We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Blake Johns. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Blake below.

Blake, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I grew up in Arizona, and some of my earliest memories come from sitting on my grandfather’s lap while he enjoyed his evening bourbon. Those moments on his old armchair, with the warm, smoky (or should I say smokeye?) scent of bourbon in the air left a lasting impression on me. At the same time, blue corn was everywhere in the Southwest – in tortillas, pancakes, tacos – and it became a part of how I experienced flavor and place growing up.

Years later, when I tried a highly sought-after collectible bourbon, it completely opened my eyes to what a premium whiskey could be. That experience, combined with my marketing background, sparked the idea to create something original in an already crowded bourbon world. I kept coming back to my roots, the nostalgic feeling of my grandfather’s chair and blue corn tortilla chips, and realized that putting those two pieces together could be both authentic and truly different. That’s how Smokeye Hill was born.

Early on in the ideation phase, I had the chance to connect with David Perkins, the founder of High West, who encouraged me to pursue my concept of a blue corn bourbon and even shared some valuable advice about the business. With that validation, I felt more conviction that we were on the right track. By partnering with one of the top distillers in the country to create a proprietary mashbill that is uniquely Smokeye Hill, we had a solid start. Even in the earliest days, working out of my garage, I felt more fulfilled professionally than I ever had before and I knew that the concept had true potential if we carried through and executed well.

That belief was quickly validated when shortly before our launch, we entered our bourbon into a few of the top global spirits competitions, mostly out of curiosity to see how we’d stack up against the large industry players. To our surprise, we won ‘Bourbon of the Year’ and ‘Best Small Batch Bourbon’ – beating some of the biggest names in the category – at the prestigious ASCOT Awards ( American Spirits Council of Tasters). It was a blind taste test, and the immediate recognition and market response right out the gate really put us on the map… and we haven’t had time to look back since!

What excited me most was the chance to bring something uniquely our own to the bourbon category. Blue corn bourbon hadn’t been deeply explored, aside from a couple options on the market, and we saw an opportunity to craft a distinctive mashbill that delivered a richer flavor profile than traditional bourbon.

Blake, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Blake Johns, the founder of Smokeye Hill Whiskey, and my love for bourbon grew out of a mix of heritage and passion. Smokeye Hill currently has a barrel proof bourbon, a classic bourbon, and a recently launched barrel proof rye whiskey, which is the first-ever blue corn rye whiskey. I grew up in the Southwest, where blue corn was everywhere you looked, a staple in the cuisine, and just a part of everyday life. Years later, when I began toying with the idea of Smokeye Hill, I knew that blue corn could bring something distinctive to the mashbill, leading to over 50% of Smokeye Hill being made from that heirloom blue corn from my childhood. The result is a bourbon that’s smooth, complex, and deeply tied to my Southwestern roots.

The brand itself is just as personal. Smokeye Hill is also the name of a hill on my family’s ranch back in Arizona, and during Prohibition, moonshine was made on that hill. Local officers who had ties to the land would hang bells on the cattle as a warning sign. If you heard the bells, it meant “run like hell!” That story inspired Smokeye Hill’s bell-shaped bottle that we use for all our whiskeys. We launched the brand in 2024 and have already earned awards, but what makes me most proud is that every bottle carries a bit of my family DNA and Southwestern spirit. More than anything, I want people to know we do our best to make sure Smokeye Hill isn’t just another bourbon, it’s a brand rooted in heritage, shaped by passion, and made to be enjoyed with family and friends.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

My background was originally in real estate and marketing, but my roots go back to growing up around performance horses and ranch life. I was on a horse almost as soon as I could walk, and bourbon was always a part of the culture around cowboys and ranchers – it felt like a natural and significant part of my DNA. Bourbon became a way for me to unwind, and then that passion eventually sparked the idea for Smokeye Hill. It started as a side hustle, experimenting with what the brand could look like in my garage and then quickly snowballed into something more.

Even early on, I paid close attention to building the DNA of the brand, ranging from the product story to the mashbill. I knew I was taking a big risk but it was a calculated risk. I aligned myself with some of the best people in the industry and absorbed as much knowledge as I could in the process, so I liked my odds that the outcome would be favorable. That gave me the confidence to take Smokeye Hill full time.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

For me, brand loyalty really comes down to consistency and community. The whiskey world is full of fanatics who care deeply. As a bourbon fanatic myself, I always try to put myself in our customers shoes and think, what would I want the brand to do? We wanted Smokeye Hill to be accessible to everyone, whether that be a seasoned bourbon collector or the whiskey-curious. We do our best to engage with people through email and social channels, while also building a sense of belonging around Smokeye Hill. As a small business, every single bottle someone purchases truly means the world to us, and I hope people can feel that authenticity. We’ve tried really hard not to raise prices so that we remain accessible. To get a “Bourbon of The Year” quality bourbon for under $100 in today’s premium whiskey market I think is a pretty good proposition and something we’re proud to offer. The focus is always on respecting and appreciating our customers, and constantly wanting to deepen the connection with them through our offerings. Cheers!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://smokeyehill.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smokeyehill/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smokeyehill/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-johns-017a99162
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@smokeyehill

Image Credits

Smokeye Hill
_DSC6221 – Credit: Dylan Gordon