Greg Davis

Gregory T “Greg” Davis was born in May of 1970. He is currently the Director of Distillery Operations at James B. Beam Distilling Company. Davis took on a new role as Director of Distillation in October of 2018 at Beam-Suntory’s colossal plants in Clermont and Boston. He aims to focus on Jim Beam Bourbon and, specifically, the brand’s Small Batch Collection.

Some of Davis’ previous positions included Master Distiller and Distillery Manager at other well-known whisky brands, such as Maker’s Mark and Barton Brands. However, Greg got his start in distilling right after finishing his bachelor's Degree at the University of Louisville. At that time, he first began by working in research and development at Brown-Forman as an intern in their laboratory, later transferring into production. Davis only half-jokingly claims that when interviewing at Brown-Forman, his resume included a mason jar of “very well-made” moonshine that he and his roommate had produced in their college dorm, and “the rest was history.”

Ever humble, Greg describes himself as a “corn-fed” Kentucky native who insists that his “story” is not about him, but about his mentors who trained him as well as those that came before him; those who endured in the industry when bourbon was looked upon as little more than a “sin” drink. Davis says that keeping that in mind, his motto has come to be, ‘Do everything you can to preserve what was put forth before you were here.’ Giving an abundance of credit to those who mentored him, among whom he names the Samuels at Maker’s Mark and the Noes at Beam, Davis says the most important thing that he gleaned from those whiskey legends is that you never learn anything when everything is going right.

Davis, who is married to his wife, Kathy, is an avid outdoorsman who loves hunting waterfowl and bass fishing with his son. He is on the Board of Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Foundation. For many years, Davis had a beloved yellow retriever named “Cracker” who also enjoyed hunting with him, though it is not known if Cracker is still hunting with his lifelong partner.

As to his own favorite cocktail, Greg enjoys bourbon on the rocks—two rocks in the summertime.  Says Davis, “I can’t see myself doing anything else—bourbon is in my blood. It has always been such a huge part of my history.”

Contributed by Tracy McLemore, Fairview, Tennessee