We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Wesley Panther. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Wesley below.
Wesley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
Ancestors Distilling is a reference to my Kentucky kinfolk and the general achievements of distillation historically. “To the Spirits Passed”, a double entendre, is our tagline. This is meant to be kind of like a cheers, to honor our forefathers, and the stories that they have written.
My first forefather to arrive in the U.S. came from Germany to brew beer in Kentucky and Indiana. At some point this inevitably bled into the spirits industry. My mothers family was from the infamous Land Between The Lakes, a moonshine mecca during Prohibition in Kentucky. On the other side of the state my fathers family was working up the ranks in the bourbon industry within Brown-Forman Corporation (Woodford Reserve, Early Times, Jack Daniels, etc.). My grandfather and great uncle would retire from Brown-Forman as VPs.
So, now here I am. I would likely not be here if it wasn’t for the bloodline before me and their passion for spirits. Also, if it weren’t for all of those happy accidents in distilling along throughout history, we wouldn’t have all of these unique expressions of distilled spirits.
To the spirits passed…
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
A decade ago I left a comfortable job at a thriving new craft spirits / beer bar in Denver, CO in search of deeper meaning to high-end spirits. This led me down a long and arduous “spirit quest” over the course of the next 4 years.
Lacking any kind of financial certainty, I moved into my ’04 Grand Cherokee and traveled through Texas, Florida, and South Carolina, picking up work in distilling along the way, as I cut my teeth I gained more and more confidence to start my own brand.
In 2019 I moved back to Colorado and flexed my knowledge with a small local distillery who gave me the opportunity to take over as their head distiller. Two years later, the first batch of Ancestors Distilling Gin was released.
This has not been an easy journey, by any means. However, I stay committed to a high-quality experience from the bottle in your hand, to the spirit on your palate. Keeping this integrity, is integral to staying relevant to my original dream that I have fought so hard to persue.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
I try to keep face to face personal interactions with my cliental both from resailed to end user. The proudest moments in my life are meeting strangers that share stories, reveling in my products with their friends and love ones, or even alone. Having these one on one interactions reassures the consumer that their truly is still heart and art in a predominantly corporate controlled environment. It is difficult to sell people on a little-known high end product, but if you can present your passion alongside, people become a little bit more willing to give you a chance.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Never put yourself before your employees. If someone is going out of their way to support you, truly support you, they effectively become more valuable to the company than me. Being open and honest with these people is extremely important. Let them know when things are good, let them know when things are bad, but always stay on the same page. To promote growth and a healthy work environment you need people working with you, not for you.
Contact Info:
- Website: [email protected]
- Instagram: @ancestorsdistilling
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/ancestorsdistilling
- Yelp: [email protected]
Image Credits
Aurora Norton (Aurora Norton Photography)
Dustin Dow (Ascend Creative)
CB Video Marketing