskey name you may have heard about–Jack Daniel’s. “We’ve worked with them over many years and continue to rely on their quality craftsmanship and consistent attention to detail.”

As for that next generation, they’ve already gotten started in the business. “We had some of our fifth generation working part-time,” added Mike. “We should have our first fifth-generation employees full-time soon.”

Otherwise it’s just about keeping up. “Our hardest thing is that we don’t say no to many people,” Mike said. “Especially those customers who’ve been with us for years and years.”