Join us as we welcome Brian Haara, author of Bourbon Justice: How Whiskey Law Shaped America, as he discusses the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897.

Brian has practiced law in Kentucky for 25 years, where since 2011 Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers recognize him as one of the top business litigators in the Commonwealth. But best of all, he found a way to combine his passions for law, bourbon, and history with dusty bourbon stories that play out better than fiction. Brian found that old bourbon lawsuits tell the real story of bourbon history, and those stories are better than marketing tales.

Brian is author of Bourbon Justice: How Whiskey Law Shaped America, which tells the history of bourbon through American litigation and how America’s business developed around — and because of — whiskey. He’s also the author of the popular bourbon blog, Sipp’n Corn, he’s on the monthly podcast, Bourbon Community Roundtable with Bourbon Pursuit, and Brian gained national recognition for winning judgement in Sazerac v. Peristyle, which established a groundbreaking expansion to the fair use defense to trademark claims.

Brian has shared his dusty bourbon stories in events at the Frazier History Museum, Bourbon & Beyond, as a University guest lecturer, and at bourbon seminars and guided tastings across the country.

In this Bourbon Sessions at the Ripy Mansion, Brian will discuss how The Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 plays a prominent role in bourbon and legal history. Brian will guide us through a tasting including Old Forestor 1897 Bottled in Bond, Henry McKenna 10-year Single Barrel Bottled in Bond, and Old Grand-Dad Bottled in Bond.

Tasting will be accompanied by light appetizers. Cash bar and tours of the Historic T.B. Ripy Mansion will also be available. Net proceeds go directly towards the maintenance and continued restoration efforts of the T.B. Ripy Mansion.