Bulleit/Diageo Whiskey Founders
(North American Founders Only)
(NOTE: FOUNDERS ARE LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
1
Barry Becton
As the “aughts” began, Diageo, as a multinational conglomerate, was then only about five years old, but the decade already saw the young company undergoing further change. The organization was seeking to focus heavily on its core assets, alcoholic beverages. Barry Becton was at that time a rising star at Diageo North America.
2
I.W. Bernheim
Things were moving fast for the two brothers – so much, two years later in 1872, they opened their own liquor company, “Bernheim Brothers Distillery,” after a dispute with the owners at Loeb & Bloom over becoming partners with an interest in the business. The brothers are believed to have contributed their life savings of $1,200 to help fund the $3,200 start-up.
3
Augustus Bulleitt
Augustus Bulleitt’s story reads like a page torn from a frontier legend. Born in 1805 in Alsace-Lorraine, France, he grew up far from the rolling hills of Kentucky and the flickering glow of tavern lanterns. As a young man, at around age 28, he sailed to America as the frontier spirit of the new world called to him.
5
Ralph Dupps
Ralph Louis Dupps was born on October 15th, 1917, in Louisville, Kentucky. He graduated from Male High School and served as a pilot in World War 2. He graduated from the University of Louisville, and became a mechanical engineer. He eventually ran the Bernheim Distillery in Louisville after starting in the business working on boilers for the Shenley Corporation, which at the time was one of the largest liquor companies.
4
Tom Bulleit
There is a family history behind Bulleit Whiskey. The Bulleit Distilling Company was a dream hatched by Thomas E. Bulleit Jr. back in 1987. Tom had a successful law practice, but followed in his great-great-grandfather’s footsteps, Augustus Bulleit, risking everything to fulfill that dream.