Denny Potter
Denny Potter
A bourbon lover might reckon that Denny Potter has, to this point, lived an occupational dream life. In moving about the distilleries of the Bluegrass State with a tenacity that could exhaust a Wildcat basketball scout, Potter’s expertise in spirit-making has been showcased at several major bourbon blue-blood brands. He has also captained a leading rum label and, to top it off, now co-owns and operates his own craft distillery.
After finishing his degree in biology at Indiana University in 1995, Potter first went to work at Jim Beam, where he toiled in the lab for five years, gaining skills in the art he grew to adore. After also spending time as Beam’s Operations Manager, Denny departed for the other Suntory Group’s major bourbon distillery, Maker’s Mark. There, Potter worked briefly as an Assistant Master Distiller before becoming the Master Distiller, remaining in that capacity for 7 years. After that period, Suntory came calling again, this time proposing that Potter become the General Manager for Cruzan Rum—a job that required him to relocate to the British Virgin Islands. “I thought it was incredible to move to the Caribbean, but as soon as I told my wife, Angela, she started crying because she was already very happy in Bardstown. But it’s important to step out of your comfort zone, and to do the company a favor like that has led me to where I am today,” says Denny of his Caribbean experience. The Potter family spent three years living in St Croix, and he now misses the island weather and lifestyle. “It was paradise,” laments Denny.
After his stint in the Islands, Potter assumed that he would come back to Maker’s Mark, but Suntory had a different plan and instead moved him to its Frankfort distillery to look after the rum and vodka operation and told him, much to his chagrin, that he’d likely be there for a while. Potter suddenly found himself unhappily commuting an hour and a half each way every day to work, which led him to begin to think about other options. As good fortune would have it, about a week later, Potter got a phone call from the Shapiras at Heaven Hill back in Bardstown. The distillery was looking to replace the legendary Master Distiller Parker Beam, who had sadly passed away with ALS a few months earlier.
By 2016, Potter had become Vice President of Operations as well as Master Distiller at Heaven Hill—the first non-Beam family member to fill that post. “I absolutely loved working there, my job, and especially being so close with the Shapira family,” recalls Potter. Nevertheless, after a little over 5 years at Heaven Hill, Maker’s Mark came calling again, and in 2018, Potter returned to his former employer, this time as Master Distiller. “There were 20 people at Maker’s who were masters in terms of their technical understanding and hands-on approach to distilling, but having the title of ‘Master Distiller’ gives you weight, and it means people listen to you,” laughs Denny.
After four more years back at Maker’s, in September 2022, Potter, who was by that time 49 years old, decided to leave corporate distilling for a final time to join colleague and long-time Maker’s Mark blender Jane Bowie as Owner/Distillers for their very own craft brand which came to be known as Potter Jane Distilling and is based in Springfield, Kentucky. Bowie and Potter had met at Maker’s in 2006, and a fast friendship had ensued in addition to the professional respect and trust that develops over time between a Master Distiller and a blender. Potter proudly proclaims that the new operation plans to produce all of its whiskey rather than source, although it may be doing some contract distilling for other brands while its own whiskey matures. The $50 million distillery structure was completed in December 2024, with distillation expected to begin in January 2025. Potter Jane expects to have wheat, rye whiskeys, and bourbons aged for 7 years but Denny admits that it may be a bit shorter at first in order to get a product on the shelves.
Both Denny Potter and Jane Bowie emphasize that they left Maker’s on great terms, and both recognize that their respective career pathways are the envy of millions of folks. But for the pair, Potter Jane is the culmination of not only their many years of hard work but also of their biggest dream. “You always imagine going out on your own and what you would do,” explains Bowie. “We used to sit around and play distillery ‘fantasy camp’: ‘What kind of fermentation cycles would you have; How would you age?’ We both realized we were starting to get older in our careers and one day, we just looked at each other and said, ‘We should do this.’”
Source: Bourbon and Banter, Steve Coomes, August 2024
Contributed by: Tracy McLemore, Dickson, Tennessee