Rob Samuels on leaving a maker’s mark through regenerative farming

Eighth-generation Whisky Maker and Managing Director of Maker’s Mark, Rob Samuels recently visited Australia to launch Star Hill Farm Whisky – the distillery’s first new mashbill and first wheat whisky in its 70-year history.

Bars & Cocktails sat down with Rob to discuss the evolution of the historic distillery since its inception and its newly established Maker’s Mark Regenerative Alliance, highlighting the brand’s commitment to sustainability and regenerative farming.

Star Hill Farm Whisky earns its name from the home of the Maker’s Mark distillery – a 300-acre farm purchased in 1952 by Samuels’ grandparents and founders of the distillery.

Samuels explained his family originally chose the site because of its richness in natural resources and that Star Hill Farm Whisky is an exploration of the flavours that nature imparts on ingredients when blended, aged and grown regeneratively.

“They [his grandparents] were deeply respectful of the idea that whisky is agricultural, that what’s in the glass comes from nature. When creating this product, we thought about how wheat has changed. A lot of flavour was taken out of wheat around 50 years ago. We want to bring the flavour back naturally through our farming,” he said.

The inaugural release highlights soft red winter wheat — the distinctive grain in Maker’s Mark’s mashbill — and will remove corn entirely, allowing the wheat to shine.

Beyond creating a great whisky, Samuels said he is most excited about sharing what Maker’s Mark has learnt about the process and what it represents for the evolution of regenerative agriculture.

“Regenerative farming must be the future. So, if we were going to innovate, we thought the best place to start was to create a wheat whisky that celebrates nature as the maker. We wanted it to be a force for good in the world.”

The Maker’s Mark Regenerative Alliance

The process of creating this whisky involved years of learning which Samuels said ultimately led to becoming the first distillery globally to achieve regenerative farming certification from leading certifier Regenified.  

“We have learnt that soil health and regenerative farming is better for flavour, it’s better for the environment, for human health, for waterways. The farm today is a regenerative estate, and we are deeply committed to the idea of stewardship of nature and pursuit of flavour for the next generation of whisky lovers,” he said.

To share their resources, Maker’s Mark have partnered with Understanding Ag LLC. – a group of regenerative farming experts who share what they’ve learned, and mentor likeminded farmers – to create The Maker’s Mark Regenerative Alliance.

“The alliance with Gabe Brown and his team will be available to hundreds and hundreds of farmers, covering all the cost to embrace regenerative agriculture like we have. Gabe and his team come to Kentucky twice a year. They meet with our 10 growers. They go out to their farms. They don’t work for us necessarily; they work for the growers.”

Additionally, the distillery will fund the verification for growers within the alliance to become certified as regenerative.

Samuels explained the proceeds from Star Hill Farm Whisky sales will also go towards adopting one million acres of farmland around the world, funding critical education for hundreds of farmers.

“We want to champion the idea that the stewardship of nature leads to more flavour. They’re not independent of one another. As soon as we started thinking about creating this new style of whisky, it always came back to finding a way to share what we learned about farming beyond what you’ll taste in the bottle.”

Continuing the family legacy

Samuels emphasised that above all, the values that the distillery upholds continue to be guided by his family’s vision for the future of Bourbon.  

The Samuels family began producing whisky in the late 1500s. But it was his grandparents who chose to walk away from the family operation in the 1950s, setting out to reimagine what Bourbon could be.

“My grandfather set the flavour vision. At the time, there was no connoisseurship or refinement in Bourbon. If you went back in time and talked to him about what success looked like, he would not have talked about global ambition. He wanted to make a Bourbon he’d be proud to share with his friends,” said Samuels.

Learning the value of community and sharing Bourbon was one of the first lessons Samuels recalls learning from his grandfather.

“My first visit that that I remember as a youngster in the distillery, he walked me around and I was just in awe of everything, the sights, the smells, the copper. He went around and introduced me to every single person working and said, ‘it’s the people that make this matter’.”

The second lesson Samuels learned was about consistency – something he says remains a guiding principle today. 

“It’s a lot harder than it sounds, to maintain consistency. We obsess over it here and we know that innovation needs to be inspired by our founder’s vision. Star Hill Farm [whisky] does that. Even though there’s no tendrils of red wax, and no big Maker’s Mark logo, it’s very much built on our foundations,” said Samuels.  

“My grandparents vision remains the North Star – which sounds a little corny, but it’s true. They were not directly involved with this whisky, but it was pulled from their vision. From the quality to the consistency over time, to how we innovate, the respect for nature and for our people.”

He added: “I think they would be really proud, not just of the whisky, but of that value system that we uphold.”

Leaving the Maker’s Mark

Looking ahead, Samuels said his vision for the future or Star Hill Farm and its premium Bourbon offering is to continue to honour its authenticity through championing responsible and regenerative farming.

“Our vision for the distillery and all of Star Hill Farm is to become the most culturally rich, endearing and environmentally responsible home place of any brand in the world. We can take this brand all over the world; this brand is real. So many brands are invented by marketers. There’s no soul. This brand came from the heart and soul of a craftsman and his wife.”  

He continued: “I’m very excited for that mark of a maker to be on the forefront of helping move to regenerative agriculture all over the world and using the profile of our brand to lead the change.”