Joe Magliocco

Joe Magliocco

In 1989, after years of financial instability, Pennsylvania’s Michter’s Distillery went bankrupt, and the brand was quickly abandoned. Enter Joseph J. “Joe” Magliocco of New York’s Chatham Imports, a recent Yale and Harvard Law School graduate who was reluctant to see the once-respected and historic Michter’s name fade into oblivion. So, in 1997, Magliocco acquired the rights to Michter’s for just $245. Joe quickly assembled a superstar team of bourbon executives and distillers to help him revive the defunct brand.“You have to understand that the American whiskey market was very different in the 90s than it is now,” Joe recalls, “No one there cared about an age statement, single-barrel bourbon, or rye.” So rather than attempting to enter an already over-saturated market, it was decided that Michter’s would first market only 10-Year Single Barrel Bourbons and Ryes, and do so in the state of Kentucky.

Joe quickly found that there was no need to source whiskey for a while because, at the time, Kentucky was practically swimming in aging stocks of juice. “Distilleries were begging buyers to take it off their hands. When people heard that we were seeking liquid that was at least 10 years old, especially rye, they were thrilled because there was very little market for it.” So, fill bottles Michter’s did; however, the supply of aged juice eventually ran low, and it became time for Michter’s to seek a sourcing partner. Joe maintains that it was ‘Never his intention to be a non-distilling producer,’ likening doing so to being a first-class chef with no kitchen. Nevertheless, eight more years passed before Michter’s had a working distillery. Then, in 2011, Magliocco purchased the Fort Nelson building on Louisville’s Whiskey Row. In 2012, another building in the Louisville suburb of Shively was purchased, and in 2014, a working still was installed so that Michter’s could begin filling its own barrels. Finally, in 2015, the distillery was able to discontinue sourcing liquid and begin making its own.

Asked about his belief regarding how the American whiskey consumer has evolved since Michter’s first began operation, Joe states that there are two important considerations. “First,” says Joe, “people are better informed, which has resulted in the insistence on better quality, and second, the ‘bourbon encounter’ offered in an on-premise distillery, such as a restaurant or bar, complete with a distillery experience, is important to a brand.” To this end, Michter’s Shively operation now offers educational distillery tours that are open to the public with tastings, while at Fort Nelson, “The Bar” offers food and classic cocktails curated by spirit and cocktail historian Dave Wondrich. 

Magliocco, now 67, was honored to be a 2023 inductee into The Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame, as well as receiving an induction into The Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame in 2024. He has served as Vice Chairman (and is one of the fifteen founding members) of the Order of the Writ, an organization that embraces the Spirit of Kentucky Bourbon. Additionally, he has served on the Board of Directors of the Kentucky Distillers Association. Magliocco has also received the prestigious Commandeur de L’Ordre de Bontemps de Medoc et de Graves because of his involvement in and support of the importation of wine through Chatham Imports.

Joe Magliocco is originally from New York City and has one son.

References: Whiskey Advocate, March 2024

American Whiskey, Magazine, Phoebe Calver, August 2019.

Contributed by: Tracy McLemore, Dickson, Tennessee